As part of a research program to identify training methods which optimize skill acquisition and retention, three studies were conducted to assess the effects of type of training, amount of practice, and guided discussion in cognitive learning strategies training programs. Undergraduate students enrolled in educational psychology courses were…

This paper provides annotations of journal articles and books concerned with reading instruction for English as-a-second-language students. The annotations are arranged into five categories: (1) the need for teaching English as a second language (ESL) to non-English speaking natives with varied backgrounds and wide ranges of ability levels, (2)…

The reading and writing behavior of nine mentally retarded Black adolescents enrolled in secondary level special education classes in an urban school district were analyzed. Data were collected on 11 language tasks which included drawing, forming letters and numbers, and general print production. Ss were also requested to answer…

Describing cognitive science as a new discipline based upon the integration of elements of psychology, computer science, linguistics, philosophy, and education, this paper argues that such a discipline has important implications for the field of communication. Following an overview of the literature of cognitive science, the paper offers an…

Current reading theory suggests that oral language skills and reading skills interact with and implement each other. Three guidelines are helpful in shaping the development of proficient readers. (1) From kindergarten on, each year should be spent moving from oral language to print. Furthermore, the move within oral language should be from…

Relationships among grade point averages and reading test scores were sought in an effort to learn whether successful students are characterized by good vocabularies, understanding, and rapid reading. Seniors within a few weeks of graduation and obtaining their elementary teaching certificates were given the Nelson-Denny Reading Test. Pearson's…

The study on reading comprehension presented in this report (the first of two) investigated whether expository passages with adjacent-to-text activities facilitate the learning of reading comprehension skills at the same time that they improve comprehension of text content, and whether written feedback increases the effectiveness of…

The extent to which cuing strategies and basic skills explanations of early reading constitute complementary approaches was examined in a study involving 94 fourth grade students. Basic skills--a unidimensional component based on measures of vocabulary development, language skills, and work-study skills--proved to be a powerful variable mediating…

To ensure that all of the subskills undergirding pupils' speaking are identified, taught, and reinforced, the School District of Philadelphia prepared hierarchical listings of skills as exemplified in specific student behaviors. The structured sequence of oral language behaviors are stated operationally and are identified at 14 levels in terms of…

In three experiments subjects (college and high school students) read passages which described psychological principles and answered either adjunct application or factual questions while reading. Questions were presented either before, after, or both before and after the parts of the passage that answered the questions. Subsequently subjects took…

Assuming that radio listeners are more interested in programs where the pace is faster, two versions of a six-minute interview were devised and tested on 97 adult church choir members. Prior to the experiment, participants completed a questionnaire that requested information on their age, sex, education, radio station preference, and listening…

In order to determine the effect of certain types of pictures on reading comprehension in beginning French, a study was conducted in which six types of pictorial contexts were used as advanced organizers for a test passage. One group of university students was given a text in French, a second group the same text in English, and a third group a set…

The comprehending score is a theoretically derived measure of language processing that identifies those miscues that indicate that the reader is making sense of the printed language he or she is attempting to read. A study was undertaken to explore the relationships between post oral reading cloze test scores and seven theoretically constructed…

A procedure called the Group Mapping Activity has been used to provide for dynamic interaction of students through discussion after reading and to gauge the extent of readers' interactions with text. In using the procedure, however, it was discovered that some students regularly shifted the protagonists in their mapping. A study was undertaken to…

Anaphora, a linguistic structure that refers to previously mentioned or implied text, has been implicated as a possible cause of reading comprehension difficulty among children. Reading research has focused on the surface structures of anaphora (pronouns and noun demonstratives, for example) and has viewed comprehension of anaphora as a language…