A study investigated the relationship between text organization and children's reading comprehension of expository material. Upgraded and downgraded versions of both macrostructures and microstructures were combined to produce four texts on the topic of insect-eating plants. Forty-three seventh grade students were randomly assigned to one of the…

The issue addressed in this paper is the relationship between form in fictional prose and form in other uses of language, particularly those uses important in composition theory. Form in composition theory has traditionally had two ways of identifying units of analysis: (1) the sentence and semantic units, and (2) pragmatic and rhetorical units.…

A review of the literature supports the notion that adolescent literature offers vast opportunities for application to educational settings. Efforts to legitimize the genre by making it more realistic have succeeded in winning approval from professional organizations, educators, and the general public. With its only recently improved status,…

To determine the effects of repeated readings with cues on reading fluency and comprehension, a study was conducted on 30 third grade students reading at or above grade level, utilizing three equally difficult passages. Half the children were told to read for meaning, and the other half were cued to read for speed and accuracy. These cues were…

A study examined two contexts in teaching a language experience approach (LEA) reading lesson to kindergarten children. The five children--Black, Hispanic, and White students of varying ability levels--first developed a group story of their own using the Van Allen language experience approach. The teacher recorded the story, and the students wrote…

The Grid Systems is a phonetic learning device designed by McGinley (1982) to develop adult vocabulary. The name is derived from the fact that the student workbook is set up on a grid, with the top of the page showing the vowel sounds and the left side the consonant sounds. Words are formed on the grid where these sounds combine (some of the…

A study was conducted to determine if the use of reading games or activities would cause greater improvement in the reading achievement scores of third grade low-achieving students in an urban school than would traditional instructional methods. A control group of five children received traditional reading instruction, while an experimental group…

Basic skills versus free reading for comprehension, classics versus contemporary novels, and ethnic literature versus a common core of literary culture are among the hotly debated arguments in teaching today. Even among educators and specialists in the field, there is no agreement. However, the National Council of Teachers of English Commission on…

To analyze the validity of W. L. Taylor's cloze testing methodology, this paper first examines three areas contributing to Taylor's thinking: communications theory, the psychology of speech and communication, and the theory of dispositional mechanisms--or nonessential words--in speech. It then evaluates Taylor's research to determine how he…

A study examined how the text variables of organizational plan (top-level structure), emphasis plan (implemented through signalling devices), and presence of details influenced the selection of reading strategies by adults. Subjects--149 young, middle aged, and older expert readers--read and recalled in writing two expository prose passages of 388…

A study was conducted to determine if instruction in the cloze procedure could affect standardized reading comprehension test scores. Subjects were 33 high school sophomores enrolled in two separate remedial reading classes. One intact class served as the experimental group, the other as the control. All subjects were given the Gates MacGinitie…

A study examined whether (1) subjects' comprehension and recall of an expository passage would improve if they were given information about the organization of the passage before they read it, (2) the effects of being given such information would be similar across various hierarchical levels of the passage, and (3) the effects would be similar…

A study examined the effectiveness of using volunteer reading tutors to work with students who have reading difficulties. Changes in academic engaged time, active responding time, achievement, and student attitude were assessed, along with information from tutor evaluations. Subjects, nine intervention and eight control students with mild…

A process-product study explored the relationship between quantity and quality of time spent on reading instruction and student achievement in reading. Subjects, 22 third and fourth grade teachers and their 480 students in a small school district in the Piedmont region of South Carolina, used self-report logs to record the quantity of time devoted…

Summarizing more than 800 reports of reading research identified between July 1, 1987, and June 30, 1988, this book categorizes the research studies into six major areas, five of which have been further subcategorized, with the majority of studies classified into the physiology and psychology of reading area. The major areas are as follows: (1)…