Abstract:
The problem. Can the teaching of question-generation
training improve reading comprehension and is there evidence
of a successful student transference and a publication of
question-generation training in content area subjects?
Procedure. The subjects in this study were thirty-one
sixth through eighth grade students at Norwalk Middle School
who received instruction in the Developmental Reading Lab.
Sixteen of the thirty-one students were given thirty-four
lessons using question-generation comprehension techniques
during one semester. Data were collected for grade point
average and reading comprehension scores on the Iowa Test of
Basic Skills(ITBS). At the beginning and conclusion of the
semester, all students were given the reading comprehension
subtest of the Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test (SDRT).
Findings: A correlation of 0.580 was found between the
two reading subtests. The administration of t-tests found
the reading comprehension abilities of the students in the
treatment and control groups similar at the onset and
conclusion of this study. The correlation between the
students' grade point averages and performance on the SDRT
was 0.309.
Conclusions. The results of this study indicate that
the treatment made no difference in comprehension skill
improvement. The inclusion of the question-generation
technique in a program does not impede progress. However,
it is evident that other factors, in addition to question generation
techniques, are involved in the prediction of
reading comprehension ability.
Recommendations: Further studies are needed to
ascertain whether efforts which increase question-generation
usage could increase the level of an individual's reading
comprehension.
