This study examined the role of motivational or attitudinal factors, such as achievement beliefs and behaviours, in learning to read before receiving formal instruction. A total of 200 Finnish children were examined at ages 5 and 6 and 1/2. Half of them (n = 107) had a familial risk for dyslexia. The results showed that those children who were…

Library media specialist should be prepared to select books appropriate for each student's needs. In this article, the author suggests that when making selections for Spanish-Speaking ESL students, look for the following characteristics: (1) Choose books with simple, limited text and pictures on each page, (2) Select bilingual books with text in…

Previous studies have revealed that preschool-age children who are not yet readers pay little attention to written text in a shared book reading situation (see Evans & Saint-Aubin, 2005). The current study was aimed at investigating the constancy of these results across reading development, by monitoring eye movements in shared book reading, for…

Background: Strong evidence from twin and family studies suggests that the genetic liability to autism may be expressed through personality and language characteristics qualitatively similar, but more subtly expressed than those defining the full syndrome. This study examined behavioral features of this "broad autism phenotype" (BAP) in relation…

This study investigated the transfer of reading attitudes from L1 to L2, drawing on the linguistic threshold hypothesis. Participants were Japanese university-level EFL students. Their L1 and L2 reading attitudes were estimated using a Likert scale, and their L2 proficiency was measured using a test. The study found that the students' L1 and L2…

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate how children's responses to literature can help develop literacy. The subjects were 15 first-grade students at Overstreet Elementary School in Starkville (Mississippi). Two school observations were carried out prior to the collection of data on individual students. Case studies were conducted…

This report describes a study that examined the question of whether or not a child's chronological age at school entry or gender affects his/her academic achievement. It posits 2 hypotheses: (1) that there is a low or negligible correlation between the chronological age at which a child enters kindergarten and a sample of the child's overall…

An action research study implemented a program for improving the reading ability of first-grade students who enter school with low reading readiness skills. The targeted population came from a mid-size, middle-class town in northern Illinois that has experienced recent growth and socioeconomic changes. The problem was evidenced by teacher…

A study was conducted to identify poor readers and to characterize weaknesses in their knowledge and use of story structure in comprehension and recall. Subjects were 80 year-3 children in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 20 good readers and 60 poor readers. The poor readers were then divided into relatively homogeneous subgroups, using measures…

A study examined teachers' reactions to the conceptual framework developed and used in designing the 1992 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in Reading. A total of 312 classroom teachers (of 1000 surveyed) responded to a questionnaire about the "Reading Framework," a document used in developing the 1992 NAEP. Subjects…

A study tested several possible explanations of why the reading literacy levels in Newfoundland and Labrador (Canada) are lower than those in the rest of Canada. Reading literacy was chosen as the focus of analysis for three reasons: (1) the reading score was the most consistent of the three direct measures of literacy; (2) the reading and…

A study examined the reading problems of adults in Newfoundland (Canada) with low reading ability. It explored the genesis of these problems through a retrospective analysis of their lives as school children; and determined the relationship between literacy development and personal background factors, school factors, physiological factors, and…

This report describes the process used by a small, one-building kindergarten-through-grade-six school district in New Jersey to improve the reading scores of students who had fallen below their current grade in reading. Areas of need included improving the reading scores of students in regular education, special education, and…

This study uses linguistic humor to show that awareness of only those linguistic units transcribed by the orthography bear a special relation to early reading success. The study is decribed following a review of the literature and a discussion of advantages and problems associated with the use of humor appreciation as a probe of children's…

A study investigated the literary experiences and understanding of elementary school students by focusing on the literature children encounter in school and at home, literary instruction, and the differences between good and poor readers. Teachers and researchers traced the reading habits of eight second-grade students from two classrooms from…