Presents the use and development of analogical processes in learning to read in Spanish. Finds that 6-year-old children show logical effects in reading pseudowords, and the magnitude of this effect is the same with 10-year-olds. Cautions that 10-year-olds make more lexicalizations when reading pseudowords and that 9-year-olds can make more…

Notes that federal officials stress that educators should not overlook key elements in reading instruction (phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension), even with the No Child Left Behind Act's emphasis on phonics. Discusses how families play a critical role in reading instruction. (SG)

Presents 3 experiments that examine whether Japanese readers activate phonological information when reading kanji compound words and sentences and if so, how they do it. Suggests that readers activate phonological information of two-kanji compound words when reading for comprehension but not for simple proofreading. (SG)

Considers how the RTEACHER electronic mailing list thrust professional discussions of literacy education into an electronic dimension with global connections and instantaneous exchanges. Notes that the RTEACHER listserv gave reading teachers an electronic platform for voicing their perspectives on political maneuvers that aimed the National…

Presents evidence that indicates recognition memory consists of three separate representations: a surface representation, a propositional textbase, and a situation model. (KEH)

Responds to the author's genuine and imagined reader mail. Discusses issues involving "information anxiety," educational jargon, statistical versus educational significance, and cultural literacy. (RS)

Investigates the way native Chinese speakers process Chinese and Western numerals. Finds they process the numerals differently and that they processed Western numerals differently than native English speakers do. Concludes that Chinese and Western numerals are not a homogeneous set of stimuli. (RS)

Examines biographies presented in five of the most popular basal reading series. Finds that the great majority of the biographical selections appeared in only one series. Concludes that there is no core of agreement about who receives biographical coverage in basals. (RS)

Classifies articles from "Reading Research Quarterly" and the "Journal of Reading Behavior" as examples of empirical/analytic, symbolic, or critical science to discover the types of assumptions which underlie current reading research. Finds that nearly all articles employ the assumptions from natural and physical…

Examines the error detection task, a paradigm used to measure metacognitive skill. Finds that conceptual tempo, passage readability, and error type, as well as reading ability, influence sixth-grade students' performance on error detection tasks. (MM)

Investigates the role of paragraph markings in text: how informative paragraph cues are and how they affect interpretation. Reports one study asking subjects to reinstate deleted paragraph markings. Reports a second study examining the effect of paragraph boundaries on reading time, ratings, and judgment of important ideas in the text. (JAD)

Asserts that experimental research articles are "explanatory minihistories," of reading containing elements of prescription, description, and prediction found in most histories. Argues that reading historians will have to select from among these minihistories to arrive at an explanatory history of the reading field. (MM)

Defines two types of antimony--minor, contradictory statements that have major effects--and shows how they abound in reading research. Concludes that the problem of antimonies must be resolved before research, on empirical grounds alone, can effectively improve practice. (MM)

Investigates the influence of metaphors on text processing. Varies the degree of explicitness provided between a metaphor and new information. Finds that metaphors increase learning of the idea units strongly related to the metaphors, and thus can be used to increase learning of particular material in text. (SR)

Surveys issues raised in earlier articles in this issue of the journal regarding standards for reading research methodologies. Offers a tentative explanation of why debates, paradigm wars, and parallel play are prevalent in literacy research. (RS)