Examines whether text-material presented in "chunks" or phrases significantly improves the reading comprehension of 50 eighth grade students composed of 2 reading ability groups. Finds that "chunking" sentences into meaningful units of thought aids low-ability readers more than high-ability readers. (MG)

Describes development and possible uses of a list of 593 bibliographic entries for college reading and learning assistance professionals. Notes the list and targets the work of (1) researchers oriented primarily to the present and those concerned with the historical roots of the profession; (2) curriculum design specialists; and (3) graduate…

Uses an error detection paradigm to examine the ability of college students of different reading proficiency levels to evaluate their understanding of texts. Finds that good readers were more likely than poor readers to detect inconsistent sentences. Finds that students rated passage understanding high regardless of whether they detected…

Measures the effects of training students to make annotations vs. training them in journal writing, as preparation for objective and essay tests on novels. Finds annotations more effective for objective test items but not for essays. Finds that writing inferential annotations appeared to be correlated with answering inferential questions…

Examines the effect of metadiscourse characteristics (attitudinal, voice, and informational) and level of test anxiety on students' learning from social studies textbooks. Finds high anxious students perform best with first person voice and no attitudinal metadiscourse while low anxious students showed the opposite effect. (RS)

Tests hypotheses that reading styles of good spellers and dysgraphic spellers differs. Concludes that an underlying source of difficulty for dysgraphic spellers, one that may be related to the reading style they exhibit, is a more limited working memory capacity. (MS)

Investigates whether orthographic processing ability in adults accounts for variance in individual word recognition and spelling skills. Finds that some individual differences in reading and spelling are caused by variation in orthographic processing skills linked to print exposure. (RS)

Adult second language acquirers were asked to read the first two chapters of "A Clockwork Orange," a novel containing a number of slang words of Russian origin. Subsequent testing revealed modest but significant incidental acquisition of nadsat words. (Author/VWL)

Compares time allocated for basal and other reading in grades one through six between 1961 and 1985 in eight geographic regions of the United States. Finds the greatest increase in the Upper Midwest and Southwest and a significant increase in time allocated for content and free reading in the Middle Atlantic. (NH)

Reports two experiments evaluating the effect of map feature content on text recall by subjects of varying reading skill levels. Finds that both experiments support the conjoint retention hypothesis, in which dual-coding of spatial and verbal information and their interaction in memory enhance recall. (MM)

Investigates the effect of word frequency on reading comprehension. Finds that comprehension is improved using high frequency words, independent of age or socioeconomic class of the student. Concludes that knowledge of vocabulary facilitates comprehension, but does not explain group differences. (RS)

Examines how readers overcome their misconceptions about the principles of motion. Finds that students overcome misconceptions when their prior knowledge is activated, regardless of whether they read text that supports or refutes those misconceptions. Finds that students using several processing strategies have an advantage over students using…

Investigates the effect of informing remedial readers that strategy use (such as looking for the main idea) improves performance on their self-efficacy and comprehension skills. Finds increased self-efficacy and comprehension skills, and suggests that remedial readers need multiple sources of strategy value information. (RS)

Summarizes research findings on repeated readings (RR), noting that rereading is a proven instructional tool. Suggests three ways to incorporate RR into a reading program: direct instruction; use of learning centers; and cooperative learning strategies. Includes procedural guidelines for implementing RR activities. (MM)

Discusses a survey of 22 well-known writers' reading habits: how they read; why they read (reading to know, reading to learn craft, technique, and style); and what they read. Suggests that students would be well-served by learning to read like writers, developing in-event and post-reading observations. (SR)