Criticizes E. D. Hirsch and cultural literacy. Raises questions about the selection of content and teaching methods in a program for cultural literacy. Clarifies the concept of the "writerly" and supports the argument that it is necessary in education for literacy with arguments from empirical research, history, and personal experience.…

Argues in favor of a specific component in technical writing courses devoted to the explanation, demonstration, and analysis of the reading comprehension process. Includes classroom activities for teaching this information, for working on writing problems relevant to ease of reading, and for analyzing writing problems in light of the reading…

Presents a technique for remediating comprehension difficulties that is based on four principles of effective instruction that can be derived from comprehension research. (FL)

Describes a study which submitted data from a multiple-choice English as a second language reading comprehension test to classical test theory item analysis and latent trait measurement. The purpose was to identify weak items and to compare the number of weak items indicated by the two different approaches. (SED)

Teachers can use microcomputers in informal assessment of learning disabled students' academic achievement, math and science progress, reading comprehension, cognitive processes, motivation and social interaction. Selected software for unobtrusive, informal assessment is listed. (CL)

This study reports the preliminary results of the development and validation of a test designed to measure listening comprehension as a predictor of reading comprehension, the Simon-Dole Listening Comprehension Test (SDLCT). (Author/LMO)

Indicates that popular methods texts used in college classes are no better than basal manuals in providing guidance in how to teach comprehension. (FL)

Describes a study that factor analyzed questionnaire data and compared factor scores of good and poor college-level readers to determine the text-learning strategies of each group. Results, which indicate poor readers rely heavily on study strategies without an understanding of the text to be studied, have implications for remedial reading…

Purposes of the study were to determine whether training children to compare different parts of text improves detection of text errors and whether self-controlled training of comparison produces more durable use of the strategy. Children offered a self-instructional routine monitored comprehension better than did subjects given minimal training.…

Describes semantic mapping, an effective strategy for vocabulary instruction that involves the categorical structuring of information in graphic form and requires students to relate new words to their own experience and prior knowledge. (HOD)

Concludes that poor readers' comprehension of stories was improved by instruction that focused on causal structure, but that a few learners still struggling with basic decoding were too preoccupied to attend to story structure. (FL)

Describes a study which investigated reading comprehension among fourth-quarter college French students using a computer. The main thrust of the investigation was to test recall of information in a passage that had been read five minutes previously and was unavailable for reference during the question-answering phrase. (AMH)

Describes a technique that helped less-able fourth grade readers develop a better understanding of story parts and how they fit together. Explains that the technique also improved reading comprehension. (FL)

Proposes four guidelines to help educators evaluate vocabulary instruction: (1) instruction should help students relate new vocabulary to their background knowledge, (2) instruction should help students develop elaborated word knowledge, (3) instruction should provide for active student involvement, and (4) instruction should develop students'…

Second grade students'"think-alouds" were analyzed to investigate whether children used different reading stategies to comprehend targeted story grammar categories in two basal reader narratives. Results indicate that the proportion of elaborative and nonelaborative strategies used by children differed as a function of category type.…