Demonstrates the wide variability among children learning to read and explores the consequences of this variability for reading instruction. Shares some examples to demonstrate that variability. Demonstrates what happens when very different children read identical text. Describes a way to organize classrooms that will better accommodate the…

Aims to determine the cognitive processes of adult literacy acquisition. Assesses the progress of 59 women in an intensive adult literacy program in Turkey. Finds that after only 90 hours of instruction, there were significant improvements in letter and word recognition, phonological awareness, and spelling levels. Notes results are consistent…

Addresses the question of the role of general speed/rate of processing in reading impairment in adults. Compares 95 adults varying in word-recognition ability. Shows significant and pervasive speed/rate differences among groups, as well as differences in accuracy performance. (SG)

Explores the role of phonological and syntactic awareness of 9- to 11-year-old Spanish-speaking learners of French in four components of second-language reading. Finds (1) phonological tasks in L2 better explain decoding; (2) word recognition through the visual route is best explained by corresponding ability in L1; (3) sentence comprehension is…

Work with a longitudinal low-income sample of almost 200 early readers revealed that schools that focus entirely on teaching decoding skills in the early grades neglect the essential vocabulary knowledge that students need to become competent readers. (Contains 20 references and 5 tables.) (MLF)

Examines effectiveness of three different reading interventions in reading disabled second and third graders. Compares growth in phonological and orthographic processing and word reading. Finds the most significant mediator of intervention effects was initial differences in phonological and orthographic processing skills. Concludes that synthetic…

Examines the influences of speech perception, oral language ability, emergent literacy, and the home literacy environment on the growth of phonological sensitivity. Finds, overall, the combination of predictors explained a significant proportion of the variance in phonological sensitivity and its growth. Discusses results in terms of their…

Examines reading proficiency and phonological skill using a comprehensive battery of group measures in a Swedish classroom. Suggests that, given sufficient exposure to the majority language, it is possible to assess a range of phonological skills among speakers of minority languages using the same battery of tasks as for native speakers. (SG)

Discusses problematic aspects of multilingualism, looks for plausible reasons to explain the deficits educators have to deal with, and gives a brief sketch of what appears to the author as recommended directions for future research. Concludes that multilingual reading instruction must rely on responsive instruction and reflective teaching. (SG)

Presents the view that the minority differential in United States literacy is parallel to the literacy problems of many countries where the home language of children differs markedly from the first language of reading instruction. Notes that this is the situation that prevails in many developing countries, in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Finds…

Presents an Australian standpoint on literacy policy. Addresses the unreconciled issue of redistributive social justice in Australian education: the educational achievement and life pathways of Aborigine and Torres Strait Islander children and youth. Concludes that to move forward both in research and policy towards a more inclusive literacy in…

Summarizes selected research in the area of student-generated questions by responding to questions posed by secondary preservice teachers in content area reading classes. Notes that student-generated questions make reading an active process and force the reader to focus attention on the reading material. Presents 10 conclusions based on research…

Compares storytelling and story reading in a study of how children and the adult teller/reader interact. Finds that collaboration between storyteller and listener does not manifest itself as readily as between reader and listener. Finds that most of the children prefer teachers to read rather than tell stories. (MG)

Examines the role of readers' subjectivity or personal responses in story interpretation, specifically in the formation of thematic generalizations. (MG)

Measures the relationship between developmental maturity of kindergartners and their performance on a reading readiness test. Finds no significant differences in reading readiness based on age or sex. (RS)