Recent studies refuting the effectiveness of advance organizers in preparing students to comprehend text material have not met the conditions necessary for advance organizers to succeed. According to the assimilation theory, which holds that people learn by chaining what is known to what is to be learned, the following conditions must be met for…

In a study investigating the hypothesis that verbal paraphrase and explanation tasks account for part of the difficulty that young children have with tests of metaphor comprehension, 32 six-year-old children were read short stories that ended with metaphorical sentences. Half of the children were asked to paraphrase the metaphorical sentences…

To test the assumption that questions measuring literal comprehension and those measuring inferential comprehension are equally valid indices for both oral and silent reading tests at all skill levels, questions from the Analytic Reading Inventory were classified as either literal or inferential. Subjects, 94 children in grades two to five, read…

While it is widely recognized that comprehension monitoring is an important reading comprehension ability, effective methods for teaching readers to recognize and overcome various comprehension obstacles have not yet been conclusively identified. To determine if microcomputers could be used to teach students to overcome such obstacles, 41 fourth…

The relationship between auditory learning via rate modified speech and the learner's relative degree of field dependence/independence was investigated. Eighty graduate students were assigned to groups using materials consisting of either normal--150 words-per-minute (wpm), compressed (250 wpm), or one of two expanded (either 120 or 90 wpm)…

A study investigated the ability of fifth grade above and below average readers to use mental imagery in reading familiar and unfamiliar text. The subjects, 80 fifth grade students reading either above or below grade level, were placed into either an experimental or a control group. All subjects individually read one familiar and one unfamiliar…

A study examined the effects of a year-long inservice program to help experienced teachers in one elementary school appreciate and use recent research in reading comprehension. All teachers at an urban K-6 elementary school in a midwestern city attended the weekly inservice sessions which focused on the importance and role of background knowledge…

Five hearing impaired children (2 to 4 years old) were followed longitudinally while using a single channel, vibrotactile aid as a supplement to hearing aids. Standardized language tests (including the Scales of Early Communication Skills for Hearing Impaired Children, the Test for Auditory Comprehension of Language, and the Test for Auditory…

This study was performed to assess the effect of field independence/dependence on the successful use of mapping or outlining to take notes from textbooks. Success was measured in terms of student performance on a comprehension test and thoroughness of notetaking. The study sample of 38 students enrolled in reading and study skills courses at a…

Research suggests that preservice teachers who have organized knowledge structures are able to respond to instructional situations more effectively than those who do not. It appears that the way a teacher organizes knowledge influences how easily the information is accessed and applied in instructional situations. This study investigated the…

The methods by which Spanish verbal routines may be taught to second language learners are discussed. Verbal routines are fixed phrases shared by competent language speakers to handle communicative interactions appropriately and effectively. Five activities for teaching a wide range of verbal routines used for the performance of different language…

A study was undertaken to identify the prerequisite relations (or hierarchies among the items) existing in the item responses of a sample of 86 foreign students who took the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) vocabulary and reading comprehension test, Form 3JTF1. The form contains 30 vocabulary items and 30 reading comprehension items.…

A study examined the effect of using mapping as a mediating strategy to produce written summaries and improve comprehension of poor readers in the fifth grade. Twenty-three students from two Chapter 1 classrooms in northern Illinois, all classified as poor readers, were divided into experimental (13 children) and control (10 children) groups. The…

A study investigated the effect of a prereading strategy on the reading comprehension of foreign language students. Subjects were 62 French students in 5 classes at 3 suburban high schools. A rotation design was used within each class. A reading in the target language was assigned twice a week for two weeks. The treatment sample went through a…

This book provides elementary and middle school teachers with practical ideas on the use and teaching of graphs. Five sections consist of: (1) "Graphs--What Are They and How Are They Used?"; (2) "Levels of Graph Comprehension"; (3) "Collecting, Organizing, and Analyzing Data"; (4) "Constructing, Interpreting, and Writing about Graphs"; and (5)…