Analogies between the reading and writing processes can be drawn from a method of teaching literature that is based on Louise Rosenblatt's transactional theory of reading. The prime responsibilities of teachers of literature are to allow students the right to experience the text for themselves, arriving at their own interpretations, and to make…

Three scanning/encoding training conditions were compared with a control condition in transfer tasks involving learning and recognizing six minimally contrasting, single-syllable word-like forms. The scanning/encoding treatments failed to differ from the controls in prereading kindergarteners, which was attributed to the difficulty of the transfer…

Comprehension levels necessary to the acquisition and retention of facts, concepts, and rules and the facilitating effects of the use of orienting directions and postadjunct questions were investigated in a study involving 105 sixth-grade students. Four treatment groups each received a version of a six-page fictional passage, differing in the use…

The purposes of this conference panel were to suggest ways of bringing basic and applied research on reading comprehension into an interaction that would enhance both theory and practice, and to develop an approach to the design and study of instructional practice that would maximize the relevance of instructional research for both the public and…

Designed to give teachers, specialists, and students insight into the historical development of trends, theory, research, and current practices in reading instruction, 82 selections written over a period of nearly 150 years have been compiled from books, monographs, pamphlets, yearbooks, conference proceedings, and education periodicals. The…

Provides teaching strategies that not only give students extrinsic feedback, but also help students to develop a functional intrinsic feedback system, so that they can "self-monitor" their reading performance. (RL)

Discusses how language cues are used in the reading process, describes a means of evaluating a learner's effectiveness in processing these cues, and suggests ways to help foster more effective reading strategies. (Author/RK)

Identifying the main points of a communication is fundamental to successful reading comprehension. Discussed are difficulties in defining main idea, text structure variables in determining important information, textual hierarchy and the theory of macrostructure, text features signalling important information, summary writing, learning-disabled…

Determined the strategies adults used as they read. Results revealed two stages of reading development: (1) a reliance equally on print and language based strategies with no integration of the two, and (2) increased ability to use language knowledge to integrate and predict as they read. (SRT)

A study investigated the singular and combined effectiveness of phrasing and repeated readings (practice) on the recall of idea units and narrative categories of fifth grade good and poor readers, concluding that practice rather than phrasing proved to have the most facilitating effect on poor readers' recall of idea units but not narrative…

Examines some recent ERIC materials on comprehension processes and on how teachers can improve students' awareness of comprehension or metacomprehension. (HOD)

Suggests the growing use of computers to process information in today's world increases the human need for an interactive competency in writing and reading. The integration of instruction in reading and writing, particularly through use of word processors, is discussed as a way to strengthen this interaction. (MBR)

Explores several concepts relevant to instructional materials that emerged from seminars sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association. Describes how basal readers--so prevalent in instruction--fall short of these concepts, and what can be done to improve instruction. (HTH)

Describes how a teacher can model the inference process to help students learn to make inferences. (HOD)