A multiple baseline design was used to examine the effects of classwide peer tutoring relative to traditional reading instruction on reading skills and social interaction time for three high-functioning students with autism and their typical peers in integrated elementary classrooms. Results revealed increased reading fluency and reading…

Investigates the effectiveness of main idea identification training by teachers who had been successfully trained in such identification. Finds that the experimental group of students (in grades six, seven, and eight) performed better than the control group on main idea identification and knowledge of strategies related to that process. Discusses…

Claims evidence from meta-analysis justifies the use of computer-based instruction in reading comprehension. Discusses specific applications of comprehension strategies that foster knowledge building and understanding. Provides annotated URLs for teaching critical reading and offers URLs for on-line programs and information on teaching critical…

Examines whether teaching poor text comprehenders reading strategies will improve reading comprehension. Third through fifth grade adequate decoders who were poor comprehenders were trained for 10 weeks in either a verbally or visually based reciprocal teaching program. Results reveal that training reading comprehension strategies in small groups…

Many high-school students responding to a teacher's in-class literacy survey are frustrated, unprepared readers lacking metacognitive knowledge and comprehension monitoring. Respondents own few books, avoid libraries, and cannot name a favorite book title. They must be taught to question, predict, summarize, and clarify until meanings emerge. (MLH)

University English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learners' responses to five different types of text-based vocabulary exercises were examined. The objective was to understand better how such exercises can promote different kinds of lexical processing and learning and to compare these outcomes with those from thematic reading for comprehension.…

Presents an action research project and analyzes the problem of enabling students to become competent readers in light of the new Israeli English-as-a-foreign-language curriculum. Describes a process that shows how students who lack reading comprehension skills cannot access information in a written text. (Author/VWL)

Studies Chinese bilingual readers' nonverbal responses (vividness of imagery and emotional response) to a text in English and in Chinese. Finds readers of English text did not understand the passage as well as readers of the Chinese version; however, imagery and affect were formed even in the absence of total understanding, showing they are…

Analyzes the discussion of four "struggling" fifth-grade girls and the researcher as they transacted with Mildred Taylor's "The Friendship." Shows how participants' responses to the text and adult and peer guidance created a response development zone. Notes the girls used reading, writing, and discussion to address comprehension difficulties and…

Critiques research on the effectiveness of Direct Instruction (DI) over the past 3 decades, examining decreasing scores, variations in DI, instructional implementation, three approaches to improving instruction, the problem of outside demands, the problem of teacher turnover, phonics and comprehension, settings for instruction, and additional…

Shows that English as a foreign language (EFL) students in mainland China believe that their command of English vocabulary plays a crucial role in their reading comprehension. Suggests the final replacement of linguistic knowledge by conceptual or sociocultural knowledge as the top factor that affects their reading comprehension seems to take…

This article discusses how to teach children with mild disabilities to identify the five different types of expository text structures: main idea, list, order, compare/contrast, and classification. It then explains a strategy for each text structure type that can be taught to children to improve comprehension in content area classes. (Contains…

Finds an immediate and delayed effect of morphemic and contextual analysis instruction for lesson words; an immediate effect of the instruction for transfer words; no evidence the instruction enhanced students' text comprehension; and students were generally just as effective at inferring word meanings when the instruction was provided in…

A study involving 111 secondary students with learning disabilities investigated differential reading performance on narrative versus expository text. Students had more difficulty with expository text than with narrative text in terms of reading fluency and comprehension. However, effects for comprehension were mediated by the type of question…

Proposes that readability formulas cannot predict text difficulty. Presents results of an experiment designed to demonstrate that "text difficulty" is determined by individual differences (perception) and not by the objective qualities of a text. (NH)