Finds that a deficiency in phonological coding and an overreliance upon orthographic coding, often observed in dyslexic children, can also be seen in relatively poor readers and spellers within a normal adult population. (RS)

Compares the performance of poor readers with that of matched good readers and younger average readers. Found that all poor readers performed poorly in all three linguistic areas concurrently, and these difficulties persisted; poor readers demonstrated a difference between their phonological processing skills and their semantic/syntactic skills;…

Follows a representative sample of poor readers through secondary school. Finds that, as a group, poor readers fell further behind a normal-reading comparison group during their early teens. Finds also that poor readers were more likely to leave school early and had much depressed educational qualifications. (RS)

Investigates whether Arabic orthography differs from an alphabetic orthography regarding context effects among poor and skilled readers. Finds that skilled as well as poor readers significantly improved their reading accuracy when they read voweled and unvoweled words in context and that skilled readers significantly improved their reading voweled…

Investigates the relationship between different levels of phonological awareness and literacy acquisition in Portuguese. Finds that phonemic awareness plays an important role in alphabetic literacy acquisition. Notes that both sensitivity to phonemic similarity and phonemic segmentation skills significantly predicted reading and spelling ability,…

Finds two general types of intertextual links: (1) links among ideas, events, and people; and (2) social, cultural, political, and historical connections. Notes that the eight high-school students adopted various discourse stances, reflected in the ways they positioned themselves in relation to the passages, and that they used textual resources in…

The level of comprehension monitoring and the level of reading comprehension in 36 low- and 20 high-achieving fourth graders were investigated. Results indicated that the level of monitoring and the level of comprehension were related, a fact that helps clarify differences in low- and high-achieving readers' comprehension. (SLD)

This study, with 38 9-year-old poor readers and 40 reading age-matched normally achieving readers, examined qualitative differences in poor readers relative to normally achieving readers of the same reading level. Results suggest that poor readers have worse grapheme phoneme conversion skills and greater reluctance to relinquish the lexical route…

Describes a reading program for gifted middle school readers designed to increase critical reading ability and student appreciation of literary technique and broaden understanding of sophisticated vocabulary. (MLF)

Discusses the value of using alphabet books with older and more proficient readers. Describes alphabet books which are appropriate for the more mature reader. Suggests specific strategies for their use in the intermediate and middle school classrooms. (RS)

Effects of instructional complexity and role reciprocity within classwide peer tutoring (CWPT) programs were examined with a total of 119 students (learning disabled, low achieving, or normally achieving) in grades 2 through 5. Students in all CWPT conditions outperformed controls on a reading fluency measure; however only those in CWPT with role…

Presents a synthesis of the responses of 13 researchers in the field of language and literacy to the theme of this issue. Discusses the varying perspectives on literature-based instruction, the effect of language empowerment, language knowledge and reading/writing achievement, social context and cognition, and technology and education. Notes the…

Presents high school students' responses to a yearly writing assessment which asked them to explain why there are discrepancies in the performances of males and females in reading and math. Finds that the largest category of responses was "the way things are," followed by the equally broad categories of work, society, school, and logic. (SR)

Describes a performance assessment which accompanies an integrated curriculum for the third and fifth grades in two schools and is designed to reflect a wide spectrum of literacy processes that appear in an integrated curriculum. Follows two third-grade students as they perform each of the tasks. (SR)

A literature review identified strengths and weaknesses of the Principle of the Alphabet Literacy System, a computerized adult literacy program, concluding that it showed no consistent achievement effects. Far less expensive technologies that could achieve the same goals with greater flexibility are available. (SK)