Oral reading speeds for letters, words out of context, and simple text and reading achievement were measured in samples of children and adults. Results are used to discuss the nature and development of a general identification speed variable and an orthographic structure variable. (AA)

This study deals with the patterns of word-by-word reading times over a sentence when the subject must code the linguistic information sufficiently for immediate verbatim recall. A class of quantitative models is considered that would account for reading times at phrase breaks. (Author/RM)

Data from the application of word reading, letter recognition, memory and classification tasks to preschool children suggest that word learning ability is more closely tied to cognitive development than is alphabet knowledge and that reading readiness assessment might profit from applying a word learning task. (MB)

Reports on a study investigating the contributions of visual factors dependent upon the use of symbols as intermediary units and concludes that perceptual factors may play an important role in the use of Chinese characters as intermediaries in introducing reading. (JM)

Research shows congenitally deaf children, in comparison with normal children of similar reading experience, greatly excelled in spelling ability and possessed extraordinary word perception ability. (HOD)

A study of physical and pedagogical characteristics, determination of basal difficulty, and story contents in West German and United States reading texts shows that basal readers are more often similar than dissimilar, perhaps having undergone similar developmental changes across cultures. (JM)

Reports research which shows that a wide gap exists between basal reader language and children's level of oral language development. (JM)

Discusses research which shows that activity-centered classes do affect self-concept positively and may increase reading achievement for some first graders. (JM)

Examines the relationship between current concepts of reading processes and contemporary theories of literary response. Argues that text-based reading theories are isomorphic with the New Criticism, and that reader-based theories of reading are isomorphic with reader-response criticism. Maintains that literary theory ignores interactive…

Discusses how teachers can plan time for talking with their students. The techniques proposed are circle time, where the students sit in a circle around the teacher and talk about reading, and individual interviews, where teachers converse one-on-one for 5 to 10 minutes with students. (SKC)

Reports a study indicating that students who received instructions to induce mental imagery identified both explicit and implicit inconsistencies in text significantly more often than did those in a control group, supporting the use of mental imagery as a comprehension-monitoring strategy. (HTH)

Reports two experiments supporting the hypothesis that with reading experience, children identify the systematic relationship between pronunciation and orthographic structure and utilize that knowledge in the pronunciation of unfamiliar words. (HTH)

Employs four action strategies--planning, acting, observing, and reflecting--to improve reader guidance practice in elementary schools. Concludes that the interdependent, interactive phases of the action research cycle provided a framework for making instructional improvements and enhancing theoretical understanding. Includes excerpts from…

Points out that four theories underlie preschool reading programs, then provides a summary of practices in American preschools and day care programs, synthesizes research on preschool reading instruction, and offers seven suggestions to preschool educators. (FL)

Hypothesizes that good spellers read by full cues while poor spellers read by partial cues, and also investigates short term memory differences between the two groups. Finds good spellers were faster readers, better at identifying matches and mismatches between similar nonsense words, and had better short term memories than poor spellers. (SKC)