Discourse can be organized in many different ways, two of these being comparison and a collection of descriptions. These two discourse types correspond to schemata that vary in their organizational components, and these differences can be expected to produce differences in the processing of text. For example, research has shown that for young…

To examine how classroom conditions such as students' mean aptitude, materials used, and instructional time influence the amount of reading material covered, 12 first grade classrooms were each observed for 12 days over a 36-week period. Students' reading readiness and word recognition skills were tested prior to observation while group mean…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 13 titles deal with the following topics: (1) the development, implementation, and evaluation of a reading improvement program for business and industry; (2) how instruction in a college rapid reading course meets individual…

Intended to assist underachieving high school pupils in improving their reading and communication skills, the Secondary Developmental Reading Program in the Columbus, Ohio Public Schools, emphasized literacy survival skills and reached 809 pupils in grades 9 and 10 in 13 senior high schools during the 1986-87 school year. The program used…

A study was conducted to determine the reading level of students in a college remedial reading and writing class, the gains they made during a semester of instruction, the differences in gains made by students taking the remedial class alone and those taking that class and the normal basic composition course, and the differences in gains made by…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 18 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) the effects of phonemic segmentation and blending training on the word recognition performance of learning disabled readers; (2) a comparison of two remedial…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 11 titles deal with the following topics: secondary school principals' attitudes toward characteristics of an ideal reading program; the effects of rock music on the reading comprehension of eighth grade students; objectives for…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 14 titles deal with the following topics: children's ability to read their own dictated oral language; adjunct structure and reading comprehension; learning and comprehension of simultaneously presented stimuli in children of…

This study examined reading in a second language among 12 fourth and fifth grade Mexican American bilinguals. The children's oral reading and recall was taped. Oral reading errors were categorized and tallied. The reading performance was evaluated by a system-oriented analysis of recall and of reading errors where "error" was defined as any…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The ten titles deal with the following topics: (1) the composing process of adult basic writing students; (2) an integrated approach to reading and writing for college students; (3) the teaching and learning of reading in the…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 28 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) cognitive style and the reading of children in second grade; (2) the effect of increased review in teaching sight words to average and poor readers; (3)…

This report gives a history of the 1979-80 segment of a continuing project that is designed to provide a theoretically based description of children's transition from prereading to reading, along with tools that teachers may use to assess children's emerging literacy abilities. The first chapter provides an introduction to the project, while the…

Following a discussion of the differences between oral and written speech, this paper examines the act of reading written speech and the role that contextual information plays in reading comprehension. It notes the interaction that occurs between reader and text, points out the way in which written language makes demands upon readers'…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 12 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: the relationship of text organization to readability and reading ability; how advance organizers, outlining, and other preparatory procedures affect learning and…

The reading research studies presented in this volume address questions that incorporate more than one culture, language, or writing system, illustrate a broad conceptualization of the study of reading, and represent the expanding international consciousness and program of the International Reading Association. Part one offers the following…