Discusses reading comprehension difficulty among older students. Only 40% of adolescents can read well enough to comfortably manage standard high school texts--untangling specialized text to construct meaning does not come automatically. Offers tips for reinforcing reading strategies that center on teaching children to interact with text. These…

This paper discusses how to change English-as-a-Second-Language reading instruction within Japanese senior high schools into communication, or interaction between students and the text. It focuses on the use of top-down skills to increase reading comprehension, noting that Japanese teachers tend to naturally emphasize bottom-up skills and neglect…

Examines the effects of increasing adolescents' awareness of their own response strategies to reading. Illustrates the importance of ensuring that all students discover for themselves not only what they have learned, but how they have learned it. (SR)

Explains why proficient readers may find it difficult to understand written directions. Indicates direct instructional strategies for helping such readers handle procedural text independently. (NKA)

Describes the fundamentals of reader response theory, focuses on the aspects most relevant to reading instruction, and presents a method of teaching using reader response as a vehicle for improving student ability to learn from text. (NKA)

In this study we examined how good and weak students of literature interact with short literary stories. We focused on differences in the use of cognitive and affective reading activities, and in the extent to which good and weak students adapt their activities to (parts of) the story they are reading. 19 Dutch tenth-grade students from 8 classes…

This collection of papers focuses on the application of transactional reader response theory in the classroom, offering a spectrum of strategies. There are 20 chapters in 4 parts. Part 1, "The Transactional Theory of Literature," includes (1) "The Transactional Theory of Literature" (Nicholas J. Karolides); (2) "Connecting…