Addressed to teachers of composition and to other professional students of prose, this book develops a philosophy of composition based on the nature and history of writing. Chapters discuss distinctive features of written speech, the normative character of written speech, progressive tendencies in the history of language and prose, refinement of…

Motivational devices are useful in content-area reading because the content load of most content textbooks is so extensive that few if any students can be expected to understand all that an author intends to communicate. Many students who are inexperienced with the subject matter are unable to read the assignments independently. The recognition of…

Oral reading, usually designated as unessential, is an effective teaching technique which students enjoy. Through careful preparation, reading to students can help to develop linguistic, cognitive, perceptual, and affective abilities necessary to read well. This can be combined productively with a program of silent, independent reading. An outline…

The essays in this book reflect some of the major ideas discussed at the Claremont Reading Conference of 1973. Included are such essays as "Reading as Second Language Learning" by Susan Ervin-Tripp, "Feminine Subculture and Female Mind" by Nancy Reeves, "The Home Language of Chicanos as a Medium of Instruction" by Eduardo Hernandez-Chavez, "From…

The problem of this conference panel was to determine the interaction between the structural properties of text and the cognitive processes involved in comprehension. This panel report contains sections on the organization of the message in the communication system, the information readers derive from a message and how well they derive it, the…

The problem of this conference panel was to explore attentional and motivational systems and the factors in classroom management that influence them. The contents of this panel report consist of three approaches to the problem: the study of the psychological state of children as they take part in schooling, with special consideration given to the…

The study investigated the visual discrimination abilities of children who varied in their ability to recognize words. Measures of word recognition and intelligence were obtained in 87 first-, second-, and third-grade subjects. All subjects then performed a visual discrimination task which uses artificial graphemes as stimuli. The task required…

Visual and auditory stimuli were presented to children to measure symbol processing abilities. Slides which required matching the similarities in two objects in a group of three were presented. At times the matching criteria varied between function, color, and form. Reaction time was quicker when matching by color than by function, which was…

The applicability of a proposed category system for identifying different types of poor readers in grade 7 was investigated. Three variables were used: vocabulary level, degree of consensual response to meaning, and response to organization when it was added to the reading material. Systematically combining the three levels of response produced…

There is need for early group assessment aimed at prevention of learning disorders, specifically reading disorders. An estimated 15% of elementary and secondary school students are reported to be handicapped in the area of reading. Early screening and matching of the learning ability of children with instructional programs holds promise to…

The need for experts from related disciplines to aid in learning diagnosis and prognosis is discussed. While support for a multi-causation theory of reading disability has been general for many years, it has not led to action, as reflected in the lack of an interdisciplinary approach to learning disabilities in many schools, reading centers, and…

A study was conducted to determine the relationship between auditory perceptual skills and first-grade reading success when readiness and intelligence measures were used in conjunction with auditory skills assessments. Sex differences were also considered. Six boys and six girls were randomly selected from each of 10 first-grade classrooms.…

Designed as a progress report of the literature search portion of the Targeted Research and Development Program in Reading (TRDPR), this paper outlines objectives of the literature search, data base prerequisites for model building, and activities involved in synthesis of efforts. Objectives of the program include identification of literature on…

Culturally disadvantaged children are characterized as having neither the proper amount of physical stimuli nor the opportunity to engage in many first-hand and vicarious experiences. Emphasis is placed on the ideas that a teacher's attitude is of utmost importance to a disadvantaged child's success in school and that teaching strategies should be…

The first half of this review of the recent literature on word attack skills describes 11 major reading systems currently in use and evaluates and compares them. The second half reviews reports of current word attack research under the headings of traditional phonic generalization research, current linguistic formulations, unit size, Gibson:…