Presents data on student performance in a competency-based, multiple-opportunity format physics course, indicating that costs are related to character of examination questions and comprehensional modes of students. Compares costs for single/multiple trial formats, showing that multiple-trial opportunity has lower costs and a higher yield of…

Proposes a model of word identification and tests it by examining the influence of orthographic redundancy, versatility, and letter-sound correspondences on the identification of both high- and low-frequency words by children and adults. (FL)

Examines the varying types and levels of coherence and cohesion in the language of social studies textbooks written for students in grades three, five, and eight. Concludes that there were no differences among the grade level texts in terms of global cohesion or cohesive elements. (FL)

Native English speakers' and foreign students' perceptions of 14 English intonation signals, recorded free of verbal context, show foreign students may be misinterpreting or missing much information communicated with nonlexical signals. (Author/MSE)

Examines the interaction between a preschool girl and her father during story reading time. Argues that such observations can lead to an understanding of ways in which children become more mature readers-thinkers and enable teachers to match reading expectations to the students' reading level. (HTH)

Proposes adapting holistic scoring to oral retellings of stories as a means of developing students' concepts of interrelationships and their higher levels of comprehension. (FL)

The instructional designer in language instruction can choose a central function (e.g., describing) and build a teaching unit around it. The process involves choosing a situation that best displays the core function, determining possible secondary functions, discussing the personalities involved, and determining the formality or familiarity of the…

Errors in reading and speaking are not the result of failure to comprehend or communicate. Rather, such errors are "miscues," which show the effects of psycholinguistic processes that have taken unexpected turns. The nature of these miscues reveals the underlying cognitive schema that guide a person's comprehension and verbalization. (Author/SJL)

Reports on a study that used a research design to evaluate three indices of context dependence (CD) and thereby obtain both absolute and comparative evaluations of the discriminant validity of high versus low CD as defined by the constructs that underlie the respective indices. (HOD)

Concludes that skilled adult readers may use the meanings of words ahead of fixation to enrich their interpretation of a text or use those words more simply as markers to guide further eye movements to the location of the next useful fixation. (FL)

Discusses the method of repeated readings as an approach to improve the comprehension and decoding skills of disabled secondary and postsecondary school readers. (HOD)

Analysis of interviews with elementary school students (N=40) suggests that their concepts about time offer no more of a barrier to learning about the geologic past than concepts about time held by members of other age groups who are ignorant of geological events and records. (Author/JN)

Nine infants with Down's syndrome, seven nonhandicapped infants, and one severely handicapped infant were given the choice of listening to familiar nursery rhymes or to the same rhymes with each word reversed so that the rhythms, intonation and stress patterns were kept intact but the words became nonsense. (RH)

Intended for teachers of secondary level learning disabled students, the paper offers guidelines for five areas of language instruction--vocabulary, listening comprehension, conversational skills, abstract language usage, and ability to adjust language to different social situations. (SW)

Indicates that fifth grade students receiving systematic instruction in study skills performed significantly higher on factual short answer tests. (AEA)