Language differences peculiar to the disadvantaged are discussed as they relate to reading. Linguistic differences, including the interdependence among language, operant feedback, thought, and experience, and the power of these to reconstruct and reassociate through reading constitute one barrier. Another is the effects of language on the total…

Having been taught for one year from a curriculum designed to enhance comprehension of syntactic structures, two groups (experimental and control) of fourth grade students were tested by two special cloze instruments to examine the effect of the curriculum on the comprehension of syntactic structures which the students encountered in reading.…

Probes the relation between speech perception and reading ability of children who were good or poor readers. Results indicate that reading-related perception differences were especially marked in a comparison of actual and predicted discrimination scores. Identification slope and phoneme boundary differences between reader groups were found as…

Investigates the use of graphic and contextual information by average and below-average readers when reading with equal rates of miscues. (HOD)

The ability to use sequential constraints in recognizing letters in three-letter words flashed on a screen at low contrast thresholds and the relationship of this ability to grade level and reading achievement were investigated. Eighty subjects were randomly selected, 20 each from grades 1 through 4. Ten adults were also tested for comparison with…

It is suggested that questions which have been asked in research addressed to efforts to improve black children's reading have been unsatisfactory. The literature on reading problems in black children is examined for theoretical and ethnic relevance. (Author/GC)

Studies the difference in language used in children's television shows and in children's books

This four-part study, which focused on the relationship between the incidence of Black English and the child's perception that Black English is not preferred speech, identified the phonological characteristics in the dialect speech of black second grade children of low socioeconomic background in New York City public schools. Specifically, the…

This study addressed the following three questions: Among the grammatical patterns that first graders are expected to be able to read, are there any which are particularly easy or particularly difficult to interpret? Can these grammatical patterns be mastered with equal ease by students of varying reading ability? Do these grammatical patterns…

This study examined the development of metaprocessing abilities in children with varying degrees of language abilities and sought to determine if the patterns of metaprocessing development that emerged were similar for these ability groups. Subjects were 141 children ages 4-5 at the beginning of the study, divided into a control group, a low…

The great majority of poor readers in urban schools are members of an ethnic minority, a low social class, and a poor family. The simple recognition of these factors, however, is of no help in characterizing the specific sources of language norms among urban minority students or in determining the ways these distinctive norms interfere with…

Language development and dialect are measures of influences upon a student's ability to learn to read. It has been observed that students whose language differs from that used in schools and in the materials of instruction are often found in remedial reading classes. Their difficulty lies in attempting to learn to read a language which is…