Apprehension is the immediate reaction of some students when faced with multisyllabic words. Lacking strategies for decoding longer words, these students stop reading and seek help from an adult or a more accomplished peer rather than tackle the mysterious words themselves. Explicit strategy instruction is often recommended for students who have…

We report an investigation of 9-year-olds' ability to interpret idioms in relation to their reading comprehension level. We manipulated whether the idioms were transparent or opaque, whether they were real or novel, whether they were presented in isolation or in a supportive narrative context. As predicted, children were better able to explain the…

Trade-off effects among linguistic components were compared in 30 elementary school children with deficits in both oral and written language, deficits only in written language, or normal language development. Analysis of syntax, phonology, and fluency indicated group effects, with trade-offs between some linguistic measures and positive…

Two studies on the rhythmical patterns of eye movements during reading, displayed by adolescents with reading disabilities and by undergraduates without reading disabilities, revealed that subjects with reading disabilities exhibited rhythm variability, unpredictability, and lethargic tempos; and subjects who were primed exhibited improved parsing…

Compares the spelling errors on the Wide Range Achievement Test II made by adults with an apparent autosomal dominant form of dyslexia to those made by their normal adult relatives and by spelling-age matched normal controls using a computerized error evaluation program. (HOD)

Five reader and nonreader male students (ages 6 to 10) were tested using the procedures developed by J. Downing and P. Oliver to investigate the development of the concept of the word. Results indicate significant effects for reading levels, age, stimuli, and a significant interaction between reading level and stimulus class. (Author/PN)

The intervention described in this article focuses on providing extra spelling instruction to young children who experience difficulty with literacy learning. The CASL Spelling Program is designed to teach children basic sound/letter combinations, spelling patterns involving long and short vowels, and common spelling words that fit these patterns.…

A study examined the role of intelligence in the definition of reading disabilities in languages with different orthographic systems. The study included 94 Spanish children and 157 English-speaking Canadian children and found significant differences between the languages when reading performances was analyzed as a function of verbal IQ scores.…

Reports a study that compared the spelling performance of a 17-year-old developmental dysgraphic of normal intelligence to that of an acquired dysgraphic. Findings indicate that both make phonologically valid errors and spell regular words better than irregular words. These performances reflect a phonological routine corresponding to that used by…

Analysis of research involving reading comprehension ability in a second language shows that problems with illocutionary force, logical connectors, and modifiers indicate that many students are either unable to draw on a culturally appropriate memory schema for reading comprehension or have preconceived notions about word meaning that prevent them…

A program is described that successfully teaches decoding to poor readers of average or above intelligence in grades 1 through 8. The teacher-directed, supplemental program guides students to become aware of language patterns and consistencies and to apply a decoding process of using known language patterns to figure out unknown words. (Author/JDD)