Open research questions in Reading and Literacy Development

What the literature leaves open

• Future research is recommended to involve larger samples, longer implementation periods, and experimental or quasi-experimental designs to examine the effectiveness of Canva-based learning media in enhancing specific aspects of children's early reading development. Nevertheless, this study was limited by the small sample size and the absence of an experimental design.

  Development and Validation of Canva-Based Learning Media for Improving Early Reading Skills in Children Aged 5–6 · 2026 · DOI

• The findings were limited to 118 Grades 4 to 6 learners identified at the frustration reading level in Sara Central Elementary School and were analyzed primarily through pretest and posttest results using simple descriptive statistics.

  Assessment of Project SARA (Strengthening and Advocating Reading for All) as a Multi-Phase Reading Remediation Program · 2026 · DOI

• Based on the research findings, the researcher offers the following recommendations: Teachers are expected to continue developing their creativity in designing engaging and innovative reading lessons, and further to optimize the implementation of a deep learning approach so that students not only read but also understand and critique the content in depth. Schools are expected to increase support for literacy activities, particularly by providing more varied facilities and reading materials tailored to students' needs, thereby increasing students' interest in reading more evenly. Students are expected to increase their awareness of reading as a learning necessity, not just an obligation, so that reading habits can develop independently and sustainably. Future researchers are expected to expand this research with a broader scope, both in terms of the number of subjects and research approaches, to obtain more comprehensive results regarding students' reading habits. REFERENCES S. N. Aini and A. W. Oktaviana, “Tri Pusat Pendidikan Sebagai Sarana Pendidikan Karakter Anak Sekolah Dasar,” vol. 02, no. 01, pp. 9–19, 2024. G. Fauville, C. Strang, M. A. Cannady, and Y.-F. Chen, “Development of the International Ocean Literacy Survey: measuring knowledge across the world.,” Environ. Educ. Res., vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 238– 263, Feb. 2019, doi: 10.1080/13504622.2018.1440381. D. P. Fadillah and I. Istikomah, “The Strategy Of School Literacy Culture In Elementary School,” Nazhruna: Jurnal Pendidikan Islam, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 503–517, Oct. 2021, doi: 10.31538/nzh.v4i3.1614. H. H. Sukma, “Strategi Kegiatan Literasi Dalam Meningkatkan Minat Baca Peserta Didik Di Sekolah Dasar,” Jurnal VARIDIKA, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 11–20, Jul. 2021, doi: 10.23917/varidika.v33i1.13200. M. Mirnawati, “Gerakan Literasi Sekolah dalam Meningkatkan Minat Baca,” Studia Manageria, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 53–60, Jun. 2023, doi: 10.19109/studiamanageria.v5i1.16599. F. Dafit and Z. H. Ramadan, “Pelaksanaan Program Gerakan Literasi Sekolah (GLS) di Sekolah Dasar,” Jurnal Basicedu, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 1429–1437, Nov. 2020, doi: 10.31004/basicedu.v4i4.585. A. Purwanto, R. Rugaiyah, and M. Madhakomala, “Studi Literatur: Efektivitas Gerakan Literasi dalam Meningkatkan Sumber Daya Peserta Didik di Sekolah Dasar,” SOSMANIORA: Jurnal Ilmu Sosial dan Humaniora, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 122–129, Mar. 2023, doi: 10.55123/sosmaniora.v2i1.1768. N. A. Puspitasari and S. Sukartono, “Problematika Guru dalam Menumbuhkan Budaya Literasi Membaca pada Peserta Didik Sekolah Dasar,” Jurnal Basicedu, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 4342–4350, Apr. 2022, doi: 10.31004/basicedu.v6i3.2830.

  Teachers’ Roles in Developing Third-Grade Students’ Reading Habits Through a Deep Learning Approach · 2026 · DOI

• Though there is a wide range of instructional strategies that can be used to activate students’ prior knowledge and though Moroccan EFL teachers hold very positive attitudes towards and are aware of the importance of activating students’ schemata, there are so many difficulties that constrain teachers’ willingness to activate their students’ background knowledge, as shown in the figures below: 41.9 41.2 37.5 29.4 e e r g a y l g n o r t S 15.4 12.5 8.8 7.4 19.9 20.6 19.1 12.5 11.0 13.2 9.6 e e r g a l a r t u e N e e r g a s i D e e r g a y l g n o r t S e e r g a s i D y l g n o r t S e e r g a l a r t u e N e e r g a s i D e e r g a y l g n o r t S e e r g a s i D y l g n o r t S e e r g a l a r t u e N e e r g a s i D e e r g a s i D y l g n o r t…

  The Impact of Schemata Activation on Moroccan High School Students' Reading Comprehension Performance: A Mixed Methods Design · 2026 · DOI

• Recommendations for Teachers The results of this study indicated that interactive story reading practices were a reading method that had positive effects on reducing aggression in children with preschool learning disabilities. In this context,  While training prospective teachers, topics related to interactive reading should be addressed in courses such as children's literature,  Providing training on interactive reading to preschool and classroom teachers during the in-service training of the Ministry of National Education,  Teachers working in preschool education institutions should move away from traditional reading and frequently use interactive reading methods that involve children in the reading process.  Teachers should provide training to families on interactive reading and contribute to effective reading processes at home, It is recommended that teachers integrate interactive reading with a variety of activities, such as art, music, and drama, rather than viewing it solely as a method for Turkish language activities.  Teachers at all grade levels should be aware of aggression and know preventative interventions to prevent permanent damage to students.

  Investigation of the Effect of Reading Interactive Storybook on the Aggression Levels of Preschool Children · 2026 · DOI

• The findings of this study underscore the need to consider environmental, familial, and sociocultural factors simultaneously when examining reading acquisition. Furthermore, they provide relevant evidence to inform public policies and intervention programs that promote literacy practices within the home, particularly in contexts of environmental and socioeconomic vulnerability (Fox, 2020; Gee & Gee, 2007; Street, 2003; Wigfield et al., 2016). In particular, interventions should be designed to target specific dimensions of the home literacy environment identified in this study, such as increasing access to age-appropriate learning materials and fostering active parental involvement in literacy-related activities. Identifying the elements, interactions, and activities within the family environment that foster the development of instrumental skills is essential when working with adults in children’s immediate surroundings. Intervention programs should include structured components such as guided shared reading sessions, training for parents on letter–sound instruction, and the establishment of daily literacy routines, which can be feasibly implemented in home or community settings. Interventions targeting families of children from disadvantaged backgrounds exposed to environmental contaminants should focus on informing and educating parents about the characteristics of the home environment and the shared experiences that are necessary to stimulate and enhance children’s learning opportunities. These programs may be delivered through schools, primary healthcare services, or community-based initiatives to ensure broader accessibility and sustainability. Future research should explore the longitudinal effects of the home literacy environment on reading development to better understand causal pathways over time. Given the context of environmental risk, further European Journal of Psychology and Educational Research 83 studies should also investigate whether enriched home environments may buffer the negative effects of low-level lead exposure on cognitive and academic outcomes. Additionally, studies incorporating more detailed measures of literacy- specific interactions (e.g., shared reading practices or parental teaching strategies) could provide a more nuanced understanding of the mechanisms involved. Finally, expanding research in low- and middle-income settings would be essential to strengthen the generalizability of findings and to inform contextually relevant interventions.

  Home Environment and Alphabetic Principle Development under Environmental Risk: Evidence from Spanish-Speaking Children in Disadvantaged Contexts · 2026 · DOI

• Drawing recommendations are presented and discussed below: the study’s findings, from the following • The Department of Education should organise professional development workshops teachers, focusing specifically on effective reading instruction and comprehension strategies, and led by professionals with expertise in developing the skills necessary for reading for meaning. for • The Department of Education should build more classrooms and employ more teachers in the village schools to minimise overcrowding the classrooms as it is difficult to teach a class with over 80 learners, especially with reading comprehension. • Language Heads of Departments should regularly conduct classroom observations and assessments to identify common challenges and inform a curriculum that is responsive to learners’ needs. • Teachers – especially those who are newly appointed or who did not specialise in English reading instruction – should focus on developing effective reading and comprehension strategies, as they often lack the necessary expertise in teaching reading comprehension. • Most importantly, teachers should make use of different teaching methods such guided reading, shared reading and group discussion to accommodate different reading styles of learners. • English First Additional Language teachers should offer explicit guidance as well as feedback on reading strategies and comprehension skills by demonstrating tactics such as predicting, summarising, questioning, and making inferences, in order to assist learners in developing a critical approach to texts. • Teachers should always encourage active participation and engagement in reading activities. • Teachers should use English in their English classrooms to help bridge language gaps, but they must also be equipped with effective language teaching strategies to support learners’ understanding. Additionally, schools and the government should address overcrowding by building more classrooms, creating an environment where these strategies can be implemented effectively.

  Teachers’ perspectives of the reading comprehension challenges and instructional strategies they use for Grade 8 EFAL learners · 2026 · DOI

• 1. It is preferable to practise this programme in Intermediate and preparatory stages. 2. It is advisable for EFL teachers to trace the steps of this programme in order to help their learners overcome the -15- خٕغٌ يٚلاا ْٛٔبو. عثاشٌا دذعٌا. ْٚششعٌاٚ ععبزٌا ذٍجٌّا........... 0202 DOI: https://doi.org/10.64940/jfath/2025.29.4.21 ... ............................. خزفٌا خٍجِ difficulties they confront in this activity and deepen their linguistic knowledge. 3. Constant practice is the determining factor in improving learners' performance in this activity Thus, reading comprehension passages should not be included only in mid-year and final - year examinations. Monthly examinations should also cover this activity in order that learners will be familiar with it . 4. Teachers can begin with easy reading passages and gradually move to more difficult ones. 5-EFL teachers have to use some positive words, turn a blind eye to some of the learners' minor errors to boost their morale.

  A Suggested Programme for Teaching Reading Comprehension to EFL Learners at a Secondary School Stage in Iraq · 2026 · DOI

• Since emo- tions are inherently context-specific and dynamic (Pekrun, 2006), the stability of the identi- fied profiles across different tasks or over time remains uncertain.

  Emotional profiles and their impact on self-efficacy, strategy use, and performance in multimodal reading among primary school students · 2026 · DOI

• Further research is necessary to determine if methods used for teaching a first language to dyslexic learners would also be successful when teaching foreign languages (Crombie, 2000, p. (2023) could be replicated with a larger number of participants. An important limitation is the impossibility of including in this paper studies written in other languages than English. The current paper paves the way for further research on dyslexia, such as multilingualism and dyslexia, and the use of technology and dyslexia.

  Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Students with Dyslexia. A Literature Review · 2026 · DOI

• It is inevitable that any study of this type will have limitations. The constraints that arose during the collection of data for this study are described in the section that follows. One of the limitations was the language barrier because there were few opportunities for meaningful communication. The parent participants who took part in interviews and completed questionnaires could not communicate in the researcher’s English. To get over this limitation, the researcher used XiTsonga, the parents’ native tongue, as she could at least converse in it.

  Gender Dynamics in Mnemonic instruction: Enhancing Reading Skills Among Grade Three Learners with Dyslexia through Mnemonic Instruction in Mpumalanga Public Schools, South Africa · 2026 · DOI

• To conclude, this study has introduced an efficient and accurate artificial intelligence- powered framework for detecting learning disabilities dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dys- graphia by employing a hybrid approach based on machine learning, deep learning, and gamified assessments. The proposed framework provides real-time usability and easy interpretation with minimal accessibility requirements. The modular design of the pro- posed system allows specific testing, including the collection of relevant data and moni- toring of performance. The proposed framework is promising; however, several aspects need improvement. Implementing real-time analytical feedback into the interface of the game-based and handwriting modules can improve their usability and make the results more comprehen- sible for users. Extending the list of supported languages and adjusting the questions in Naseer et al. Discover Computing (2026) 29:386 Page 23 of 24 accordance with specific curricula will make the proposed system more popular among educators. Integrating long-term monitoring functionality can help monitor children’s development and learning trajectory over time. Furthermore, collaboration with educa- tional institutions to collect larger and more diverse datasets will help reduce bias and improve the generalizability of the models.

  AI-powered mobile-based early screening system for learning difficulties in children using deep learning and machine learning · 2026 · DOI

• This study has several limitations that should be acknowledged. First, the dataset size is relatively small and was collected from a limited number of educational institutions, which may affect the generalizability of the results. Although cross-validation was applied to the machine learning models to improve robustness, external validation on independent datasets was not performed and remains an important direction for future work. Second, statistical significance testing was not conducted due to dataset constraints. Future studies will incorporate larger and more diverse datasets along with formal statis- tical analysis to strengthen the reliability of the findings. Thirdly, while the dyslexia (reading) module is only a prototype at this stage, there is no machine learning algorithm that has been trained or any quantitative assessment yet. Although there have been some interesting trends in terms of behavior in terms of pre- liminary observations, the lack of any quantitative validation means that the proposed multi-domain system is incomplete. In future studies, more effort will go into collecting data and validating the dyslexia model. Fourthly, cross-validation cannot be done on the CNN handwriting module because of computation limitations. Although techniques like dropout and early stopping were employed to prevent overfitting, further validation methods like cross-validation and external validation will be explored in future studies.

  AI-powered mobile-based early screening system for learning difficulties in children using deep learning and machine learning · 2026 · DOI

• Several limitations warrant consideration. First, excluding non- parent respondents—many of whom were rural grandparents— may reduce sample representativeness. Although a sensitivity anal- ysis including these respondents yielded similar results, differences in caregiving contexts or reporting styles cannot be ruled out. Future studies should oversample non-parental caregivers. Second, both the exposure (shared reading practices) and outcomes (emotional/behavioral problems and prosocial behavior) were reported by the same parent at the same time point, intro- ducing potential common-method bias. Parents who are more engaged, more educated, or prone to socially desirable responding might simultaneously report richer literacy practices and fewer behavioral difficulties, thereby inflating the observed associations. Although we adjusted for a wide range of socioeconomic and parental psychological variables (e.g., education, income, CES-D score), residual bias cannot be fully ruled out. Moreover, we acknowledge the potential for bidirectional relationships: children’s emotional or behavioral difficulties may reduce parental engage- ment in literacy activities. Our cross-sectional design cannot deter- mine whether richer shared reading precedes better outcomes or whether children with fewer behavioral challenges elicit more positive parental interactions. Additionally, the StimQ-P is a parent-reported measure; there- fore, future studies could incorporate direct observational methods to validate the quality of parent-child reading interactions. To address these limitations, future studies should also use teacher- reported SDQ, multi-informant assessments, or longitudinal de- signs to reduce shared-method variance and clarify temporal relationships. Finally, the threshold analysis was exploratory, and the reported turning points may be specific to this sample. Overfitting is a concern, and the confidence intervals around the turning points were wide, indicating uncertainty in the exact threshold location.

  Shared reading is associated with fewer emotional/behavioral problems and better prosocial behavior in preschool children: a cross-sectional study in western China · 2026 · DOI

• Taken together, the results suggest that SE-COGENT addresses an important gap in the literature by offering a holistic, story-enriched cognitive intervention and provides empirical evidence for its effectiveness among typically developing preschool children.

  The Contribution of the Story-Enriched Cognitive Enhancement Training (SE-COGENT) to Early Literacy Skills · 2026 · DOI

• reading fluency, structured phonics, early grade reading, literacy intervention, primary education, Zambia This study provides novel, large-scale empirical evidence from a real-world implementation of a structured phonics programme within the under-researched context of peri-urban Zambian public schools, filling a critical gap in the literature on effective literacy strategies for similar educational environments.

  Evaluating the Impact of a Structured Phonics Programme on Reading Fluency in Lusaka's Primary Schools: A Survey of Grade 3 Learners · 2026 · DOI

• results concerning mediation via phonological processing are confirmed when more conventional phonological processing tasks involving a manipulation component (e.g., phonological awareness tasks) are employed. Additionally, they should systematically explore whether temporal processing acting at different timescales is specifically linked to specific aspects of phonological processing (see also Protopapas, 2014). It theoretically plausible to assume that rhythmic auditory processing might be more closely related with phonological awareness for larger phonological units, while rapid auditory processing might be more closely associated with phonological awareness for smaller phonological units.

  A question of time?—Relations between temporal auditory processing abilities and literacy skills over the course of primary school and how they are mediated by phonological processing · 2026 · DOI

• Based on the conclusions of the study, the following recommendations are proposed: 1. Teachers may utilize the Short Story-Based Reading Intervention Material to address learners’ difficulties in word recognition and decoding, reading fluency, vocabulary development, and reading comprehension. 2. The Short Story-Based Reading Intervention Material may be implemented in classroom instruction to provide structured, contextualized, and skills-based reading support for Grade 5 learners. 3. School administrators may adopt the developed material as a supplementary instructional resource due to its established high level of validity across all evaluation criteria. 4. Future researchers may conduct experimental studies using pre-test and post-test design to determine the effectiveness of the material in improving learners’ reading performance. 6.References Anderson, L. W., & Krathwohl, D. R. (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy. Longman. Beck, I. L., McKeown, M. G., & Kucan, L. (2013). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction (2nd ed.). Guilford Press. Department of Education. (2016). K to 12 curriculum guide in English. Department of Education. Department of Education. (2017). Learning Resources Management and Development System (LRMDS) manual. Department of Education. Department of Education. (2018). Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (Phil-IRI) manual. Department of Education. Department of Education. (2020). Every Child A Reader Program (ECARP) framework. Department of Education. Duke, N. K., & Cartwright, K. B. (2021). The science of reading comprehension instruction. Reading Research Quarterly, 56(S1), S1–S17. Studies in Interdisciplinary Horizons 100 Contextualized Teaching Practices and Learner Engagement in Multigrade Elementary Education: Experiences of Grade Five Teachers in Mountain Province Ehri, L. C. (2005). Learning to read words: Theory, findings, and issues. Scientific Studies of Reading, 9(2), 167–188. Federe, L., Gomonid, J., Jose, M., & Genelza, G. (2023). Comprehension of Philippine fables among learners: Basis for reading intervention program. International Journal of Educational Research and Innovation, 20, 45–58. Fisher, D., Frey, N., & Hattie, J. (2016). Visible learning for literacy. Corwin Press. Guthrie, J. T., Klauda, S. L., & Ho, A. N. (2017). Modeling relationships among reading instruction, motivation, engagement, and achievement. Reading Research Quarterly, 52(1), 9–26. Jeni, R. (2020). Enhancing reading comprehension through short stories. Journal of English Education Studies, 5(1), 23–30. Lutfia, R., Nanda, D., & Fitria, W. (2023). The effectiveness of short stories in improving students’ reading comprehension. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 14(2), 215–223.

  Development of Contextualized Short-Story Based Reading Intervention Materials · 2026 · DOI

• Future research could examine longer discussion programs, compare different group sizes or types of activities, and include students from multiple institutions to enhance generalizability, while using mixed-method designs to better understand the interaction between cognitive and motivational outcomes.

  Information Systems Undergraduates’ Reading Gains and Their Association with Learning Motivation after Small Group Discussion · 2026 · DOI

• However, the extent to which such reflection leads to sustained instructional change remains an open empirical question. The findings suggest that reflective engagement and contextual support may interact in shaping teachers’ reported experiences of professional learning, though further research is required to clarify these relationships.

  Exploring knowledge application and professional constraints in Chinese literature teachers’ professional learning · 2026 · DOI

• While we know what the participants answered in our questionnaire, we do not have sufficient context to explain why they gave those answers. Further studies should investigate preservice teachers’ reasoning behind their responses, particularly in tasks such as phoneme counting, where variation in answers may reflect underlying con- ceptual misunderstandings. Another important limitation is that our sample included only 181 of the 395 students who were enrolled in the fourth year at the participating institutions. It is possible that those students who were present when the survey was administered differ from those who were absent from class on that specific day (or the few who chose not to participate even if they were present), for example, in terms of engagement, academic performance, or attitudes toward the topic studied. While the results offer valuable insights into the institutions we surveyed, caution should be exercised when applying them to a national context. Even though the sam- ple includes students from six different teacher training institutions across Norway, the findings may not be fully generalizable to the remaining ones. Differences in cam- pus cultures, student demographics, and academic structures could have influenced how students perceived and responded to the questionnaire. Future research should examine the content and structure of teacher-education programs, regarding both on-campus coursework and practicum placements. It is of interest to explore not only how BLCs are taught, but also to what extent they are integrated into the practicum. A more detailed analysis of course syllabi, instructional materials, and practicum supervisors’ practices could provide valuable insights into the consistency and depth of BLC coverage across programs.

  Are Norwegian Preservice Teachers Prepared to Teach First Graders to Read and Write? · 2026 · DOI

• This study has several limitations. All ADHD participants were medicated during testing, which may have affected attention and cognitive performance. Moreover, working memory was not directly assessed, leaving it unclear whether TTS effects on expository text comprehension are influenced by individual cognitive capacities. Future research incorporating detailed cognitive assessments could clarify how TTS interacts with group-specific memory profiles, offering a more comprehensive explanatory framework. In addition, the fixed reading speed may not have suited all participants, and the TTS system lacked synchronized word highlighting, potentially constraining comprehension. Finally, given the exploratory design and multiple dependent variables, the risk of Type I error cannot be ruled out. Although post-hoc analyses (LSD) and effect sizes (η2) were reported to enhance sensitivity and interpretability, future studies should optimize TTS presentation, consider medication status, and apply stricter statistical controls.

  The effects of text-to-speech on reading comprehension in junior high school students with reading disabilities: an eye-tracking study in Taiwan · 2026 · DOI

• There are several limitations in the present study. First, our sample was recruited from 20 schools across eight different districts in the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor regions. While this approach was adopted to enhance the ecological validity of the study and the representativeness of the sample, we acknowledge that it might have introduced a potential schooling effect. A second limitation is the relatively lower reliability of the phonological awareness and delayed copying tasks in Chinese. Although these tasks were adopted from a previous study (Pan et al., 2024), they may have been influenced by children’s guessing, potentially decreasing their reliability. It is also possible that children’s exposure to both traditional and simplified Chinese characters might have influenced their task performance in delayed copying (e.g., Zang et al., 2025). Finally, the present study did not measure derivational morphology in Malay. Although previ- ous studies in Singapore and Indonesia have found some support for the importance of derivational morphology in Malay reading (Winskel & Widjaja, 2007; Zhang et al., 2017), we did not include this measure as advised by Malay language teachers at schools. According to the Malay textbook, concepts of derivational morphology are formally introduced only in the second semester of Grade 2, which was also the start date for our data collection. Future studies should test the effects of both Malay derivational and compounding morphology and administer the measure in Malay without providing Chinese/English translations as accommodation, and with a longer format. Future research could replicate the present study with a larger sample and employ path modelling to examine predictors and reading outcomes concurrently. To better understand L2 Malay reading development, future studies may also expand the research to include L2 Malay learners from national-type Tamil primary schools who learn the alphasyllabic Tamil orthography as L1. 1 3Z. R. E. Cheah et al. Despite these limitations, the present study was among the first to examine the cognitive-linguistic predictors of both Chinese and Malay word reading accuracy and fluency in Malaysian Chinese children. Importantly, we developed a localized Chi- nese-Malay assessment battery to understand Chinese-Malay biliteracy development in Malaysia. Our findings on L1 Chinese literacy in Malaysia, a non-Chinese-dom- inant society, could help ‘resolve’ the debate in Chinese-dominant societies about Chinese literacy acquisition, particularly regarding the role of phonological process- ing in Chinese. In particular, educators should consider placing greater emphasis on morphological instruction in Chinese. For Malay, educators should move beyond phonological processing to include explicit instruction in digraphs and diphthongs, alongside the development of compounding awareness. The present study under- scores the importance of testing both word reading accuracy and fluency, especially in the transparent Malay orthography. Finally, our findings underscore the impor- tance of accounting for a broader set of cognitive-linguistic skills in our efforts to understand reading across languages and writing systems. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 0 0 7 / s 1 1 1 4 5 - 0 2 6 - 1 0 8 3 9 - 9 . Acknowledgements We would like to thank the children, parents and the local community for their active participation and generous support in making this research study possible. Author contributions Zebedee Rui En Cheah: Conceptualization; Data curation; Formal analysis; Fund- ing acquisition; Investigation; Methodology; Project Administration; Writing - original draft. Catherine McBride: Conceptualization; Resources; Supervision; Writing - review and editing. Tomohiro Inoue: Con- ceptualization; Resources; Funding acquisition; Methodology; Supervision; Writing - review and editing. Data availability The data, study materials and measures of the study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

  Cognitive-linguistic predictors of L1 Chinese and L2 Malay word reading in Malaysian Chinese children · 2026 · DOI

• There are several limitations to our current study. First, the research design does not allow for causal claims and at best provides correlational conclusions (Gast and Ledford, 2014). Another limitation is the external validity of our study. As has been previously reported in studies in England, girls are less likely to be identified for specific learning difficulties services (Daniel et al., 2026; Daniel and Wang, 2023) and none of the participants teachers recommended were females. This could be due to meaningful gender differences or gender bias. Another limitation concerns the demographic characteristics of our sample. All participants were White, monolingual males; this homogeneous sample restricts the findings. The absence of students from multilingual or racially diverse backgrounds limits our ability to consider how the intervention may function across varied cultural and linguistic contexts. However, it is important to note that the aim of this study was not to obtain a representative sample, but to explore individual patterns of responsiveness to intervention within a specific instructional context among primary school children with reading difficulties. the generalizability of Moreover, given that all five students in our sample came from one private school, the demographic of our sample was mostly homogenous. However, the reading profiles of our sample was heterogenous; that is the level of severity of reading difficulties varied among our sample and similar variability has been reported remedial instruction to students with reading difficulties in small groups (Daniel et al., 2024b) and in past literature of reading profiles (Capin et al., 2021; Daniel and Barth, 2023). In addition, focus educators provide schools where in feedback with educators highlighted that although group students attended a private school, the additional support they received focused mostly on decoding skills and was delivered only once or twice a week, lacking the intensity recommended in current research. This pattern is comparable to support reported in some public schools (Daniel et al., 2024b; DfE, 2024), suggesting that the challenges observed here are not unique to private school settings. Additionally, potential measurement error in the oral reading fluency and MAZE assessments may have impacted the accuracy of our estimates of students’ progress. Although progressmonitoring procedures were implemented with fidelity and each progress monitoring assessment administered a previously unseen passage, inherent test–retest effects and variability in student performance can contribute in individual scores. to error variance Another limitation concerns the nature of open educational programs themselves. Although adaptability is a key strength of open educational programs, the 30-minute session limit in this pilot restricted opportunities for modification. For example, Students 2 and 3 could have benefited from the word-reading extension activities but we could not implement these within the allotted time. Future research should examine how extended sessions or flexible to incorporate such adaptations more effectively. scheduling might allow teachers A further limitation is that social validity data were collected anonymously, which precluded to individual student characteristics or intervention responsiveness; future studies should consider linking social validity responses to individual outcome profiles to better understand variability in student perceptions. linking ratings lower Additionally, while freely available interventions reduce financial barriers, their successful adoption requires adequate teacher training and ongoing support. In our prior work (Daniel et al., 2024b), we found that the scripted teacher lesson copies included with the lessons allowed educators to implement the program with relative ease following a onehour workshop on how to use the materials. Nonetheless, systematic broader approaches. Future funded studies could embed dissemination and training as a central component of intervention research, providing researchers with resources to develop online media, exemplar lesson demonstrations, and practical guidance to support teachers in utilizing open educational resources with fidelity in diverse school contexts.

  Reading gains and gaps: students with reading difficulties’ response to an open educational reading intervention · 2026 · DOI

• BL encompasses various programs, such as Reading Recovery, Leveled Literacy Instruction, and Units of Study, but a universally accepted definition remains elusive.

  An exploratory quantitative analysis of research on balanced literacy and structured literacy · 2025 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Reading and Literacy Development

• Child Development and Emergent Literacy · Child Development · 1998 · 1,704 citations
• Development of emergent literacy and early reading skills in preschool children: Evidence from a latent-variable longitudinal study. · Developmental Psychology · 2000 · 669 citations
• Attainment and Adjustment in Two Geographical Areas · The British Journal of Psychiatry · 1975 · 490 citations
• How many words do we read per minute? A review and meta-analysis of reading rate · Journal of Memory and Language · 2019 · 401 citations
• Comorbidity of learning disorders: prevalence and familial transmission · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · 2009 · 343 citations
• Reading from paper versus screens: a critical review of the empirical literature · Ergonomics · 1992 · 330 citations
• Predictors of word decoding and reading fluency across languages varying in orthographic consistency. · Journal of Educational Psychology · 2008 · 317 citations
• Defining and understanding dyslexia: past, present and future · Oxford Review of Education · 2020 · 297 citations
• Beginning Literacy · Journal of Learning Disabilities · 2002 · 258 citations
• Measuring Attitude Toward Reading: A New Tool for Teachers · The Reading Teacher · 1990 · 258 citations

Most recent work

• Peer Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS-UK) Increases Reading Attainment, Oral Fluency and Comprehension: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial · Scientific Studies of Reading · 2026
• The Reading Anxiety Scale for children: Development and psychometric properties. · School Psychology · 2026
• Associations Between Children’s Literacy Skills and Home Literacy Environment Factors in a Low-Income Context · International Journal of Early Childhood · 2026
• The interrelationships between reading achievement, online reading activities, and metacognitive skills: Findings from PISA data · Studies In Educational Evaluation · 2026
• The role of home and classroom factors in shaping reading achievement: A multilevel study based on PIRLS 2021 Türkiye data · Studies In Educational Evaluation · 2026
• Can pictures in comics improve reading accessibility in university students with dyslexia? An eye-tracking study · Annals of Dyslexia · 2026
• Robot-mediated read-aloud context of reading comprehension · Computer Assisted Language Learning · 2026
• The Foundations of Arabic Word Reading: Evidence from a 2-Year Longitudinal Study · Scientific Studies of Reading · 2026
• Mindful Reading Beyond First-Year Writing · Across the Disciplines · 2026
• Nonmainstream American English Is Related to Reading Comprehension Via Word Reading and Listening Comprehension · Mind Brain and Education · 2026

Related topics in Psychology