Compares the effects of three different methods of improving reading comprehension: text-structure instruction, reading practice, and guided reading. Finds that standardized tests showed no one method to be more effective than another, but that all three methods had measurable effects on reading comprehension. (SR)

Investigates native speakers' (NS) perceptions of coherence and comprehensibility of nonnative speakers' writing and talk that lacks or misuses grammatical cohesive devices. NS readers of NNS texts with missing cohesive devices assumed coherence and imposed coherence on the text by adding grammatical cohesive devices missing in the original,…

Proposes a new understanding of what reading is, using that understanding to propose a new sense of balanced reading instruction. Discusses shifts in reading instruction over the years, examines three goals of reading (automatic word recognition, comprehension, and motivation), and describes the balance needed between direct instruction of skills…

Finds no significant differences in the reading comprehension, reading speed, and attitudes toward instruction of remedial community college readers using a computer program for their independent lab work, compared to students using text materials. Finds that the computer users read more efficiently. (SR)

Examines how elementary students referred for compensatory remedial reading services performed on several key reading process variables: word recognition errors, meaning-changing errors, comprehension, and reading rate. Finds word recognition and comprehension variables approached instructional levels, and reading rate alone was significantly…

Explored the contribution of two working memory systems, the articulatory loop and the central executive, and short-term memory to the word recognition and comprehension deficits of children with learning disabilities. Results of 2 experiments with 150 children support the idea that poor word recognition and comprehension reflect deficits in a…

Investigates the relationship between focusing and coherence relations in pronoun comprehension. Examines a function of connectives: that of signaling coherence relations between two clauses. In three studies, coherence relations between sentence fragments ending in pronouns and participants' continuations to the fragments were identified.…

Investigates the relationship of third and fifth graders' awareness of the structure and meanings of derived words and the relationship of these forms of morphological awareness to word reading and reading comprehension. Shows that awareness of structure was significantly related to the ability to define morphologically complex words; some aspects…

Describes an instructional process used in a college developmental reading class (as well as with upper-level classes) that promotes the development of active, engaged readers who constructed meaning through social interaction with fellow classmates. Describes how this strategy was applied to segments of "Night" by Elie Wiesel. (SR)

This review of research on testing of second-language reading addresses: general areas of interest in reading research, assessment; adaptation of a suitable first-language reading comprehension model for second-language assessment; reliance on a top-down model of reading comprehension; validity of multiple-choice reading comprehension tests;…

Describes how one teacher uses news articles to teach connections between the present-day real world and the books that her students read. Notes that her intent is to help readers transfer concepts from one domain (their reading) to another (real life). Offers the example of how this was done with the book "The Giver" by Lois Lowry. (SR)

Twenty-six expert adult readers, 13 of whom were blind, were compared for how they perceived and retrieved written information. The study found that braille readers were not limited to the isolated identification of individual braille characters as previously thought, but could integrate greater quantities of written information. Implications for…

Describes Book Sharing Sessions, in which struggling readers are immersed in peer discussions about books they have read. Discusses how, through this immersion and through modeling and explicit instruction, children learn to think about what is important in a book; how to convey its meaning; and how to ask questions, listen, and lead discussions.…

Considers how children with hyperlexia who learn to read spontaneously before the age of five are impaired in reading and listening comprehension but have word recognition skills well above their measured cognitive and linguistic abilities. Reevaluates three adolescent hyperlexic students eight years after an initial evaluation. Finds levels of…

This article summarizes studies conducted with Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR), a program designed to enhance reading comprehension and content-area reading for diverse learners. It describes the stages of CSR development and discusses the role of peer-mediated learning in improving the social and academic outcomes of participating students.…