Examines the effect of the use of French as a second language on the performance of subjects in receptive skills (listening and reading comprehension) and productive skills (speaking and writing). Results establish a link between the use of the language after learning has occurred and the difference between pre- and post-test measures. (Author/VWL)

Presents a longitudinal study that examines the relationship between morphological analysis, phonological analysis, and learning to read French. Finds very strong links between morphological and phonological analyses and between morphological analysis and reading. Contributes to the evidence of a link between both phonological and morphological…

Examined whether readers in a third-semester Spanish course--reading the second language on a computer screen--accessed glossed vocabulary more frequently when the glosses were written in their first language or their second language. (Author/VWL)

Explores the nature of reading for meaning as it affects the reading abilities of secondary-age bilingual pupils. Discusses cultural schemata theories which seek to account for the influence of culture on the reading process; links these to a school-based study. Illustrates the importance of cultural determinants on the understanding of text and…

Describes how a reading specialist used metacognition as the basis of her teaching of middle school remedial readers. Describes various ways she worked with embedded questions to get students thinking while they were reading. Describes final student projects on short stories that demonstrate that embedded questions combined with lots of classroom…

A first-grade teacher explains how she uses the whole-part-whole reading model with 15 youngsters. Rereading allows students to practice recently learned skills and strategies, while developing fluency and comprehension. Other exercises include reading aloud in pairs, deciphering the daily schedule, discussions of syllable and sound similarities,…

Presents phonic activities based on brand names for teaching primary students basic reading. The first uses familiar brand-name products with rhyming elements in their names. The second has teachers write longer words that rhyme with and have similar spelling patterns to product names. Both activities help students use patterns in familiar words…

Examined the effects of racial imagery and cultural themes in reading content on the reading comprehension of 109 African-American elementary school students. Results provided some support for the hypothesis that stories depicting African-American characters would facilitate more efficient recall and comprehension than stories about white…

Finds that reading comprehension and attitudes toward reading were significantly improved when second- and third-grade delayed readers participated in a 10-week cognitive apprenticeship in reading involving an adult volunteer reading partner, who scaffolded the reading experience to enable the student to accomplish the authentic task of reading a…

Compares and contrasts chapters from two children's science textbooks, one published in 1992 in a traditional format, and the other in 1995 using a new format. Finds them very different in terms of structure and organization. Shows that children respond to these texts very differently. Shares some ideas about teaching with such texts. (SR)

Outlines a model for understanding the second-language reading process. Uses errors in comprehension to illustrate how the reading comprehension process works. Discusses pedagogical implications and suggestions for teaching students to develop and practice better comprehension strategies using think-alouds. (RS)

Describes navigation, evaluation, and comprehension skills that instructors should guide students into developing. Outlines a four-step process approach to encourage students to read Web site material for comprehension and discusses application of strategic skills. (AEF)

Compared construction of meaning in poetry for experts (PhD English candidates) and novices (undergraduates or high school students). Found that for experts, knowledge was an important component of poetic communication. Novices had well-developed expectations for understanding poetry as discourse. Experts used productive interpretive strategies to…

Studied the theories student teachers held about literary understanding through interviews with 25 Hungarian and 8 Swedish student teachers. Categories of theories captured a substantial portion of the variation in how literary understanding can be seen. Three central aspects of human understanding, variation, discernment, and simultaneity, could…

Examines the effects of a balanced, accelerated, and responsive literacy program on the reading growth of second grade struggling readers. Finds that students grew in their word identification abilities, fluency, strategic comprehension abilities, perceptions of themselves as readers, attitudes toward reading, and instructional reading levels.…