Two studies examined the relationship between word knowledge and reading comprehension. Subjects were college undergraduates with high and low verbal abilities as indicated by a standardized verbal aptitude test. The first study involved a multiple choice vocabulary test from which words that both groups defined correctly were selected. The…

A developmental study investigated the pictorial and linguistic main idea identification skills of 104 students in second, fifth, and eighth grades. In the pictorial task, the subjects studied a complete picture story and ranked the effectiveness of four separate main idea alternatives at capturing the meaning of the story. Following the same…

The intended significance of text conventions must be understood if reasonably convergent text interpretation is to occur. If students can learn to recognize structural cues or signals, then they can group words into units with particular inner relationships. Expository text comprehension consists of integrating at least three structures: the…

Test wiseness programs and computer assisted study skills instruction (CASSI) were found to be valuable resources for college reading and study skills instructors and students at St. Cloud State University (Minnesota). Two booklets on test wiseness cues were reorganized and used as computer programs to allow the information to be presented outside…

Graphs are increasingly being used in written communication and writers expect readers to understand them. One definition of graphs--information transmitted by position of point, line or area on a two dimensional surface--excludes displays composed chiefly of numbers or words such as tables or outlines. However, it does include time lines, flow…

An approach to developing reading and listening comprehension skills in junior high, high school, and college students through song analysis is described in this brief article. AUTHOR'S COMMENT (excerpt): One of the best methods for gaining attention for a cause or idea is through finding or writing a song which becomes associated with the desired…

Designed to assess how people read and comprehend information presented in picture-text amalgams in procedural texts, this instrument presents various combinations of text information and illustrative information on slides. Subjects are assigned to one of four conditions and directed to follow the instructions presented on the slides. Videotapes…

Learning strategies can be defined as behaviors and thoughts in which a learner engages and which are intended to influence the learner's encoding process. Thus, the goal of any particular learning strategy may be to affect the way in which the learner selects, acquires, organizes, or integrates new knowledge. Good teaching includes teaching…

Readers as well as writers compose meaning. Using the same characteristics essential to effective writing--planning, drafting, aligning, revising, and monitoring--readers react creatively with the text. In response to the author's intention and their own knowledge base, they decide what they want to get from their reading. Constantly renegotiating…

Designed for intermediate to advanced students learning French, this unit provides practice in reading comprehension while presenting basic facts about Paris. The student material is written in French; the teacher material is written in English. Nine student sections offer facts about Paris including: history; geography; museums, monuments,…

English teachers have given some attention to aesthetic reading, usually terming it the development of literary appreciation, but many of the classroom practices used to foster that appreciation have been counterproductive. One consideration in developing aesthetic reading has to do with the means for promoting reflection in readers. That is,…

The limited existing research on text structure and its effects on reading comprehension in English as a native language and English as a second language (ESL) is reviewed, and studies that have shown facilitating effects on first language reading comprehension of explicitly teaching text structure are discussed. A research project in progress…

Three issues were examined in a study of children's use of first language knowledge in acquiring a second language: (1) understanding of narratives, (2) the degree to which knowledge available in the child's first language is used in understanding second language input, and (3) the relationship between knowledge utilization in two languages as…

Teachers were advised on methods of developing reading skills for students who are disabled readers and a reading checklist of content areas was added as a beginning in teaching reading. (Author/RK)

Reading skills and supporting behavior are topics treated, emphasizing the following concepts: the abandonment of regression, importance of clear objectives, a conscious effort to read faster, reading for meaning, having key words and phrases in mind, and previewing. (MW)