Compared contextual facilitation of word recognition in old (N=12) and young (N=12) subjects. Both groups responded faster when context was supplied. For low predictability words and nonwords, the old showed greater contextual facilitation. Concluded that old people compensate for deterioration in stimulus quality by effective use of contextual…

Strategies that a social studies teacher can use to help intermediate grade students who read below grade level are suggested. They fall into four categories of assistance: (1) enlisting the aid of other students, (2) providing easier reading materials, (3) using methods of beginning reading, and (4) employing additional techniques. (RM)

A lesson, "Harriet Tubman: A Most Successful Conductor," illustrates how to employ a basal reader in social studies instruction in the elementary grades. This approach offers students a relevant curriculum, greater opportunities for concept development, practice in skills areas, and activities that offer greater opportunity to master…

LD and normal students were compared across the three grade levels on reading flexibility (i.e., the ability to vary reading speed according to their purposes for reading). LD students tended to become less flexible with additional years in school but did achieve better comprehension in grade 10. (SEW)

Analyzes the reading process and deals with techniques and procedures to improve reading skills and to teach predictabilities in order to aid comprehension. (EKN)

Describes research into the adaptive function of illustrations in reading development of primary students, indicating that, for good readers, illustrations play a significant role in the early stages. This declines sharply with reading development. For poor readers, there is a progressive dependence on illustrations which appears unlikely to be…

Investigation of the influence of using each of three language units of analysis on the assignment of data to the comprehension categories for recall analysis revealed significant correlations between corresponding categories for two of the units of analysis but a different category profile for the third. (SB)

In this study of elementary school children's responses to two children's books, a participant-observer presented reading material to the children and studied their reactions. Spontaneous responses and variations in solicited verbal responses at different age levels and the implications of nonresponse are considered. (PP)

The hypothesis that behaviorally disordered students would perform worse under standard, timed testing conditions than under relaxed time limit conditions was studied with 40 adolescents hospitalized for a variety of behavioral conditions. Performance increased under untimed conditions only in the area of reading comprehension. (Author/SEW)

Concludes that, although first-grade students generate more haphazard responses on standardized reading tests than do older students, they nevertheless do apply similar reasoning strategies to vocabulary and comprehension items. (FL)

The history of computer assisted language instruction is briefly reviewed, highlighting several major projects. Computer functions compatible with language instruction include information storage and retrieval capacities, ability to analyze input, and interactiveness. Language skills that can be developed by computer include grammar, vocabulary,…

Reports on a classroom experiment testing the hypothesis that the distance across which readers must integrate information is a factor in reading comprehension. Concludes that secondary school students found it more difficult to resolve semantic relationships beyond the sentence than those within the sentence. (FL)

The value of literature as instructional material in English as a second language is related to the fact that to understand literature, not only the language system but also the contextual meaning must be understood. In addition, the fictional element of literature can add interest for students. (MSE)

Discusses the hypothesis that the difficulty of a multiple-choice comprehension test does not just depend on the difficulty of the text, but rather on the text and the questions. Presents ways to evaluate the difficulty of the text, the questions on it, and the test as a whole. (EKN)

Researchers from the Center for the Study of Reading at the University of Illinois assert that inadequate reading textbooks and the failure to teach reading comprehension in the primary grades contribute to reading comprehension problems in the upper grades. Shortcomings of textbooks are specified and methods for teaching reading comprehension are…