In its report "Becoming a Nation of Readers," the Commission on Reading defines reading as the process of constructing meaning from written texts, a view of reading that makes the use of strategies seem probable. If a book is a source of partial information, and readers are supposed to use knowledge they already possess to determine the…

Analyzing word frequency in six complete texts, a study investigated how vocabulary can be used to define texts. The texts included three stories from 5th and 6th grade readers, selections from literature anthologies for 8th grade and 12th grade students, and a magazine essay for adults. Results indicated that if particular words occur frequently…

To determine the usefulness of the commonly taught phonics rule, "only pronounce the first vowel in words that contain adjacent vowels" (the VV rule, with the first "v" pronounced with the long vowel sound), two new studies applied it to words with adjacent vowels in several lists and dictionaries. The first study analyzed words containing…

To add a foundation to the growing excitement among educators about the central role they play in helping learners become strategic readers, the articles in this thematic journal provide insight into current reading theory and practice. Richard Telfer's article reviews research on strategic reading and clarifies what is meant by the phrase…

The Chapter 1 Developer/Demonstration Program: Learning To Read through the Arts (LTRTA) was developed to offer intensive reading instruction to eligible New York City students through the integration of a total reading program with a total arts program, from October 1984 to June 1985. Evaluation of the program showed the following: (1) that all…

A study examined the relationship between children's out-of-school activities and their reading achievement. Subjects, 155 fifth graders from a village school and a small city school in Illinois, recorded on daily activity forms how many minutes they spent on a wide range of out-of-school activities. Forms were completed for periods ranging from 8…

Early reading instruction is important for all children, but especially for the disadvantaged, because the decision not to expose them to reading at an early age may result in an unrecoverable loss of intellectual potential. Reading readiness as an approach may exile children from literacy permanently because it is an abstract and alien process…

Focusing on the teaching of reading to children with special needs, this bibliography includes citations with brief annotations on such aspects as spelling, cloze procedure, language acquisition, and remedial reading instruction. The annotations are divided into the following sections: (1) general; (2) English as a second language (ESL)--bilingual…

A study compared students' ability to read their stories written with invented spellings with their ability to reread their stories rewritten with conventional spellings. Fourteen first graders wrote stories using invented spelling and read the text aloud. The stories were then transcribed into conventional text by an adult and reread by the…

Working on the assumption that story structure contributes to the reading comprehension of students, a study assessed the comprehension and recall of 12 seventh and eighth grade remedial reading students. Subjects read a basal story revised to conform to a familiar story grammar and the original, unrevised, basal story. The two original stories…

The expert systems are designed to imitate the reasoning of a human expert in a content area field. Designed to be advisors, these software systems combine the content area knowledge and decision-making ability of an expert with the user's understanding and knowledge of particular circumstances. The reading diagnosis system, the RD2P System…

Using a semantic mapping technique for vocabulary instruction, a study explored how children of diverse groups bring different cultural backgrounds and prior knowledge to tasks involved in learning new words. The study was conducted in three sixth-grade classrooms--one containing rural Native American (especially Menominee) children, another…

A study tested the validity of arguments leveled against reader-response methods of reading instruction, which--if these criticisms are correct--would produce lower comprehension scores on objective tests and less accurate recall from students. Subjects, 84 college freshmen in four developmental reading classes, were taught using one of four…

A study examined whether the female superiority in reading achievement that exists in the United States is duplicated in a population that is genetically similar but culturally different from that of the United States. A sample of 4th and 6th grade students from Bielefeld, West Germany, and a sample of 4th and 6th grade students from Rialto,…

To ascertain whether reading attitudes changed as boys and girls progressed through the grades, a reading attitude inventory was administered to 234 children in grades one through six. Items in the inventory were grouped into the following categories: free reading in the classroom, organized reading in the classroom, reading at the library,…