Considers the validity of Widdowson's discourse model of communicative competence and performance as the basis for developing tests of reading. Describes basic structure of the model and attempts to add to original description in such a way that is possible to design an operational test of the model components. The purpose of the model validation…

Outlines major research findings in cognitive-discourse-processing research on learning from text. Describes general characteristics of classrooms based on constructivist principles of learning and that support critical thinking, problem solving, and collaborative learning. Argues that such classrooms raise a number of new issues for…

Describes a peer tutoring program used in grades two and three of a school where the majority of children entering school do not speak English as their first language. Shows impressive gains made by the children in reading fluency, comprehension, and in spelling. Notes the program's positive effects on reading attitudes, positive social skills,…

Evaluates strategies undertaken to improve students' foreign language reading competence. The article focuses on the ability of pupils to cope with reading texts containing unknown vocabulary, students' motivation to overcome difficulties in comprehension, the best methods to attain a permanent vocabulary gain from reading, and the transfer of…

Discusses a study that examined how mechanical reading difficulties or problems with decoding can adversely effect reading comprehension. Provides pedagogical implications to consider when implementing a remedial program. Gives examples of phonological awareness tasks and implicit and explicit phonetics, and makes suggestions for reading rate…

This study compared the literal and inferential comprehension abilities for textual, functional, and recreational text genres of 195 students who were deaf or hard of hearing. Literal comprehension exceeded inferential comprehension for males but not females. Educational setting (special class, resource room, or fully mainstreamed) influenced…

This article summarizes the National Research Council's conclusions concerning key developmental milestones in the various domains relevant to reading success, including phonological awareness, letter identification, the alphabetic principle, automatic word recognition, and comprehension strategies. Beneficial opportunities for preschoolers and…

Presents the shared, exclusive and modified components of college and precollege (elementary and secondary classroom) reading instruction in order to facilitate in-service and preparation for college reading instructors. Presents the reasons for differences and exclusive components after discussing shared components. Reveals components of…

Compares two approaches for preparing students to take standardized reading tests. Discusses study that used a pretest-posttest design with reading-comprehension passages and questions to assess improvement. Suggests that measurable gain in short-term developmental programs may require focusing on a more modest number of teaching objectives,…

For all first graders, "high level of functioning" includes both continuing oral language development and new competencies in reading and writing. With young children in their preschool years, conversations can happen easily and frequently with familiar adults. According to one recently-reprinted earlier study, British psychologist Barbara Tizard…

The purpose of this study was to (a) examine how the reading skills of children at-risk are affected by tutoring by preservice reading endorsement students, (b) to identify differences by setting, gender and grade level, and to (c) identify effective strategies and influences on student success in a four-month tutoring program. Data were collected…

This study examines the longitudinal relations among early literacy experiences at home and children's kindergarten literacy skills, Grade 1 word reading and spelling skills, and Grade 4 reading comprehension, fluency, spelling, and reading for pleasure. Ninety French-speaking children were tested at the end of kindergarten and Grade 1, and 65…

Spanish was the first language of the majority of the author's 9th and 10th grade students who came from the Caribbean and Central and South America. Parents often worked late hours, and many students were employed, or had family responsibilities after school. Based on the realities of their lives, her students' engagement in reading was…

Reading comprehension instruction in many classrooms focuses on teacher-generated questions which actually measure comprehension of specific text rather than developing metacognitive strategies for comprehending all text. Explicit instruction in the metacognitive strategies of making text connections, predicting, and sequencing, was evaluated for…

This article describes a strategic approach for reading and comprehending scientific information from a middle school science textbook. First, the word-reading skills of children with and without reading difficulties are compared. Second, studies investigating the effectiveness of a syllable-based reading approach on the word-reading skills of…