The study compared effects of two ways of making text more explicit for learning disabled (LD) children: by adding supportive information or asking inference questions at the ends of episodes. Adding elaborative content enhanced story understanding while asking inference questions was not more effective than the explicit version of the text alone.…

Examines how visual literacy (the ability to interpret the visual images of advertisements, illustrations, television, and other visual media) can promote creative and analytic thinking. Provides several instructional strategies to teach visual literacy through book illustrations. Notes that visual literacy is essential in a world increasingly…

Using the ideas of Paul Ricoeur and Clifford Geertz, this article develops the notion of education as a "text" and analyzes the "hidden curriculum" of that text as it is read by all members of the society. The hypothesis is proposed that education becomes a text about society's myths and sacred beliefs. (TE)

Focuses on guiding readers toward making informed decisions about choosing appropriate paths through and beyond the text. Points out that this type of reading program can work as well for intermediate grade readers as it does for primary readers. (ET)

Looks at implications of children meeting stories and storybook characters not only through books and videos but through anything from toys and games to pajamas. (RS)

Explored the information processing abilities associated with expertise in literature in high school and college students. Found that literary experts were superior to novices in gist-level recall, extraction of interpretations, and breadth of aspects addressed of literary texts but not in comprehension of scientific texts. (AA)

Discusses one seven-year-old girl's responses to three feminist folktales. Finds that for each tale, the girl was drawn to the female protagonist and named her as her favorite character, but the girl did not wish to emulate the female protagonists because of their unconventionality. Suggests that such tales may offer alternative models of female…

Explores the abilities of third graders to interpret literature that serves as an extended metaphor for real life. Finds that using literature to focus children's attention on the similarities that can be drawn across diverse domains provides an avenue for higher-level thinking. (RS)

Studies the ways readers create meaning initially from literary texts. Analyzes the data collected via think-aloud protocols and interviews. Compares reading tactics of first-year college students and graduate students. (HB)

Tells the story of the interaction with text of a teenage reluctant reader, in an attempt to show the value of a case study methodology when exploring the reading patterns of reluctant readers. (SR)

Two experiments with 188 college students investigated the facilitative effect of typographical signals such as underlining, headings, or other devices to help readers identify specific points. Results do not support a general facilitative effect of typographical signals but suggest that use of signals depends on the reader's strategic processing.…

Argues that the primary value of literature lies within the work itself, an appreciation of it, and the connections readers make to it. Discusses how a reader response approach offers one way to open the door for children to the lived-through experience of literature as art with intrinsic value. (SR)

Finds that a graphical browser (a graphical representation of the structure of a hypertext document) had no effect on recall, comprehension, or recall of text structure but that it did increase the amount of text read by users and reduced the number of nodes repeated during reading. (SR)

Reflects on a thematic section on "The Status of Women" taught in a freshmen writing class. Discusses the resistance of the author and students and the angered and impassioned writing that arises when texts challenge the ideologies of readers. (MG)

Argues that the Reading Recovery Program presents a model that allows children to interact with the semantic, syntactic, and visual cues of text based on the language they already possess. Suggests that the result is a fusion of horizons between the child and the text which brings forth an understanding of the reading process. (RS)