The purpose of this study was to determine differences in word recognition strategies used by good and poor readers. Twenty good readers and twenty poor readers were randomly selected from a fourth grade class and randomly assigned to levels of a five by five repeated-measures Latin Square design. All of the subjects were given two tasks to…

An instructional system designed to implement the objectives of the Southwest Regional Laboratory (SWRL) Reading Program is currently under development. This document defines the program objectives, content, content sequence, and pedagogical strategies for each outcome area. A description of the program's instructional activities, their sequence,…

A detailed description of the syntax in the Southwest Regional Laboratory (SWRL) Mod 2 Kindergarten stories is presented to aid in the formulation of comprehension assessment and instruction. The lexicon and surface structures of the sentences appearing in the stories were classified and tabled in terms of types of elements and functions. The new…

One of the programs included in "Effective Reading Programs...," this program serves more than 1,800 children in grades 1-8. Begun in 1972, this program is designed to provide a strong foundation in reading. The teachers in the district defined by behavioral objectives those reading skills essential to decode and comprehend unfamiliar…

This study explored whether student generated questions aid learning and, more specifically, whether the effective conditions of learning in this learner controlled situation resemble those which occur when questions are instructor imposed. Sixty-four high school students were paid to serve as subjects in this experiment. These students engaged in…

Good and poor sixth grade readers served as subjects. Experiment 1 tested for immediate spatial order memory of letters by giving children four or six consonants and having them place the letters in the order in which they had appeared in a just-viewed stimulus. The consonants composing the strings were either positionally redundant (R) or…

Linguistics and literature are sometimes perceived as competing disciplines, perhaps even hostile ones. Hence, university courses in linguistics are often shunned by teachers fond of literature. Yet insights derived from an objective study of language can help teachers clear the way to students' understanding and enjoyment of literature. Passages…

One of the twelve exemplary reading programs summarized in the Introduction to Right to Read's "Effective Reading Programs: Summaries of 222 Selected Programs" (CS001934), this program uses a variety of cross-referenced materials and small group instruction to develop students' reading skills, vocabulary, and reading comprehension.…

This study investigated the effects of three different word-decoding instructional procedures: a single-letter (SL) approach, a letter-combination (LC) approach, and a procedure in which children receive several weeks' instruction in the SL method and then switch to the LC approach. Grade 1 pupils were assigned at random to the three treatment…

The Wisconsin Prototypic System of Reading Skill Development is described. The sequential arrangement of behavioral objectives in the word attack component is discussed. Basic linguistic concepts underlying the specification of these behavioral objectives are also considered. (Author)

The purposes of this conference panel were to suggest ways of bringing basic and applied research on reading comprehension into an interaction that would enhance both theory and practice, and to develop an approach to the design and study of instructional practice that would maximize the relevance of instructional research for both the public and…

Syntax, or, loosely, sentence structure, is a major linguistic variable influencing the comprehensibility of every written sentence. This paper attempts to set forth the relationship between elements of syntax and reading comprehension as the classroom teacher might see them, and to propose a strategy, the Complete Linguistic Elements Paradigm…

Presented is a critical inquiry about the product of the informal reading inventory (IRI) and about some of the elements used in the process of determining that product. Recent developments on this topic are briefly reviewed. Questions are raised concerning what is a suitable criterion level for word recognition. The original criterion of 95…

To explore the effects of listening instruction on first graders' achievement and, specifically, to assess improvement in listening comprehension and determine the effect of listening instruction on achievement in reading comprehension are the purposes of this study. Six first grade classes were randomly assigned to three groups. A program of…

A description of the organization and activities of several after-school study centers in Brooklyn, New York, funded by ESEA/Title I, is presented. In these centers, seventy thousand students receive remedial help in reading or math, attend open house in the school libraries, or do homework in homework rooms provided to stimulate those who need to…