Answering questions from oceanography texts: Learner, task, and text characteristics

Abstract

A conceptual model of question answering from academic texts is proposed that is of potential value in investigating differences in the academic reading comprehension behavior of native and nonnative English speakers. The model guided protocol analysis of seven college students answering questions on two selections drawn from their introductory oceanography textbook. The three nonnative English speakers and four native English speakers described what they were doing to answer the questions. Students varied in level of expertise, based on their backgrounds in related science courses. The questions varied in terms of their relation to the text and the types of processing required to answer them. Solution strategies were abstracted from the protocols and indicated predicted effects of question type on difficulty and on solution strategies. Differences among individuals were related to domain expertise and to language background.