Examines effects of text structure on reading process and recall performance by monitoring the subjects' eye movements as they read coherently and incoherently structured texts. Finds that structurally incoherent texts are given more visual attention than coherent ones and lead to inferior recall. Finds no clear-cut correspondence between eye…

Investigates the effects which thematic preorganizers might have on secondary students' comprehension of prose fiction. Finds that the thematic preorganizers did not significantly affect secondary students' comprehension of narrative prose materials as measured over time by equivalent tests. (MG)

Extends an earlier exploratory study of the effects of sentence-combining on reading achievement by updating the pool of studies and using meta-analysis as a vehicle for integration. Finds that only grade levels produced significant differences; sentence-combining had a greater effect at the elementary level than at the high school or college…

Offers a naturalistic picture of literacy in colonial North America by exploring family literacy in an early eighteenth-century urban New England setting. Uses the diaries and other writings of Cotton Mather (1663-1728) as sources on literacy within his family. Notes the importance of writing within the family. (SR)

Tests the effectiveness of an instructional graphic (frames) on fourth and fifth grade students' ability to learn from reading their social studies textbooks. Finds that, for fifth grade students, framing was a more effective instructional technique than was the instruction suggested in the teacher's edition of the regular classroom social studies…

Compares teaching emphasizing story meaning (major plot elements) with teaching emphasizing surface features of language (word analysis and accurate reading). Finds an emphasis on story meaning led to superior performance on an array of outcome measures. Finds differences especially notable for children in low and average reading groups. (SR)

Finds that each of six kindergarten teachers had a distinctive storybook reading style, varying in each of three major facets of style: focus of teacher talk during reading, type of information talked about during the reading, and instructional strategies used. (SR)

Investigates how adult readers represent causal relations among events in a narrative, specifically by testing two models of text comprehension, the linear chain of text model versus the network model. Provides support for a network model of the representation of causal relations in narratives. (HB)

Argues that an adequate theory of inference generation should accurately predict whether particular classes of knowledge-based inferences are generated online during text comprehension. Proposes a "constructionist" theory which accounts for the findings of cognitive psychology and discourse processing. (HB)

Offers annotations of 12 items from the ERIC database regarding research or classroom practices concerning the relationship between reading and writing in the primary grades. (SR)

Contains part of the Keefe Inventory of Silent Reading, a silent informal reading inventory. Presents a case study of a student to whom it was administered, including analysis of this individual's reading ability and description of the specific strategies used with this individual on the basis of the results of the inventory. (RS)

Examines the reading preferences of young adults and their unsupervised responses to favored books. Compares these comments to those made by professional reviewers in an effort to determine the critical skills of adolescent readers. (HB)

Examines (from the perspective of developmental dialectics) the on-going debate between traditional instruction and whole-language advocates in reading. Provides an overview of the differences between the two camps. Outlines the reasons why whole-language approaches have increasingly been incorporated into classrooms. Speculates on how the debate…

Synthesizes research on the basic processes and instructional factors that influence literacy development. Points out patterns of agreement and disagreement among literacy scholars and practitioners. Presents an agenda for reading research of the future. (RS)

Explores what children know about finding and using information books and observes what these children actually did when involved in information finding tasks. Finds that schools and teaching do have an effect in this area but that there was a gap between what children said about how they would use information books and what they actually did. (RS)