The effects of using cognitive strategies on children’s reading comprehension
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English
How was this study carried out?
The study was carried out in Finland, with one fourth grade (average age 10years) and two sixth grade (average age 12 years) classes, in both mainstream and special education classes. In Finland, children identified as having an SLI are taught by special class teachers in special classes, but to a normal curriculum.
The strategies were used to teach pupils in six classes. The classes studied were from one standard primary school and from one special school. For each class in which the intervention was used, a control class was also studied. The interventions were each carried out over a five-week period. In two classes this took ten lessons and for four classes, fifteen lessons.
Prior to the intervention, the teachers of the six experimental classes were trained to teach the four cognitive strategies used in reciprocal teaching. Each of the pupils in the experimental and control classes was tested on
- their decoding abilities;
- their ability to summarise a text; and
- their ability to identify the main questions that a text answers.
These tests were administered three times: once immediately before the intervention, once immediately after the intervention had finished, and once five weeks after the intervention.
The intervention was carried out as a part of normal teaching. The lessons were taught in their normal location, with materials from standard textbooks, and in the usual class groups.
