Finds that both low-ability and average-ability first-grade readers, and to a lesser extent high-ability readers, from different socioeconomic backgrounds, select books that are beyond students' reading level. Discusses influences of gender and genre on these selections. Discusses the relation of frustration-level texts to interest and motivation,…

Proposes that readability formulas cannot predict text difficulty. Presents results of an experiment designed to demonstrate that "text difficulty" is determined by individual differences (perception) and not by the objective qualities of a text. (NH)

Reviews 30 weather-related Web sites, including readability level, under the subjects of air pressure, bad meteorology, clouds, droughts, floods, hurricanes, lightning, seasons, temperature, thunderstorms, tornadoes, water cycle, weather instruments, weather on other planets, and wind. (LRW)

Deaf People, especially those who are not well educated, are at risk for serious injustices when they enter the criminal justice system. The present study describes these risks at all stages of the legal process, including arrest, trial, probation, prison, and parole. These dangers are greatest for those who are poorly educated, read at a…

We investigated the readability of seven mental health brochures on mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders in children that were selected from a website developed by the Center for Mental Health Services at http://www.mentalhealth.org. The reading grade levels of the brochures ranged from 11.1 to 14.8 (mean 13.23), considerably higher than…

The papers included in this book focus on writing and reading across the curriculum. Beginning with an introduction by Malcolm P. Douglass, the book contains the following 25 titles: "Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum" (Malcolm P. Douglass); "A Deepening Understanding of Reading and Writing" (Walter Loban); "The…

Data Processing Reading Strategies is one of five instructional guides in the Reading Strategies in Vocational Education Series. Developed to assist teachers working with students considered disadvantaged because of reading deficiency, the guide contains several strategies, suitable for adaptation, specifically related to data processing…

Carpentry Reading Strategies is one of five instructional guides in the Reading Strategies in Vocational Education Series. Developed to assist teachers working with students considered disadvantaged because of reading deficiency, the guide contains several strategies, suitable for adaptation, specifically related to carpentry instruction. Each of…

This study investigated the relationship between readability of 73 text-only multiple-choice questions from Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003 and performance of two groups of South African learners: those with limited English-language proficiency (learners attending African schools) and those with better…

Twelve adolescent novels with the theme of obesity were selected for critical analysis. The novels were assessed for readability and to determine the approach to overweight portrayed by writers. The books were also examined in light of the concept of lookism prejudice. Recommendations were offered to teachers and counselors for use of these books…

This study examined the effect of graphic organizers on the comprehension of a health education brochure text and compared subjective with objective comprehension measures. Graphic organizers are graphical depictions of relations among concepts in a text. Participants read a brochure text about asthma with and without these organizers, and…

Written for Canadian public servants and written with their help, this handbook presents principles and tips to make official writing clear, concise, and well organized. The handbook defines "plain language" writing as a technique of organizing information in ways that make sense to the reader--using familiar, straightforward words. The…

Recent decades have brought to the fore a coalition of writers on education who identify themselves as postmodernists, a designation that encompasses such vaguely allied groups as critical educators, radical educators, feminists, postcolonialists, anti-imperialists, poststructuralists, postpositivists, and neo-Marxists. A common characteristic…

A study examined potential variables that editors might use to lure young readers into a newspaper reading habit. A total of 204 high school students were asked to read and rate one of 20 newspapers (collected from around the country) on enjoyment, readability, and attractiveness. The newspapers' efficiency in transmitting information was also…

This study is the first stage of a wider enquiry into alternative ways of assessing the readability of specialist texts. The interest in assessing these texts arose from the need to grade 60 medical journal articles for an individualized English-as-a-Foreign-Language reading scheme for doctors. The study reports on an investigation of subjective…