In this introduction, Royer suggests that the major task facing both the developmental and educational psychologist is to establish a theoretical framework that can provide an account of the development of knowledge structures relevant to the reading process and that can suggest guidelines for translating the theory into educational practice.…

One group of 111 seventh-grade students completed vocabulary-oriented activities for four weeks, while 102 students received similar instruction with no vocabulary-oriented activities. The activities appeared to enhance achievement by improving students' comprehension. (MNS)

Proposes using the cloze procedure as an instructional technique as well as for testing. Offers cloze exercises designed to teach vocabulary, relationships, and personal involvement. (FL)

Describes Project READ:S (Reading Education Accountability Design: Secondary), which is designed to improve the teaching of reading in the content areas. Notes that this project has been approved by the National Diffusion Network for exemplary program status. (FL)

Language development of three prelingually deaf preschool children in a cued speech program was videotaped and analyzed by frequency of gestures, cues, and speech. Results suggest early introduction of cued speech does not materially aid spoken language development of profoundly deaf children. (MSE)

Children 3 to 6 years of age learned simple Spanish vocabulary items using an adaptation of the keyword method of foreign language vocabulary learning. Children who used the keyword method remembered more vocabulary translations than children who were not instructed in keyword method usage. (Author/RD)

Presents a model for infusing energy conservation into the social studies curriculum at the junior high school level. The model provides for vocabulary-concept building, prereading activity, content reading, and group and individual activities. (RM)

Noting the inadequate vocabularies of students in her college writing classes, the author calls for a revival of close textual reading at all educational levels as a means of improving reading and vocabulary skills. (PGD)

Mothers were found to respond differentially to their infants' object-related gestures. Pointing was found to have an especially strong correlation with mothers' object-labelling responses, which in turn were predictive of the child's object-naming vocabulary. (Author/JB)

Presents a study of the early vocabulary of young children, considering variables such as contextual flexibility, content, and composition of the lexicon in comprehension and production. Reports evidence for a relative independence between these two domains, and for an early version of the referential style observed at later stages of development.…

Concept building is discussed, and several information processing strategies that teachers can use to promote student vocabulary development are presented. Classroom activities are also described. (Author/DB)

Describes 10 methods that have proven successful in improving the comprehension skills of problem readers, including the use of pictures, cloze-type exercises, and repeated readings. (FL)

Includes short reports from four elementary school teachers about vocabulary development, stimulation of student writing, and the effects of parents' reading to their first-grade children. (RL)

Describes five strategies that foster independent learning of content area vocabulary. (MKM)

Suggests that creating a second-language semantic network can be conceived as developing a plan for retrieving second-language word forms. Characteristics of linguistic performance which will promote fluency are discussed in light of the distinction between episodic and semantic memory. (AMH)