The Impact Of Self-Questioning Strategy Use On The Text-Reader Assisted Comprehension Of Students With Reading Disabilities

This study involved an examination of the impact of a self-questioning strategy on the text-reader assisted comprehension skills of six students in grades five through eight with reading disabilities (RD). The purpose of this study was to determine the degree older children with RD comprehend text-reader assisted text that is at or above their actual grade level and whether comprehension of text-reader assisted text be could be enhanced if students with RD were taught and prompted to used self-questioning strategies. Students were asked to listen to and visually track sixth to seventh grade level text that was read to them using the Kurzweil 3000 text-reader software. They were then asked to answer seven multiple-choice inferential questions and to summarize the passage in a retell. Data were analyzed using a multiple-baseline, single subject design and a repeated-measures ANOVA. Results suggest that students with RD can have comprehension difficulties that are not resolved by text-reader software, and that self-questioning strategies significantly improve their ability to comprehend text supported by text-reader software. Results, however, varied between students. Implications for the use of text-reader software and comprehension instruction are discussed.