Four experiments were conducted to determine how the keyword method of vocabulary instruction affects both subjects' comprehension of words encountered in sentences (experiments 1 and 2), and their ability to use words in appropriate sentences (experiments 3 and 4). In the first two experiments, college students were presented sentences containing…

In five experiments, college-age students of differing foreign language-learning abilities were asked to learn Latin word translations to determine the effectiveness of the keyword method of foreign language vocabulary learning. The Latin words were the types for which it has been argued that the keyword method effects would be maximized (the…

A study examined the effects of peer tutoring on the achievement of fourth grade remedial readers. Subjects (N=30) were randomly assigned to a control or an experimental group, both of which were pretested using the "Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests" and both received regular classroom instruction. The experimental group received tutoring for ten…

An experiment was developed under the assumption that learning about word families could help ease the introduction of short vowels to first grade students. The hypothesis was that teaching the word families would increase students' reading vocabulary, in contrast to the learning acquired by students taught only phonetic analysis. The control…

To determine why ninth grade students taking the "Minimum Basic Skills Test" (MBST) and the "California Achievement Test" (CAT) performed differently in relation to reading achievement, a study investigated whether the noted discrepencies in reading achievement on the tests were due to differences in vocabulary and…

A study was conducted to determine whether the interests of seventh grade students were reflected in the content of the basal stories used in the classroom. Subjects were 48 seventh graders enrolled in developmental reading in an upper middle-class socioeconomic region of New Jersey. On a questionnaire, students were asked to select from a list of…

Defining reading as a constructive process involving an interaction of the reader, the text, and the context, this paper offers a model of student cognitive processing that incorporates research in reading, thinking, teaching, and instructional materials. The first section of the paper provides the theoretical context for developing the model,…

Of particular interest to those exploring students' learning modalities is the relationship between the visual and auditory systems and reading recall. Among the findings of studies that have investigated this relationship are the following: (1) reading competency is dependent as much on auditory processing as on visual processing; (2) when visual…

Noting that role playing and writing as prereading activities have the potential to improve reading comprehension, a study tested the efficacy of a role playing method for improving reading comprehension. Students in three college developmental reading classes were asked to assume the role of author of a selection that they were about to read and…

Statistics appear to indicate an overwhelming rate of illiteracy around the world, and yet most children (between 70% and 80% in the United States) do learn to read. It is difficult to reconcile the evidence of widespread failure of reading programs with the knowledge that learning to read can actually be quite easy, given the proper…

Noting that most classroom teachers use informal reading inventories (IRI) as diagnostic instruments, a study examined what oral reading accuracy level is most appropriate for the instructional level and whether repetitions should be counted as oral reading errors. Randomly selected students from the second through fifth grades at two elementary…

The reading development of six preschool children who learned to read at home without systematic instruction was studied in depth using the case study method. The main objective of the study was to ascertain (1) if there was an identifiable process by which these children learned to read and (2) the role of the parents in these children's early…

Noting that children and adults often hold misconceptions about topics in content area texts, particularly those in the area of science where counter-intuitive notions about how the real world works abound, a study examined the effect of activating students' background knowledge about motion theory prior to asking them to read a physics text.…

Concerned with improving student comprehension of text, this book focuses particularly on teaching students how sentences tie together. Articles in the three sections are grouped as follows: Part 1, What Is Cohesion Comprehension? contains "Cohesion, Coherence, and Comprehension" (Alden J. Moe and Judith W. Irwin); "Identifying…

A study investigated the feasibility of presenting to primary-grade children a holistic, functional language arts program instead of a subskill one. Over 1,000 children from 16 inner city elementary schools were divided into three groups: (1) Group A, taught by teachers trained in holistic and language oriented approaches to reading and writing,…