Studies variation in reading speed between languages of different orthographies, focusing on modern Chinese with logographic characters and English with an alphabetic writing system. Finds that the Chinese readers are faster than the English readers by about two minutes on the same reading material; the difference is significant even with reading…

Assesses the effects of headings on text processing behaviors during immediate and delayed testing of 65 undergraduate students. Finds that headings did not appear to affect overall comprehension or overall answer location accuracy. (MG)

Examines whether 20 first graders comprehended expository text as measured through an oral retelling of a children's information trade book. Scores, according to a 1-5 scale, the pictures children drew based on the book and their retelling of the text. Finds 18 children scored 3 or better, suggesting that even young children are capable of…

Examines the extent to which issue-related attitudes influence readers' comprehension and retention of information presented in an impartial text. Finds no effect of issue-related attitude for the selective encoding or recall of low-level data. Finds attitude-consistent response tendencies in the immediate learning phase. (MG)

Investigates the effects of cognitive mapping on written summarization and comprehension of expository text. Concludes that mapping appears to assist students in: (1) developing procedural knowledge resulting in more effective written summarization and (2) identifying and using supporting details in their essays. (MG)

Examines the effects of two types of comparison-contrast discourse structures on the initial learning and retention of unfamiliar scientific information by mature readers. Finds a demonstration of the mature reader's versatility in accommodating unfamiliar information, especially when it is presented in well-structured patterned texts. (MS)

Analyzes whether a combination of televised story and/or an illustrated storybook influence children's story comprehension. Finds no significant differences between groups. Suggests that the communication medium alone has little importance for reading comprehension. (RS)

Determines whether mental imagery could be used as a metacognitive reading comprehension strategy by deaf elementary-level children. Finds that when encouraged to engage in mental imagery, students exhibited four qualities of thinking (recollection, representation, inference, and evaluation) during and after reading that revealed how they were…

Examines whether children were able to maintain question answering skills the next school year with character-focused reading passages after receiving QAR (Question Answer Relationship) instruction. Finds good maintenance with two text-explicit questions but variable maintenance with text-implicit questions. Notes that students demonstrated the…

This is a study of the utility of Lexile scores for predicting adequate oral reading accuracy and oral reading rate in a tradebook. A Lexile score is a quantitative measure of readability that can be applied to texts and also a metric for describing reading achievement through the use of standardized reading comprehension measures. Participants…

Addresses concerns that, if a student uses a second-hand textbook already highlighted throughout the text, it may interfere with reading comprehension. Investigates highlighting: in the first experiment preexisting inappropriate highlighting interfered with performance on a reading test; in the second experiment, advance warning on the negative…

Investigates the effectiveness of improving the reading comprehension of sixth-grade social studies students through the use of metacognitive strategies. Finds that students who are instructed in the use of metacognitive strategies increase their reading comprehension more than students who do not receive such instruction. (MG)

Investigates main idea instruction in three basal reading series. Finds statistically significant differences in main idea instruction for the parameters "main idea task" and "acknowledgement of strategies mediating main idea task." Determines that basal reader materials rarely encourage students to monitor their main idea…

Presents open-ended and semistructured interviews to assess reading comprehension. Highlights the potential value of interviews in aligning assessment practices with instruction and learning theory. (MG)

Investigates how nonproficient college readers monitor their comprehension of difficult expository text. Describes reading behavior as follows: as a global description of word-related, sentence-related, and discourse-related strategies used by nonproficient readers; and as a process description of how readers monitor their comprehension when…