Examines the degree to which the levels of English proficiency (high vs. low) and education (graduate vs. undergraduate) of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students were associated with differences in their reading behaviors. Finds that the subjects' level of education and English proficiency were associated with their reading behavior…

Investigates context effects for words with more than one meaning. Finds that younger children (third graders) were more sensitive to the sentence context in which an ambiguous word appears, whereas the processing of older children (sixth graders) was determined more by the relative frequencies of the word meanings. (RS)

Notes that high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging allows in vivo quantification of the surface area of the cortex covering the planum temporale. Reviews the definition of planum asymmetry as it relates to structural accompaniments of disorders such as developmental dyslexia and to anatomic and functional lateralization. Finds support for the…

Reviews computer tomography and magnetic resonance imaging studies examining deviations in brain morphology. Discusses methodological and technical issues. Concludes that dyslexics show variations in specific brain regions. Suggests that neuroimaging procedures appear to provide direct evidence supporting the importance of deviations in normal…

Reviews research toward defining the neuropathological mechanisms responsible for developmental dysphasia. Hypothesizes that higher level auditory processing dysfunction may result from more basic temporal processing deficits which interfere with resolution of brief duration stimuli. Suggests two alternative hypotheses regarding the…

Finds that the subject's overall reading and spelling levels rose significantly but that the qualitative nature of the performance remained unchanged. Finds no evidence of mastery of the alphabetic "stage" of reading or spelling. Suggests that current reading models do not adequately account for individual variations in the acquisition…

Explores the use of a diary as a tool to mediate the strategic reading instruction of classroom teachers. Finds that a diary may be an important mediational tool in helping reading teachers to access knowledge acquired during inservice education and regulating their instructional activity. (RS)

Discusses conventional theory of speech and attempts to prove that it is implausible and likely to mislead the reading researcher or teacher who follows it. Offers and supports an alternative theory that is more plausible and less conventional which argues that phonologic structures developed early in life provide a basis for reading…

Investigates the size and shape of the effective visual field in Chinese reading by systematically manipulating the availability of meaningful information on both sides of a fixated character. Shows that the effective visual field was asymmetric and skewed in the direction of scanning with a highly limited size, composed of the fixated character…

Describes a model of evaluating literacy that places students' understandings in the foreground of assessment and instructional decision making. Describes gathering a variety of data that represent various perspectives, interpreting these data critically, and developing appropriate teaching strategies, which are then refined with student feedback.…

Analyzes and compares the types and frequencies of background knowledge children use during independent emergent readings, and those children and teachers use in group-shared reading experiences that precede emergent readings. Uses this information to provide evidence for a model of reading as an activity constrained by contextual factors such as…

Finds that literacy experience in a first or second language promoted the underlying interdependent proficiency base. Supports the "Common Underlying Proficiency" model, and suggests that these underlying proficiencies may vary relative to the orthography of the first language. Finds that students were achieving academically, whereas their…

Multi-level hierarchical linear modeling was used to compare growth curves for children receiving instruction aimed at single orthographic-phonological connections. Growth rate on phonics probes was significantly faster for the group receiving multiple-connections treatment. Urges school psychologists to recommend multiple strategies for helping…

Looks at what is known about multisyllabic words, which is a lot more than educators knew when the previous generation of multisyllabic word instruction was created. Reviews the few studies that have carried out instructional approaches to increase students' ability to decode big words. Outlines a program of instruction, based on what is currently…

Research on whole language suggests its effects on achievement vary markedly from site to site, and differences may be based not on whether a teacher uses it but how it is implemented. Learning-styles research suggests that little is gained from matching children to methods using learning styles. Instead, any approach needs to take into account…