Reports on a study in which 40 disabled and 40 normal sixth-grade readers read short paragraphs and were given recognition tests containing sentences similar or identical to those in the paragraphs. Notes that the results fail to support previous research suggesting that global memory deficits are primary factors in reading disability. (GT)

An investigation of the effect of nine instructional variables on rate of English language learning among 264 new students at National Technical Institute for the Deaf showed that the variables concerning teaching intensity and presentation design used by teachers for delivering English language lessons have a significant effect on rate of written…

Reports that sentence combining studies have consistently recorded significant gains in writing improvement at all grade levels and that, while reading comprehension gains have not been as significant, fewer studies have been conducted in that area. (FL)

Describes a teaching method for vocabulary development based on word formation by means of affixes. Discusses inflectional and derivational suffixes, prefixes, and their meaning. Offers examples of practice materials and of receptive and productive tests. (MES)

Levels of comprehension skills in the reading of literary works are identified and represented in a set of questions comprising an informal reading inventory. Literal and inferential levels of comprehension are explained, and ground rules for developing a set of inventory questions are presented for use. (DF)

Presents an instructional strategy--the "parallel lesson transfer"--for teaching students to identify main ideas. The lessons involve students in viewing pictures, listening, oral reading, and silent reading. (JT)

Discusses the need for systematic exploration of claims about the advantages of language experience dictations; recommends that teachers guide the rereading and editing of early dictations to facilitate comprehending behaviors, and that they help children explore writing conventions as their dictations indicate a readiness to learn them. (ET)

A number of classroom techniques are presented that illustrate the diversity of competencies necessary to reading in a second language, even more complex in their many combinations. It is proposed that evaluation of reading competence is difficult, if not impossible, by anyone but the student. (MSE)

Results of two experiments strengthen the hypothesis that the ability to divide attention is constrained primarily by the individual's level of skill. It is not affected by rapid alteration of attention between a reading and writing task, or by automatic processing of the dictated material. (Author/CP)

Presents a three-stage process for teaching the logical relationships that exist in paragraphs to aid high school students in differentiating main ideas from subordinate statements. (MKM)

Teachers and parents who enjoy reading are the most potent force for developing reading enjoyment in children. Children should have easy access to attractive, well written books and be able to enjoy them without worrying about reading pace and comprehension questions. (JD)

A study found that a particular study skill system (mapping or paraphrasing) did not benefit one kind of learner (field dependent or field independent) more than another. (MKM)

During oral and silent reading, retention was related to segment length and existence of sentence boundary. Next limits on retention were tested by increasing segment length and difficulty. Performance of less skilled readers was uniformly low; performance of skilled and older readers was again affected by length and sentence boundary. (Author/CP)

Sixty poor and very poor readers were given single-word decoding training either related or not related to assigned reading passages with comprehension questions. The group receiving content-related training significantly out-performed the other group on literal and inferential comprehension. There were no main effects for reading achievement.…

Reveals that the "Classroom Reading Inventory" is the most passage independent of three informal reading inventories administered to fourth grade students. Shows that the general information, vocabulary meaning, and affective question categories tended to be particularly passage independent. (FL)