Contrasts good and poor readers' text recall while listening and while reading aloud to determine if poor readers have a decoding problem, a comprehension problem, or both. Finds no significant difference in listening comprehension between good and poor readers for either easy or difficult texts. (MM)

Examines the connections between oral reading abilities and spelling behaviors of third- and fifth-grade students. Confirms a strong relationship between spelling skill and oral reading ability, supporting the argument that a common body of conceptual word knowledge underlies both. (RS)

Examines (using a variety of measures for assessment) the development of print awareness in urban, Black preschool children of a wide age range enrolled in a day-care setting. Finds that Black children prior to kindergarten entry have begun to acquire some concepts about written language. (MM)

Criticizes Marie Carbo's article, "Debunking the Great Phonics Myth" (in Kappan's November 1988 issue), for waging a relentless debate against phonics and falsely attributing low U.S. reading achievement scores to a phonics emphasis. Clears up confusions and inaccuracies in Carbo's article concerning first and second editions of the…

Reports on two experiments examining the influence of intensity (the quality of language indicating the speakers'/writers' attitude toward their topic) on inferential processing. Finds that high-intensity passages triggered inference making during recall more readily than did the texts low in intensity. (SR)

Determines if children enrolled in different types of preschool programs (ranging from maturational to early formal reading) differed in their knowledge of print concepts. Finds that the type of program was not a deciding factor in acquiring prereading print knowledge. (RS)

Examined the processing of speech and nonspeech sounds by 23 reading-disabled children. Children were required to identify and report the order of pairs of stimuli. Children had difficulty with very brief tones and stop consonant syllables at short interstimulus intervals. (SAK)

Investigates children's reading interests, the extent to which their parents are aware of these interests, and the ability of parents and children to select books at appropriate reading levels. (RAE)

Reports on a study which examined students' attitudes toward reading basals as opposed to children's novels. Notes that children overwhelmingly preferred novels over the basal series. (MM)

Distinguishes four phases in the development of sight word reading: prealphabetic, partial alphabetic, full alphabetic, and consolidated alphabetic. Suggests that this system represents the regularities that underlie the written forms of English words that all learners must internalize to build a fully functioning sight vocabulary. (RS)

Discusses research that supports the view that early phonological awareness affects children's ability to exploit the alphabetic system, and so to develop a sublexical route from print to sound to meaning. Discusses implications for teachers. (RS)

Reviews three sorts of converging evidence regarding dyslexic children's phonological processing difficulties: data from studies of spoken language impairments in dyslexic readers, evidence from the analysis of dyslexic reading and spelling skills, and evidence of phonological deficits that vary in severity and extent across the life-span in…

Describes an informal study of literature response journals in a graduate language arts methods course. Details advantages of response journals, procedures for use, and graduate students' reactions to journals as indicated on a questionnaire. Provides samples of students' aesthetic responses to literature. (RS)

Finds that teachers used more than one activity to teach new words but typically did not use activities identified in the research literature as effective; teachers' stated purposes for vocabulary instruction were congruent with the requirements of the basal reading series used; and teachers defined the importance of vocabulary knowledge in terms…

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…