Most of the previous studies focused on lexical and syntactic features in adapted texts while little attention has been paid to the structural complexity from the perspective of the amount of information. In this study, we intend to examine the differences in structural complexity in adapted texts from the perspective of the amount of information…

In this review, we lay the groundwork for an interdisciplinary conversation between literacy education research and relevant neuroscience research. We review recent neuroscience research on correlates of proposed cognitive subprocesses in text decoding and reading comprehension and analyze some of the methodological and conceptual challenges of…

In this conceptual essay, we offer rationales and evidence for critical components of a working model of text complexity for the early grades. In the first three sections of the article, we examine word-level, syntax-level, and discourse-level features of text, posing questions for future research. In the fourth section, we address elements of…

Examines the role of metalinguistic abilities in the initial stages of learning to read. Indicates that children's ability to acquire low-level metalinguistic skills depends in part on their level of operativity, and that phonological and syntactic awareness play more important roles in beginning reading than does pragmatic awareness. (JK)

A study shows that word shape information, when combined with knowledge of the syntactic and semantic structure of the passage being read, more often than not specifies unique words among all of the alternative high frequency words of English. (MKM)

Critically reviews studies related to readers' anticipation of semantic, syntactic, and spatial features of text in the light of current theories of reading. Concludes that the class of interactive models, which conceive simultaneous bottom-up and top-down processing, are most consistent with available evidence. (AA)

Uses the eye-voice span to investigate the extent to which readers use syntactic or semantic cues to control segmentation during reading. Results are interpreted as favoring a semantic integration model in which skilled readers pace their information intake in order to facilitate integration of that information. (AA)

A study of the effects of clause order and explicitness on comprehension of reversible causal relationships revealed that, for fifth graders, explicit-condition groups had a higher level of comprehension of causal relationships than did implicit-condition groups. For college students, both explicitness and clause order were significant factors in…

Indicates that segmenting sentences into meaningful units improves reading comprehension through simplifying the syntax of complex sentences and cueing the reader as to the relationship among intrasentence phrases. (AEA)

A study was conducted to investigate the possibility of improving reading comprehension by training sentence organization skills using a sentence anagram task and word-grouping strategy. Results indicated that training significantly improved sentence anagram performance and transferred to reading comprehension performance. (MKM)

Concludes that cue systems within words (graphics) are affected by syntactic and semantic cue systems within the sentences. (RB)

Provides evidence for the development of grammatical sensitivity across grades one, two, and three. Shows that grammatical sensitivity is significantly related to reading skill level. (FL)

Reports on research designed to determine the development in comprehension of selected pronoun-referent structures. Some of the conclusions were that noun phrase pronominal structures were easier to comprehend than sentential pronominals and that structures with forward reference were easier to comprehend than those with backward reference. (MKM)

Indicates that college students make use of word length and shape information to decode text and that the context of a passage affects students' knowledge of the syntactic structure and semantic content of that passage. (AEA)