Describes a four-step process by which teachers can select and present stories in the reading/language arts classroom. Discusses three storytelling-related strategies (Directed Listening-Thinking Activity, Storytelling Maps, and Folktale Updates) useful for developing reading/listening comprehension and vocabulary. Presents procedures for…

The validity of cloze as a measure of intersentential comprehension (across-sentence information integration) was studied with 281 fifth graders by comparing it with a second measure expressly designed to assess such comprehension. Results suggest that cloze scores may reflect intersentential comprehension sufficiently to warrant their continued…

Focuses on the staff development process and describes a project in which a group of teachers explored barriers to teachers' use of research-based practices when teaching reading comprehension. Ends with an invitation for other teachers to engage in a similar process and to communicate their stories. (MG)

Discusses the "sore-finger" form of multiple choice test items. "Sore finger" items employ authentic texts making use of the rules of text grammar, achieve high discrimination levels, and show a high validity for several subtests, especially style tests. The use of sore finger items in German nationwide English and German tests…

Takes readers to a second grade classroom to see how children's meanings of a story grow as they engage in a variety of related activities. Discusses how the meaning of a story grows to become multifaceted as children use the story for different personal and social purposes in the classroom. (MG)

Predictions of a model of instructional feedback were tested as 117 undergraduates read a text, rated certitudes, and received feedback at varying speeds. Results support the hypothesized relationship between certitude and the probability of correctly answering posttest questions, but not between certitude and durability (maintaining a response…

Conditions necessary for effective illustrations in scientific texts were studied with 300 college students in 3 experiments involving illustrations of mechanical devices. Cognitive conditions for effective illustrations include (1) appropriate text; (2) appropriate testing; (3) explanatory illustrations; and (4) learners with relatively low…

Presents results of a study comparing self-correction rates among good and poor readers in a reading level design that controlled text difficulty. Reports no significant differences between the groups when reading identical passages at equivalent error rates. Concludes that self-correction rates correlate with reading accuracy but not…

Investigates the ability of middle school readers to summarize and learn from text. Finds that students exhibit difficulty in stating an unstated topic sentence and in ascertaining the most important information in the text. Makes five recommendations for improving the teaching of the summarization technique. (PRA)

The aim of the present study was to develop a model for a criterion-referenced mastery reading comprehension test for university English-as-a-foreign-language courses. The research confirmed the hypothesized relationship between learners' needs, reading tasks, course content and their cumulative contribution to the formulation of the criteria of a…

The usefulness of bilingual dictionaries for vocabulary learning was examined with 293 Japanese university students studying English as a foreign language. Students who used a dictionary during reading scored significantly better on a vocabulary test than those who did not, but there was evidence for differential item functioning. (25 references)…

The comprehensibility, interestingness, familiarity, and memorability of concrete and abstract instructional texts were studied in 4 experiments involving 221 college students. Results indicate that concreteness (ease of imagery) is the variable overwhelmingly most related to comprehensibility and recall. Dual coding theory and schema theory are…

Investigates the relationship between type of reading instruction and reading comprehension. Uses predictor variables including IQ, group, race, and comprehension pretest score to predict comprehension score. Finds that the dependent variable was not significantly related to method of reading instruction, and there was no interaction effect…

Investigates the effects of case-based instruction, compared to traditional instruction, on students' ability to activate, assemble, and incorporate different knowledge sources in memory. Finds that activating and expanding knowledge through the use of thematically organized and cross-disciplinary self-selected cases facilitated students' ability…

Conducted a read-and-recall procedure with 40 individuals in Japanese courses, 20 native readers of Japanese, and 16 native readers of English. First language readers recalled high coherence texts (HCTs) better than low coherence texts. Advanced L2 readers showed a similar advantage for HCTs in their second reading. Texts used in the study are…