Debates about how to teach reading have continuingly aligned with political agendas in the United States. In this article, we reveal ways in which educational journalism uses metaphor to align the "science of reading" with values and beliefs held by conservative Christian religious groups. Through a critical metaphor analysis of 24…

In response to a proliferation of early literacy policy interventions and heightened and divisive rhetoric around an often-misunderstood concept referred to as the science of reading, this study interrogates the discourse surrounding a state-level early literacy policy within three distinct realms: the macropolitical, the local media, and the…

A study examined the effects of (1) providing students with instruction in a "discourse-structure" reading and writing strategy on college freshmen's recall and comprehension of history textbook passages; and (2) this procedure on the quality of students' expository writing. Subjects, 126 college freshmen, randomly assigned to one of…

This monograph is the fourth in a series of semiannual reports of research related to reading in secondary schools. The five papers in the monograph are concerned with the pedagogical and research implications of reading comprehension. Specific topics dealt with include (1) a phenomenological perspective on the reading process, (2) the role of…

A study investigated whether comprehension of a text could be enhanced by careful structuring of the lesson elements surrounding it. One group of ten second grade children received a reading lesson as prescribed in a basal series that directed attention to irrelevant content while failing to highlight consistently important story elements. A…

Drawn from a symposium presented at the 1979 National Reading Conference, the four papers in this collection describe a notion of conceptual readability, an approach contrasting with traditional readability computations (number of words per sentence and degree of familiarity of individual words) and focusing on the concepts communicated by the…

An investigation was conducted to ascertain the effects of the structured overview on both the short-term and long-term comprehension of average and below average readers. The subjects were 143 college students classified as average or below average readers and randomly assigned to either a structured overview (65) or a control group (78). Both…

The effectiveness of previewing versus discourse analysis as methods of reading instruction was tested. Previewing (supported by schema theory) was based on the premise that helping students relate their knowledge to the content of a reading selection would facilitate comprehension. Discourse analysis (based on research on text structures)…

Reports on a study that examined the relationship between understanding of specific cohesive items and general reading comprehension ability, as well as differences in performance of girls and boys. Makes suggestions for the classroom based on the findings. (ARH)

The increased interest in reading comprehension by researchers in fields other than reading education is noted in this paper. In addition, the concerns of the new researchers in reading are described, some of the terms they are using are explained, and the implications of their findings for reading instruction are explored. The interests of…

Summarizes the benefits and limitations of the use of story grammars in the elementary reading classroom. Provides suggestions for implementation in the classroom. (ARH)

Focusing on how children learn to read in a language they have previously only spoken, this book illustrates the skill theory of reading development, which encompasses both new perceptual processes and modified but familiar integrative cognitive processes of language comprehension. The chapters discuss the following aspects of learning to read:…

Classroom based research investigating the actual context of reading requires examination of the texts chosen, the purposes for which they are to be read, the strategies to be used in actually reading them, and, finally, the outcomes expected from reading them. Among the studies that have pioneered research of this kind are (1) those directed by…

A number of common procedures underlie speaking, writing, listening, and reading; some students acquire these through exposure while others do not. A program for the teaching of procedures will differ from many conventional programs in that it will first identify and recognize these procedures. Abstract and complex prose and issues of…

A survey of 14 leading language arts, children's literature, and reading methods books, as well as professional journal articles and other notable books on reading to children, yielded a total of eight recommendations made by more than half of the authors, including the following: (1) prepare by previewing the book, (2) read with expression, (3)…