Studies on the reading acquisition of deaf children investigate the similarities and differences in the reading process between these readers and typical hearing readers. There is no consensus on the nature of the reading process among deaf readers, whether they use the same reading processing strategies as typical readers or depend on other…

Examines the effect of a tree diagram on college students' comprehension of main ideas in a social sciences expository text. Concludes that the tree diagram significantly improved comprehension of main ideas and relations between elements, irrespective of the students' initial verbal and visual aptitudes. (RS)

An experimental study involving 44 matched pairs of Israeli first graders found that reading at a faster pace increased comprehension and reduced errors in spite of the insertion of pictorial distractors. (IAH)

Examines 339 Israeli first graders, divided into three experimental and one control group, who were read aloud to. Asks teachers of experimental groups to read interactively--that is, to interact with students before, during, and after reading to help them understand the story. Indicates that classroom story reading led to increases in decoding,…

Examines the relationships between social and emotional variables, and oral and silent reading comprehension. Finds significant correlations between reading effectiveness and various personality characteristics. Finds also that anxiety and a low sociometric score impair oral reading more than silent reading. Argues that social and emotional…

Investigates attitudes and cultural background of Israeli Arab students learning Hebrew and Israeli Jewish students learning English to reading comprehension in familiar/unfamiliar cultural stories. Compares contexts: Arabs as minority group learning the majority language and Jews as majority group learning a minority language. Indicates that…

Reading while listening (RWL) is an instructional technique in which children associate unfamiliar written words with their corresponding familiar sounds. In RWL children listen to a text (often a "talking book" on audiotape or computer software) while following along in a printed version. A study examined the effect of RWL, with reader…

Investigates the effects of reading a series-format, many-volumed story to disadvantaged first graders. Results indicate that children who had been read to outscored children in the control classes on measures of decoding, reading comprehension, and active use of language. (SRT)

Examines the relevance of decoding, comprehension, and reading rate as used by teachers for evaluation of their students' reading competence. Finds that teachers claim to rely only on decoding and comprehension in assessing reading competence, but that in practice teachers rely quite heavily on reading rate as a diagnostic tool. (RS)

Discussion of the amount of mental effort children invest in television viewing versus book reading focuses on a Dutch study based on Salomon's model and his studies with children in Israel and the United States. The depth of information processed is discussed, and differences in results are examined. (18 references) (LRW)

Noting the growing interest in recent years in the use of mentalistic measures in studying the reading process, this paper draws upon findings of studies conducted at the Hebrew University in Israel to show how mentalistic measures have been used effectively in reading research. Following a discussion of the unique role mentalistic data can play…

A study investigated the effectiveness of the Success for All (SFA) program developed at Johns Hopkins University. The program emphasizes prevention of failure, personal tutoring, family-school program, and regular evaluation of student progress. In 1996, the program involved schools in northern Israel--Arabic and Jewish, religious and secular.…

A study conducted in Israel investigated the relevance of subject-specific reading passages to performance on reading comprehension tests for advanced university students of English as a second language. The research specifically examined (1) whether students performed better when the reading test content was directly related to their field of…

Reports on research done in collaboration with classroom teachers in Arab language kindergartens to demonstrate the educational values of storybook reading. (MG)

Two experiments tested whether the orthography of readers' first or second language affected their reading time and comprehension in each. English and Hebrew bilingual graduate students and faculty read texts translated into both Hebrew and English. The English native speakers read the English texts significantly faster than the native Hebrew…