Examines the effect of a variety of picture-text conditions on third and fifth grade average readers' comprehension. Concludes that the advantage of presenting children of normal reading ability with illustrated text is small and primarily dependent on the placement of illustrations adjacent to related textual materials. (RS)

Examines narrative and expository text from four basal reader series for the occurrence of anaphora. Finds an abundance of anaphora in both. Notes that beginning and developing readers have difficulty in resolving them, and that instructional strategies are needed to help teachers and students deal with this element of cohesion. (RS/JAD)

The effectiveness of methods teaching how to identify the main idea of expository paragraphs was tested using 47 remedial reading 6th through 11th graders. Tested were: strategy training; classification training; combined training; and practice only. Strategy training improved performance, while classification training only improved performance…

Compares gains in reading rate and comprehension of students using traditional texts and those using a computer-based, commercially prepared, speed reading package. Offers recommendations for the use of computers in college reading courses, focusing on hardware/software needs and student/teacher responsibilities. (DMM)

Describes a Language Experience Approach (LEA) dictation given by sixth-grade remedial readers, and discusses some weaknesses in using LEA to teach remedial reading. Explains how LEA can be modified to produce a more effective model for reading comprehension and writing instruction. (MM)

Experiments with 12 sixth-grade students doing mathematics assignments and 9 students doing reading assignments under differing conditions of radio and television distraction indicate no sizable distractor effects on time studying, accuracy of computation or reading comprehension, and reading rate. Results are consistent with the conceptualization…

Reports on an investigation into the reading proficiency of primary school children in two African countries and tests two hypotheses regarding the relative reading ability of the children in these countries. Test results reveal statistically significant differences in favor of Malawi for reading proficiency in the first language and no…

Challenges the widely endorsed practice of activating relevant knowledge prior to reading. Outlines a perspectival (perspective-relative) view of reading and suggests that this view provides a means to make coherent sense of interpretations. Concludes that having specific knowledge is not the main desideratum in interpreting texts--the main…

This paper discusses the Thai reading curriculum in use at the Foreign Service Institute, focusing on the development of the Thai curriculum over the past four years. It describes the instructional materials used in the program, activities developed to accompany the materials, and suggestions for improvement. Feedback from instructors and students…

Studied how preexisting beliefs about the transmission of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) interact with repeated reading of a persuasive text to influence the nature of information encoded from the text with 61 undergraduates. Preexisting beliefs appeared to influence retrieval but not encoding processes. (SLD)

This article focuses on strategies children can use to foster their reading comprehension and develop metacognitive skills. The article discusses crucial aspects of reading comprehension, the authentic assessment of strategic reading, alternative methods of assessing reading strategies and metacognition, and promoting thinking with literacy…

Fourteen female teachers participating in Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools' Students Achieving Independent Learning Program, which promotes strategies-based instruction to enhance reading comprehension of elementary school students, were interviewed about program effects. Teachers identified both strong points and shortcomings of the…

This paper describes adult literacy pedagogy and philosophy in Australia and reports on two studies of adult reading disabilities. The first study, with 102 asthma patients, showed important differences among different tests of reading comprehension. The second study, using 11 case studies, indicated the need to integrate adult literacy…

Relationships between reading comprehension (RC) and critical thinking skills, vocabulary, and cognitive ability were examined using 3 tests with 165 underachieving first-year college students in a remedial reading class. The Iowa Silent Reading Test's vocabulary subtest best predicted RC. The Developing Cognitive Abilities Test's three subtests…

Criterion-related validity data are presented on 3 methods for assessing reading comprehension, based on 26 learning-disabled middle school students. The standard cloze test and multiple-choice cloze test produced moderate correlations, although the traditional scoring method was considered inappropriate. The story retell procedures demonstrated…