Effects of Chunked Reading among Learning Disabled Students: An Experimental Comparison of Computer and Traditional Chunked Passages

Abstract

Previous studies have indicated that chunking/phrasing of sentences into smaller groups of meaningfully related words enhances retention and comprehension. This investigation was designed to assess the effects of two methods of presenting chunked reading. Thirty learning disabled tenth- and eleventh-grade students were assigned to three groups. One training group received chunked passages displayed on the screen using computer assisted instruction (CAI); the other was administered chunked passages in the traditional mode. The control group used CAI with non-chunked passages. A posttest revealed that the CAI chunked group showed higher gains. However, the CAI chunked group's mean score was not significant when compared to the traditional chunked group. Both chunked groups were superior to the CAI non-chunked group. Thus, it was concluded that separation of reading material into meaningfully related words does significantly enhance reading comprehension and the method of presentation is not significant.

Effectiveness of Read-aloud Instruction on Motivation and Learning Strategy among Japanese College EFL Students

“…S/CRP helps the readers comprehend syntactical sentence structure (Foder, Bever, & Garrett, 1974;Schreiber & Read, 1980). Casteel (1988) investigated if S/CRP would be beneficial for improving the reading skills of high school students with learning disability. In comparing the experimental and the control groups, he found that the chunked reading group significantly improved their reading skills.…”

A Comparative Study of Small Group Fluency Instruction

“…Importantly, a number of authors have indicated that poor readers are not as prosodic in their reading or as facile with their use of appropriate phrasing as are good readers (Dowhower, 1991;Reutzel, 1996;Schreiber, 1991). This is true for adults (Brozo, Schmelzer, & Spires, 1983;Cromer, 1970) as well for as children (e.g., O'Shea & Sindelar, 1983;Weiss, 1983) and adolescents (Casteel, 1988;Stevens, 1981;Weiss, 1983). Studies also indicate that poor readers at all age levels demonstrate improved comprehension when text is presented in a manner comparable to speech; that is, when it has been organized into appropriate phrase units for the reader.…”

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“…For example, Jandreau, Muncer & Bever (1986) found that phrase-spaced text made a considerable improvement in the comprehension and the speed of reading for poor readers in a research project in England. Casteel (1988) found the same effects among learning disabled students. McBride and Dwyer (1987) found that chunking resulted in a more efficient learning strategy, compared to conventional presentation, although there was no significant difference on a performance task after the instruction.…”

“…Chunking is the process of organizing, indexing and storing information in such a manner that it can be easily accessed and used for problem solving (Harmon, 1987). This is often accomplished by organizing the information into meaningful or logical sections or "chunks", which facilitates the transition from receiving the information to understanding the information (Casteel, 1988). Computer graphics, diagrams, and illustrations can also be seen as a form of chunking because we see pictures as organized wholes, not dissociated parts (Steinberg, 1991).…”