Uses hierarchical regression logic to isolate the relationship between wide reading and reading-related language development in 122 fourth graders. Finds that higher levels of wide reading were associated with stronger listening comprehension ability. Finds indirect evidence to suggest that wide readers may be increasing their listening…

This study examined the effect on comprehension of the number of propositions in a piece of spoken discourse, words per minute (WPM) rate, and presentation of pictures with the discourse. Results indicated better comprehension at lower WPM and when pictures were presented. No significant interactions were found. (14 references) (MES)

Analyzes the requests for clarification used by instruction receivers. Discusses insights about the interactive nature of communication success and failure with regard to route directions. Provides validation for a model of message comprehension. (HB)

Finds that oral retelling of stories (as an instructional procedure with language learning-disabled students) is most effective in a one-to-one context with the teacher as audience. Finds students' oral retelling abilities inconsistent with regard to age. (SR)

Argues that listening comprehension problems of adult Bulgarian learners of English arise from phonological differences between the two languages. Specifically examined is the contribution of certain characteristics of speech in English, such as assimilation and elision, to these problems. (seven references) (JL)

Finds that (1) U.S. listeners assigned more favorable assessment to U.S. than non-U.S.-accented speakers but that information recall was not affected; and (2) status affected recall, with subjects recalling more information from messages delivered by professors than by students. (SR)

Eight congenitally blind children (ages 6-11), individually matched with 8 sighted children (ages 4-10), were tested for their ability to identify vocal expressions of emotion and the sounds of a range of nonemotional objects. They had specific difficulty recognizing emotions according to vocal qualities. (Author/DB)

This investigation documented how hearing-impaired adults (n=8) use communication repair strategies and attempted to change these strategies by communication therapy. Subjects practiced using alternative repair strategies when they did not correctly speechread a videotaped sentence. After therapy, subjects utilized the "repeat" strategy less and…

Examines native language transfer in second-language comprehension and production in relation to the different demands that the four language modalities make on the second-language learner and focuses on the different roles played by context and potential knowledge in comprehension and production. (53 references) (Author/CB)

Discusses a study that attempted to create and test the validity of an error analysis model usable by high school teachers. Results indicate that, in themes that do not contain significant mechanical errors, syntactical errors do not lead to a breakdown of meaning. Numerous syntactical errors, however, do create comprehension problems. (15…

Presents current definitions of listening and examines the correlation between listening and reading. Considers the positive effects of enhancing children's listening skills and suggests strategies for listening instruction in the classroom. (MG)

This study, involving 15 older adults with hearing impairments, investigated the relationship between sentence recognition ability and two types of signal processing in hearing aids. Results indicated a significant improvement in sentence recognition when employing an instrument with adaptive compression versus an instrument with an adaptive…

Discusses methods of assessing language comprehension in apes. Considers the possible effect of brain physiology on the differences between productive and receptive language skills. Examines the possibility that differences between synaptic transmission and volume transmission, or transmission across extracellular spaces, of neurological impulses…

The assumption that pragmatic probability facilitates the processing of lower linguistic levels is tested and disproved. Two experiments demonstrate that detection of acoustic properties that distinguish two speakers is harder in more pragmatically probable sentences and indicate that discourse- and sentence-level representations are functionally…

An investigation into the effects of varying speech rates on English-as-a-Second-Language learners' comprehension of 350- to 400-word passages read by native speakers found that moderately fast speech rates resulted in significantly reduced comprehension, although there were few differences among comprehension at slow and average speech rates. (56…