The Text Structure Strategy for reading comprehension
Insights through eye-movement monitoring
Li-Hao Yeh, Aaron Baule & Ana I. Schwartz
The University of Texas at El Paso
The Text Structure Strategy (TSS)(Meyer, Young, & Bartlett, 1989)
Strategy to improve Comprehension Recall
How? Use of “signal words” Use of text structure or “plan”
The steps Identify structure/signal words Use structure for comprehension Use structure for recall
Example structures Problem/solution Comparison Cause/effect
The Text Structure Strategy (TSS)(Meyer, Young, & Bartlett, 1989)
Documented success Over 20 years of testing
(e.g., Meyer, Young, & Bartlett, 1989; Meyer & Poon, 2001;
Meyer, Talbot, Poon, & Johnson, 2001; Meyer et al. 2002) Various age groups Second language readers
English-French bilinguals ESL college students
The Text Structure Strategy (TSS)(Meyer, Young, & Bartlett, 1989)
The present study
TSS effectiveness primarily shown through Off-line recall of text Only one, global measure (macro level)
But, what specific reading behaviors are changed? How?
Eye-movement monitoring
How the eyes move reveal underlying cognitive processing Fixations Regressions
The present study Prediction:
Eye-movement patterns will reflect increased time/attention/focus to key parts of text
Parts that reveal text structure
Methods: Participants
Total N = 9 Two groups
TSS group N= 4 Education majors (upper-level)
Control group N= 5 Psychology majors (first and second- year students)
Methods: Participants
Language background
Most (8 of the 9) bilingual in Spanish and English Early, simultaneous bilinguals
Learning English by age 5 Most report dominance in English, though Spanish
acquired first
Methods: Design
TSS group Pretest => TSS training => Posttest
Control group Pretest => No training => Posttest
<-FIVE WEEKS ->
<-FIVE WEEKS ->
Methods: Training
Practice identifying structures/plans Variety of authentic materials
Practice recalling texts Collaborative work, highly- interactive Homework assignments
Methods: Procedure
Pre and Post-test procedures Read article on infectious arthritis while eye-
movements monitored Read another article (off of tracker); recall that
article Complete Language History Questionnaire
Only at Pre-test
Result
Off-line
Pretest Posttest
Interests areas data: Infectious arthritis refers to the arthritis that some people develop as a
complication of another disease caused by a virus, bacterium, or fungus. The infectious agent first causes one disease but then spreads into one or more joints, causing arthritis. For example, one common cause of infectious arthritis is the bacterium that causes gonorrhea. In some people, this bacterium escapes from the genital organs and gets into the bloodstream, which carries it into the joints and leads to arthritis.
Drug treatment to get rid of the infection usually clears up the arthritis completely, if it is begun soon after the joint symptoms began. After the swelling has gone down and the infection is gone, some people may need special exercises to rebuild strength in the affected area.
T h e p r c e n t a g e o f t o t a l f ix a t io n s s p e n t o n s ig n a l w o r d s
9
9 . 5
1 0
1 0 . 5
1 1
1 1 . 5
1 2
E x p e r i m e n t a l C o n t r o l
C o n d i t i o n
per
cen
tag
e
p r e t e s t
p o s t t e s t
Main sentences data:
Infectious arthritis refers to the arthritis that some people develop as a complication of another disease caused by a virus, bacterium, or fungus. The infectious agent first causes one disease but then spreads into one or more joints, causing arthritis. For example, one common cause of infectious arthritis is the bacterium that causes gonorrhea. In some people, this bacterium escapes from the genital organs and gets into the bloodstream, which carries it into the joints and leads to arthritis.
Drug treatment to get rid of the infection usually clears up the arthritis completely, if it is begun soon after the joint symptoms began. After the swelling has gone down and the infection is gone, some people may need special exercises to rebuild strength in the affected area.
Percent of fixations made on second pass reading times of target sentence areas
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Experimental Control
Condition
Pe
rce
nt
of
tota
l fix
ati
on
s
Prettest
Posttest
T o t a l s e c o n d p a s s d w e l l t i m e i n t a r g e t s e n t e n c e a r e a s
2 0 0
7 0 0
1 2 0 0
1 7 0 0
2 2 0 0
2 7 0 0
3 2 0 0
3 7 0 0
4 2 0 0
E x p e r im e n t a l C o n t r o l
C o n d i t i o n
To
tal
tim
e (
ms
)
P r e t e s t
P o s t t e s t
Conclusions
This is the first study demonstrating effects of the TSS through changes in eye-movement patterns
Eye-movements More detailed More precise …record of what readers are doing
Emerging finding… Effects of training occurring through 2nd pass
reading behaviors