An extensive case history of instructional environment and acquisition of reading skills by 50 first-grade students in ten classrooms indicates that the rate at which students mastered decoding depended on classroom instruction with direct instruction appearing most profitable for children from low-socioeconomic backgrounds. (MKM)

Introduces a taxonomy of applied methods to help industrial arts teachers improve the reading abilities and verbal aptitudes of their students. The taxonomy is divided into five major sections: vocabulary, comprehension skills, interpretation skills, work study skills, and reading range (a more discriminatory reading ability). (CSS)

Results of a study in which four instructional methods (involving different amounts of preparation and guidance in reading short stories) were used with 48 seventh-grade students demohstrate that it is possible to simultaneously prepare able and less able readers for discussion of the same story. Reading attitudes were also assessed in the study.…

Stories were constructed in which minor variations in content influenced the relationship existing between statements. The stories had four episodes, which were either logically related or independent. First and third graders could more accurately recall the structure of the logically organized episodes than that of the temporally listed episodes.…

Discusses why and how language laboratories are used in Japan to develop aural perception and comprehension and oral production in English. Presents some practical suggestions for the preparation of relevant teaching materials. (PMJ)

Describes a study which examined through classroom observations of reading and social studies whether elementary schools provide comprehension instruction. Major findings included the fact that almost no comprehension instruction was found. (MKM)

Reviews studies that explore the nature of the relationships between reading and writing and that suggest the influence of writing on word recognition, reading comprehension, and reading motivation. Offers six recommendations for classroom instruction based on the available information about the reading/writing relationship. (GT)

Scores in reading and comprehension on the University of Minnesota Reading and Speed of Reading examinations for the years 1928 and 1978 were compared. The 1978 freshmen were found to be at least one grade level below their 1928 counterparts in vocabulary, reading comprehension, and rate of reading. (MLW)

Monolingual Hebrew-speaking subjects aged 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 11 years, as well as college students, were asked to interpret utterances consisting of two nouns and a verb in order to determine whether Hebrew speakers can rely on a word order strategy to assign sentence relation. (MP)

A look at one adult literacy class in India indicated that, despite apparently ideal educational conditions, students remained almost illiterate. The author comments on the results and speculates on the reasons. (MF)

The readability levels of ten basal readers commonly used to develop word recognition and comprehension skills in learning disabled children from grades 3 through 6 were compared with the readability levels of their accompanying workbooks. (Author/DLS)

Describes a course designed to teach reading proficiency in French to non-majors in graduate programs. The method is based on the reading and translation of articles in the student's field of interest. (AM)

Outlines instructional implications of a theory of reading comprehension that holds that a transaction takes place between reader and text during which the reader derives meaning from printed marks based on personal experiences. (AEA)

Suggests that using the one-minute paper to teach an introductory economics course increases economic knowledge regardless of student ability level and instructor characteristics. The one-minute paper is a form of feedback where the students answer a few basic questions about the lesson at the end of the class. (MJP)

Analyzed the diaries of Chinese students of English as a Second Language to ascertain their beliefs and knowledge about their listening to English. Findings indicate that many retained clear ideas about their own role and performance as second-language listeners, the demands and procedures of this listening, as well as listening strategies. (13…