Asking Students about the Nature of Their Reading Difficulties

Abstract

This study examined students' perceptions of themselves as readers and the strategies they used to solve reading problems. Data was collected over a two-year period at two reading clinics from elementary grade level students (N = 72). Subjects were interviewed about the types of reading difficulties they experienced and described how they attempted to remediate these difficulties. Additionally, subjects described the type of reader they wanted to become, how they might improve, and why a particular classmate was a good reader. All subjects except one was able to describe a reading difficulty. The most frequently stated perception was the ability to read words (77%), followed by the ability to comprehend text (14%). Most perceptions were confirmed by assessment data (75%). Whenever perceptions were not confirmed, problems either were found in another domain (word recognition vs. comprehension or vice versa) or were school-related (e.g., the inability to work successfully as a member of a reading group). A comparison of the word recognition and comprehension strategies students generated revealed differences in levels of knowledge they possessed. Students with word recognition difficulties knew that they had difficulty reading words and had developed strategies to deal with their problems; however, they lacked sufficient knowledge about why their strategies were ineffective and when they should use another one. Students with comprehension problems generally were unaware of their reading difficulties and frequently lacked any strategy to remediate them. Regardless of their reading difficulties and the strategies they used to remediate them, most students viewed word recognition as central to the reading process. Discussion focuses on how these findings can be used by clinicians to develop alternative assessments and by classroom teachers to develop strategy-based instruction.

The Study Strategies of Successful and Unsuccessful High School Students

“…This finding is consistent with a study by Miller and Yochum (1991), which examined students' perceptions of themselves as readers and the strategies they used to solve reading problems. When they interviewed the students about the types of reading difficulties they experienced, some students lacked awareness of any difficulty whereas others were aware of difficulties yet were unable to demonstrate appropriate strategies.…”

Tom and Joshua: Perceptions, Conceptions and Progress in Meaning-Based Reading Instruction

“…Not only did poor readers emphasize decoding skill rather than comprehension in their descriptions of "good readers," but they consistently failed to detect errors inserted to interfere with the comprehension of sample passages of text. Miller and Yochum (1991) discovered a similar decoding emphasis among the 72 elementary students attending two university reading clinics. They interviewed these students and invited the students to co-construct with them a diagnosis of the students' difficulties to be used as a basis for clinical instruction.…”

Upper elementary‐aged children's reported perceptions about good readers: A self‐efficacy influenced update in transitional literacy contexts

“…The Miller and Yochum (1991) study is indeed informative, and its methodology resembles the present study. However, since the sample included children in grades one through six, the reported percentages do not specifically reflect the ability perceptions of upper elementary-aged readers per se.…”

“…Similarly, these children noted who does and who does not choose reading voluntarily as a recreational activity, a critical element in literacy success (Morrow & Weinstein, 1986). Although these affective indicators are more covert than oral reading fluency and teachers' verbal praise, they nonetheless represent noteworthy influences on children's reading ability perceptions (Borko & Eisenhart, 1986;Gordon, 1990;Miller & Yochum, 1991). Beyond the immediate school context, it is not entirely clear how children come to sense the amount of reading other children do, whether their classmates read on their own, and whether their peers value reading highly.…”

“…Teachers who are alert to these indicators can exert decidedly more control over them, and thereby shape the classroom environment to greater effect. Following the logic of Miller and Yochum (1991), children's perceptions about literacy determine their related expectations which, in turn, can influence their reading performance. As we have stated elsewhere (Henk & Melnick, 1995), the connection between readers' self-efficacy and their accompanying reading behaviors is not difficult to entertain.…”