Examines evidence supporting the view that speech recoding is necessary prior to lexical access, explores an alternative view (that speech recoding occurs in working memory), describes an experiment suggesting that meaning analyses during reading can occur without speech recoding in working memory, and discusses models of reading. (GT)

Two experiments study the effects of structure and content variables on memory and comprehension of prose passages. The first experiment tests the effects of systematically varying the amount of structure present in to-be-learned passages. The second experiment assesses the independent contributions of structure and content variables in…

Argues that English-speaking learners of French as a second language start with a major asset in that these two languages share a sizeable vocabulary. The article describes a seven-lesson program designed to exploit the lexical similarities between the two languages with beginning university-level learners of French. (21 references) (Author/CK)

Correlations between phonological, orthographic, semantic, metacognitive, and working memory measures were studied for 40 learning-disabled students and 40 skilled readers ages 8 to 12. Results suggest that the cognitive processes that contribute to reading deficits are best understood in the context of their combination with other operations.…

Examines the cognitive-linguistic factors underlying literacy development in monolingual children and children learning English as an additional language (EAL) over a three-year period. Reveals similarities between the two groups of children in the study on reading accuracy, but children learning EAL had lower levels of vocabulary and…

Describes an informal assessment procedure that uses think alouds (readers' verbal self-reports about their thinking processes) to obtain information about how they attempt to construct meaning from text. (MG)

Examines the instructional effectiveness of abstract diagrams on recall of sequential relations in social science textbooks. Concludes that diagrams assist significantly the recall of sequential relations in a text and decrease significantly the rate of order mistakes. (RS)

Focuses on a subgroup of nonconcept-aware readers--children who have sufficient concept knowledge, but who rely excessively on the processing of the data on a printed page. Discusses the nature, contexts, and how to assess overreliance on data processing. (MS)

Investigates how graphic organizers function in the cognitive processes. Finds that graphic organizers do not significantly improve college students' retention ability. Finds that instruction and training in organizer use as a strategy for organizing and encoding information from texts merits consideration as supported by scores on the retention…

Estimated impacts of on- and off-campus work on first-year student (n=210) cognitive outcomes. With controls made for precollege cognitive level and other relevant influences, amount of on- and off-campus work had little negative impact on first-year students' reading comprehension, mathematics achievement, or critical thinking. (Author/NB)

Investigates the reading comprehension skills of 34 college students, particularly the roles of basic reading processes and prior knowledge in understanding expository texts. Indicates that word identification and propositional encoding measures were related to individual differences in reading comprehension ability. (HB)

Predictions of a model of instructional feedback were tested as 117 undergraduates read a text, rated certitudes, and received feedback at varying speeds. Results support the hypothesized relationship between certitude and the probability of correctly answering posttest questions, but not between certitude and durability (maintaining a response…

Investigation of the relationship between short-term memory (STM) and working memory (WM) with 75 children and adults with learning disabilities and 86 children without learning disabilities concluded that STM and WM reflect different processes, both of which seem to separate the 2 ability groups. Both STM and WM were related to reading…

Explored the contribution of two working memory systems, the articulatory loop and the central executive, and short-term memory to the word recognition and comprehension deficits of children with learning disabilities. Results of 2 experiments with 150 children support the idea that poor word recognition and comprehension reflect deficits in a…

Investigates the relationship between focusing and coherence relations in pronoun comprehension. Examines a function of connectives: that of signaling coherence relations between two clauses. In three studies, coherence relations between sentence fragments ending in pronouns and participants' continuations to the fragments were identified.…