The effects of training on internal reading flexibility (intra-article flexibility) and the relationships between such flexibility and overall reading speed, reading comprehension, anxiety level, and introversion-extraversion were investigated. Flexibility coefficients were computed before and after training for the total group of 255 college…

The purposes of this paper are (1) to assist Career Development for Children Project (CDCP) writers in developing more readable curriculum materials and (2) to better identify research and development priorities. The first part surveys two contrasting methods that have been found useful in predicting the readability of written texts. The second…

An investigation of the relationships between form and comprehension of written materials by eleventh grade students is reported in this paper. Students were asked to manipulate two variables of spacing and punctuation in a consistently administered and marked exercise. Students also completed a comprehension test on the exercise they had just…

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate a methodology which could be used to estimate the reading skills of Air Force personnel and the reading requirements of different career fields in an attempt to determine the extent of the difference between the reading skills of personnel and the reading requirements of the training materials in a…

Designed to measure by quantifiable means syntactic complexity component of readability, the Syntactic Complexity Formula is based on the theory that syntactic patterns frequently found in the language of children might be a more valid criterion than sentence length for controlling syntax. The Formula's analysis is based on transformational…

Textual Analysis of Language Samples (TEXAN) is a computer program which can count a number of variables needed for use in readability formulas. Three studies which utilize TEXAN are reported in this paper: (1) In 1972, Norman and Helen Felsenthal randomly selected 20 books from the 1306 in Eakin's "Good Books for Children" and calculated their…

The differences between the reading abilities of 359 community-college students in selected classes and the readability difficulty of the texts used in those classes were examined. The Diagnostic Reading Test, Form A was administered to the subjects, and results showed that 35.9 percent of the population read at or above grade level 13; 33.5…

The three purposes of this study were (1) to examine the effect of the frequency of Latin-suffixed words on the cloze performance of readers, (2) to examine the effect of reading materials in different content areas on cloze performance, and (3) to determine whether general reading ability differentially affected cloze scores in various content…

The aim of this bibliography is to provide a reference on the cloze procedure for the practitioner and the researcher. The selection of material was done on the basis of (1) the importance of the source as a contribution to cloze research, (2) the extent and the usefulness of the source's bibliography as a guide to related research, (3) the…

In our concern to improve the quality of reading, we have neglected vocabulary development; in our zeal to teach children to pronounce words, we have neglected teaching them word meanings. Vocabulary can be developed by using all the communication processes: reading, writing, speaking, listening, visualizing, and observing; and vocabulary deserves…

The author examines the reading level of curriculum materials developed in Africa and discusses the findings which suggest that readability indices have a high potential of being useful in the formative stages of curriculum development. (Author/RM)

Raises questions about the readability criteria used by publishers and editors of reading textbooks in selecting and assembling materials for middle grade reading texts. (RL)

Good, normal, and poor third grade readers were required to read easy, moderate, and difficult one-syllable nouns under three conditions: control condition with no pictures, identifying-picture condition, and unrelated-picture condition. Reading performance of poor readers was influenced by pictures under all conditions. Individual differences…

Cites examples to show that helping students master fundamental science skills will lead to improved reading. Discusses the relationships between reading and science. (CP)

Despite the complexity of current financial aid application forms, federal officials want to stabilize the process of assessing financial need and are not likely to simplify the forms soon. (MSE)