Determines the type and number of words that are in the environmental vocabularies of a selected group of second-grade students. Discusses the importance of parents and teachers assisting children to develop their environmental vocabularies. (RS)

Examines the written responses of Hispanic, African-American and Caucasian elementary students after listening to various African-American stories to see whether engagement with text is related to student's ethnicity. Finds that students were equally capable of engagement in the African-American stories regardless of their ethnicity. (RS)

Compares preschool and first grade children's ability to make three types of inferences: script-based inferences, invited inferences, and logical inferences. Finds preschoolers better able to make script-based inferences and first graders better able to draw script-based and invited inferences. Suggests that children's ability to draw inferences…

Distinguishes between macrostructures and microstructures in text, reviews research on the comprehension of text structures, and concludes that both theory and research support the presence of a link between text structure and reading comprehension. (DMM)

Describes the purpose and functional operation of new computer-driven technologies such as computerized axial tomography, positron emissions transaxial tomography, regional cerebral blood flow monitoring, magnetic resonance imaging, and brain electrical activity mapping. Outlines their current contribution to the knowledge base. Speculates on the…

Examines the impact of the traditional form of reading instruction on the reading attitudes and perceptions of the reading process of 467 elementary school children. Compares children taught traditionally and children who received no formal reading instruction. Finds that reading attitudes and perceptions of the reading process were affected by…

Reports on part of a larger study that seeks to determine visual screening needs as they apply to reading, learning, and classroom environment. Concludes that, when carefully interpreted, an analysis of eye motion in the reading act can supply important information for teachers and parents. (MG)

Discusses the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement's reading literacy study in Finland. Shows that, although language-minority students are often expected to have lower achievement in school, students from Swedish-speaking homes in Finland scored almost as well as their Finnish-speaking counterparts on extensive…

Presents a model (developed as a result of surveying college students enrolled in "Fiction for Adolescents" classes) to help teachers recognize adolescent novels which are likely to appeal to their students and which have literary merit. (SR)

Describes a research study of literacy use in low-income homes and the ways in which the research team addresses issues of culture, class, and social dynamics of family and communities. Shares some tentative findings to raise further issues. Suggests that researchers and practitioners maintain a reflective stance on the subject of family literacy.…

Notes that, although traditionally most of the research into nonlinear systems has been related to research in the physical sciences, recently new ideas involving chaos have been developed in the social sciences. Discusses chaos theory for reading and literacy research. (RS)

Presents the 38 most common phonograms (rhymes or word families) in rank order based on frequency. Notes that these 38 phonograms with added beginning consonants can make 654 different one-syllable words, and that teaching phonograms can be a definite help in teaching students to decode and thus to read and write better. (SR)

Examines the contributions of rapid automatic naming, verbal ability, and phonological awareness to the prediction of phonological and orthographic skills from the first to the second grade. Illustrates how explicit computational models of reading can clarify relations among tasks commonly used in reading research. (SC)

Describes an instructional practice called "SCAN and RUN" (intended to promote greater reading comprehension development and success in a wider range of students) that uses a novel system of seven cues for strategies to increase reading comprehension by guiding students' understanding, learning, and recall of content material. Presents encouraging…

Investigates metacognitive monitoring in the processing of anaphors in 10-year-old skilled and less-skilled comprehenders. Finds that less skilled comprehenders (1) showed deficiencies in monitoring on measures of implicit and explicit evaluation and revision; and (2) were sensitive to difficulties in processing pronouns in the self-evaluation…