Authentic Text Reading – Native Spanish Speakers Needed!
STUDY BASICS
Are you a native Spanish speaker and college student in the Pittsburgh area? You may be eligible for a research study to understand how the first language backgrounds of learners influence learning a second language. Compensation is provided.
STUDY PURPOSE
The purpose of this study is to understand how the first language backgrounds of learners influence learning a second language. By understanding these influences the goal is to improve instruction for second language teaching and learning.
COULD THIS STUDY BE RIGHT FOR YOU?
Eligible participants are:
- Ages 18-30
- Native Spanish speakers
- College students (undergraduate or graduate) in the Pittsburgh area
WHAT PARTICIPANTS CAN EXPECT
Participants will complete a Qualtrics survey that begins by asking demographics questions as well as questions about their reading habits and language history. Afterward, participants will be given many English words and asked to rate their familiarity with these words on a scale of 1-7. Afterward, they will be shown several two sentence passages in English and asked to rate their familiarity with the topic of these passages using the same scale. The topic of each passage will be identified and translated into Spanish. Finally, participants will complete two timed tasks lasting 45 minutes that will assess their reading comprehension and vocabulary skills in English.
IRB: STUDY19040373E
- Behavioral Studies of Reading and LanguageMEET THE RESEARCHER

Charles Perfetti
Charles Perfetti is Distinguished University Professor of Psychology and Director of the Learning Research & Development Center. His research contributes to the Science of Reading, the study of how humans obtain meaning from written language. His lab uses behavioral and EEG recording methods to study word learning, word reading, and reading comprehension across languages.