LITERACY & READING
Open Access e-Books
(See also: Communication..; Information & Knowledge..;)
*NOTE: Some titles in these lists are not formally Open Access, but all are free (no fee for e-access)
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Can We Read Letters?
: Reflections on Fundamental Issues in Reading and Dyslexia Research
(authors: Finn Egil Tønnessen and Per Henning Uppstad)
Publisher: Brill
Year of publication: 2015
The book offers a rethinking of reading and dyslexia research, proposing new definitions and methods.
Careful reflection on the concepts and methods used is a prerequisite for further development in any field of research.
The authors think cognitive psychology has become too dominant in reading and dyslexia research, arguing that it should be combined with behaviourism and connectionism—in part by focusing on the concept of ‘skill’. The key components of a skill are claimed to be automaticity, awareness and shifts between them. Reading is defined as an interpretative skill, which should be viewed from the perspective of hermeneutics.
The authors use these fundamental analyses and definitions to shed new light on the ‘balanced approach to reading instruction’, ‘reading fluency’ and other key concepts. The book also deals with problems in the definition of ‘dyslexia’ and proposes a method to arrive at clear and fruitful definitions. It concludes with a chapter trying to answer the question of in what sense, or to what extent, it can be claimed that reading and dyslexia research has made progress.
The book mainly builds on articles published over the past 25 years by Professor Finn Egil Tønnessen at the National Centre for Reading Education and Research, Stavanger, Norway.
Table of contents:
Preliminary Material
Historical Introduction – Beginning and Continuation of Dyslexia Research
Challenges in Cognitive Psychology
Defining ‘Dyslexia’
Defining ‘Skill’
Reading Skill
Reading Fluency
Reading Instruction
Concluding Reflections
References
Subject Index
Name Index
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How to Read like you Mean it
(author: Kyle Conway)
Publisher: AU Press
Year of publication: 2023
In this candid and concise volume, Kyle Conway, author of The Art of Communication in a Polarized World, considers how we can open ourselves to others and to ideas that scare us by reading difficult texts. Conway argues that because we resist ideas we don’t understand, we must embrace confusion as a constitutive part of understanding and meaningful exchange, whether between a reader and a text or between two people.
Building on the work of hermeneutics scholar Paul Ricoeur, Conway evaluates the recurring paradox of miscommunication that results in deeper understanding and proposes strategies for reading that will allow individuals to give up the illusion of certainty. In elegant and compelling prose, Conway introduces readers to the idea that it is through uncertainty that we can gain access to new and meaningful worlds—those of texts and other people.
Table of contents:
List of Figures and Tables
Preface: How to Read This Book
Acknowledgements
Introduction: What Is Reading?
1. To Read Is to Feel Lost
2. To Read Is to Wander
3. To Read Is to Feel Love
4. To Read Is to Be Free
Conclusion: To Read Is to Live with Other People
References
Index
Reviews:
‘A compelling book about the heart of reading. Conway affirms the primordial relationship between the word and the world and helps us read anything, including ourselves, with seriousness and care.’ -- Sam Rocha, University of British Columbia
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Reading Success in the Primary Years
: An Evidence-Based Interdisciplinary Approach to Guide Assessment and Intervention
Publisher: Springer
Year of publication: 2020
This open access book describes the Reading Success project, in which a 5-step, assessment-to- intervention process, based on the Simple View of Reading, was used within a primary school setting in Australia to better support those students who struggle with reading. It provides an easily accessible overview of each step of the process involved in implementing this approach and highlights the crucial importance of collaboration between professionals involved in the teaching of reading within a school setting.
It focuses on the decision-making processes used, such as rich dialogue with the leadership team and teachers, and shares participants’ perspectives gathered throughout the project.
Using case studies, the book describes how the 5-step approach assists in creating detailed profiles of students’ strengths and weaknesses in spoken and written language skills that can be used to guide targeted intervention
This book offers valuable insights for educators, speech pathologists, researchers, and pre-service teacher education students interested in the teaching of reading.
Table of contents:
Front Matter
Reading Success
The Reading Success Project
Front Matter
Methodology
The Reading Success Project (Results)
Front Matter
Reading Success Results Across the Year Groups
Reading Self-Concept and Student Perceptions
Intervention Initiatives Across Three Levels of Instruction
Case Studies
Findings from Teacher Interviews and Recommendations
Front Matter
Feedback
Implications and Transferability to Other School Contexts
Reviews:
"The research reported in this book should be of interest to all teachers who want to improve the literacy outcomes of their students. The authors have undertaken challenging research in real Australian classrooms. Working with teachers, speech pathologists, school leadership teams and students, they describe and present results from a carefully designed research project that spanned two school years. Using a mixture of methods involving statistical analyses of results as well as in-depth interviews, the authors present findings that are important and relevant for teachers of reading and literacy in Years 1 to 4. Teachers who are motivated to do a better job for their students will find compelling approaches that can be adapted in their own classrooms. The authors provide excellent examples of up-to-date research and how this can be translated into practice. I recommend the book to all teachers of junior primary school students." -- James Chapman, Professor of Educational Psychology, Massey University, New Zealand
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Reading Today
(series: Comparative Literature and Culture)
Publisher: UCL Press
Year of publication: 2018
New technologies are changing our reading habits. Laptops, e-readers, tablets and other handheld devices supply new platforms for reading, and we must learn to manage them by scrolling, clicking or tapping. Reading Today places reading in current literary and cultural contexts in order to analyse how these contexts challenge our conceptions of who reads, what reading is, how we read, where we read, and for what purposes – and then responds to the questions this analysis raises. Is our reading experience becoming a ‘flat’ one? And does reading in a media environment favour quick reading?
Alongside these questions, the contributors unpack emerging strategies of reading.They consider, for example, how paying attention to readers’ emotional reactions as an indispensable component of reading affects our conception of the reading process. Other chapters consider how reading can be explored through such topics as experimental literature, the contemporary encyclopedic novel and the healing power of books.
Table of contents:
New perspectives on reading: an introduction
-- Heta Pyrhönen
Part I Reading challenges
1 Reading experimental literature: unreadability, discomfort and reading strategies
-- Natalya Bekhta
2 Information and the illusion of totality: reading the contemporary encyclopedic novel
-- Vesa Kyllönen
3 The brain in our hands: the materiality of reading Neuromaani
-- Laura Piippo
4 Explorative exposure: media in and of Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves
-- Juha-Pekka Kilpiö
Part II New strategies of reading
5 New reading strategies in the twenty-first century: transmedia storytelling via app in Marisha Pessl’s Night Film
-- Anna Weigel
6 New reading strategies in print and on digital platforms: Stephanie Strickland’s V
-- Matti Kangaskoski
Part III Reading affectively
7 Rethinking reading through the novelistic discourses of Don Quixote and Madame Bovary
-- Stefano Rossoni
8 ‘Emily equals childhood and youth and first love’: Finnish readers and L. M. Montgomery’s Anne and Emily books
-- Vappu Kannas
9 ‘The miraculous secret of a good book’: representations of the reading experience in Dutch middlebrow criticism
-- Ryanne Keltjens
10 The healing power of books: The Novel Cure as a culturally tailored literary experiment
-- Serena Cacchioli
Part IV Reading in context
11 Context in film adaptations
-- Marjo Vallittu
Notes
Works cited and additional reading
Index
Reviews:
‘An interesting volume for its contributions on various forms of reading and, above all, for placing some of the most relevant works of Finnish culture in the focus of philological and technological interpretation that characterizes Comparative Literature and Digital Humanities’ -- Blog de l’Escola de Llibreria
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Science of Reading
: Defining Guide
Publisher: The Reading League [TRL]
Year of publication: 2022
FREE DOWNLOAD: https://www.thereadingleague.org/what-is-the-science-of-reading/
The science of reading has culminated in a preponderance of evidence to inform how proficient reading and writing develop; why some have difficulty; and how we can most effectively assess and teach and, therefore, improve student outcomes through prevention of and intervention for reading difficulties.
Although the scientific evidence base for effective reading has existed for decades, the term “the science of reading” has gained traction in the last few years, potentially leading to misunderstandings. The Science of Reading: Defining Guide provides a firm definition of what the science of reading is, what it is not, and how all stakeholders can understand its potential to transform reading instruction.
The Science of Reading: A Defining Movement was developed by The Reading League.
All voices are needed to protect the science of reading.
A worldwide commitment to understanding the science of reading ensures it is not misunderstood or minimally applied.
ACTION YOU CAN TAKE:
Promote the science of reading in your work
Share this book with colleagues
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