Jeff McQuillan offers case studies of intermediate level language learners who read young adult and adult fiction successfully as an argument against explicit vocabulary instruction. Case studies provide useful insights into whatever is being investigated but may not always be generalizable. However, McQuillan's reference to case studies has made…

Investigates proficient and less-proficient readers comprehension monitoring. Findings show that proficient readers displayed more competency in monitoring their ongoing thinking processes, because they tended to monitor their reading processes at all times in order to compensate for words that had not been previously decoded. (Author/VWL)

Considers a three-phase approach to reading in the second-language classroom, with particular attention given to the prereading phase, where students' existing content schemata can be activated in an attempt to enhance motivation to read. (Author/CB)

Suggests a way to overcome the difficulty of teaching effective reading skills to students with diverse interests. The approach is based on four specifications: (1) each student studies a text on a topic in his own specialty; (2) reading practice images students' academic contexts; (3) classes are learner centered; and (4) students are evaluated…

Investigates the performance on different types of inference questions of 2 groups of Zambian secondary school students at grade 10 and grade 8. The texts used were "familiar" (Zambian-focused) or "unfamiliar" (British-focused). Results showed that grade 10 students performed significantly better than grade 8 students. (38…

Compared "read schema activation," in which one group of Japanese women college students of English as a Second Language read a whole text related to the target text; and "written schema activation," in which a second group wrote about the topic of the target text. A control group read the target text twice. There were no…

Investigates the effects of repeated readings of a passage in a foreign language (English) on the ability of slow beginning readers at a Japanese university to increase their oral and silent reading rates. Results indicate that, for practice passages, silent reading rates increased significantly. This transfer of practice effects to a new passage…

Presents a model reading lab design for advanced English for Academic Purposes students and describes the four major instructional components of the lab as well as the logistics of running a lab. (44 references) (Author/CK)