This collection of 19 articles included in the 34th Yearbook of the Claremont Reading Conference focuses on the theme "Reading and School Life," with specific emphasis on how the quality of school experiences affects the reader and the development of the reading process. The permanent conference theme is "Reading is the Process of Making…

This study investigated the predictive value of certain tests in relationship to first grade reading success. The Metropolitan Readiness Test, Naming Letters Test, Light Response Test, and Matching Symbol Test were administered to 70 first grade students during the first two weeks of school. The Teacher's Reading Readiness Rating Scale was filled…

AN INVESTIGATION TO DEVELOP PRACTICAL AND ECONOMICAL MEANS FOR DESCRIBING READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS AND TO DETERMINE TEACHER STRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPING THESE COMPREHENSION SKILLS WAS CONDUCTED. THE "READING COMPREHENSION INVENTORY" WAS DEVELOPED FROM A SYNTHESIS OF ELEMENTS COMMONLY AGREED TO CONSTITUTE READING COMPREHENSION. THE…

One of the several causal mechanisms for errors made by adult second language learners is interference from the native language. This paper attempts to account for the cognitive nature of interference by proposing two psycholinguistically based principles that will explain various types of production and perception errors made of second language…

Considers current research on reading in a second language from five points of view: (1) the reader's role in light of new models of language and textual meaning; (2) revised definitions of textual meaning and reader processing; (3) reader processing of schemata; (4) relationship between second-language competency and reader strategies; and (5)…

Shows that native-speaking Arabic readers produce search functions that are radically different from the search functions of readers whose script uses the Roman alphabet (RAs). The processes used by Arabic readers are more akin to the processes used by RAs when searching arrays of shapes. (Author/LMO)

Offers teachers and parents practical suggestions for helping children to begin reading naturally. Looks at specific strategies for helping young children to learn to read, particularly a built-in success procedure emphasizing nonvisual aspects of reading. (RWB)

Explores the central thesis of cognitive science that the mind is an information processor. Discusses the study of reading as an opportunity to gain insight into how that processor works. Provides several examples that illustrate some of the relationships between eye movement, short-term memory, and long-term memory. (TW)

This empirically-based model depicts the interactive, constructivist process of reading and three classes of variables that influence reading. Teacher variables include presentation, instructional intervention, instructional climate, and behavior management. Text variables include text language, relevance, organization, story structures, and…

The reading process and the history of teaching reading to Braille, print, and aural readers are reviewed. Variables in effective reading instruction programs for visually impaired children include teaching methods, assessment methods, qualities and competencies of teachers, other deficits of visually impaired students that exacerbate reading…

Discusses two facets of the disparity between the way children learn and the way they are tested: the necessity of practice and the importance of prior knowledge. (FL)

Studies the development of word-retrieval speed and its relationship to reading in 72 average and 11 severely impaired readers in kindergarten through the second grade. (HOD)

Lists possible "writing-as-performance" course objectives, all of which emphasize vocalization and movement while writing to encourage the fullest range of somatic response; describes four sample class assignments; notes that these courses bring students to a fuller appreciation of the reader/writer relationship in literary experience.…

Reports on two experiments that explore the comprehension difficulties of children with normal word recognition ability. Concludes that skilled readers engage in more constructive processing and that comprehension difficulties are not the result of a defective working memory. (SRT)

Argues that structured reading programs, workbook pages, and drills do not alone provide an adequate basis for beginning reading instruction and suggests that experiences, knowledge, and other environmental factors ensure success in reading. (HOD)