In this foreword to the special issue of the "Journal of Education" celebrating the 30th anniversary of the publication of "Becoming a Nation of Readers: The Report of the Commission on Reading" ("BNR") (Anderson, Hiebert, Scott, & Wilkinson, 1985), we share the backstory of the making of "BNR." We view…

This study investigated the effects of argument scaffolding and source credibility on science text comprehension. Eighty-seven college students were randomly assigned to an argument scaffolding activity, or no scaffolding, and read 2 science texts, attributed to a high- or a low-credibility source. The argument-scaffolding group recalled less…

A study involving 75 Spanish-speaking fifth graders from a school in the Chicago area investigated whether a peer-led, open-format discussion approach, known as Collaborative Reasoning, would accelerate the students' English language development. Results showed that, after participating in eight discussions over a four-week period, the CR group…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between morphological awareness and Chinese children's literacy development. Of the 169 children from elementary schools in Beijing, China, who participated in the study, about half received enhanced instruction on the morphology of characters and words in the first and second grade. At…

In this study 60 first and fourth graders selected pictures that best represented the meanings of sentences read to them. Results indicated that children were instantiating the target words with specific concepts rather than bringing to mind abstract, undifferentiated meanings. (HOD)

This paper develops the thesis that the knowledge a person possesses has a potent influence on what he or she will learn and remember from exposure to discourse. After outlining some assumptions about the characteristics of the structures (schemata) in which existing knowledge is packaged, a theory of the processes involved in assimilating the…

This report summarizes information presented in a technical report concerning the role of vocabulary knowledge in reading comprehension and is designed to be read by educators not directly involved in research themselves. It states that while an assessment of the number of meanings a reader knows enables a remarkably accurate prediction of an…

Presents results of a study indicating that, over many propositions appearing in passages that vary widely in content and vocabulary difficulty, early and later propositions are better recalled, and that the rated importance of a proposition predicts probability of recall independent of serial position. (HTH)

The results show that the delay-retention effect occurs under conditions approximating those of real instruction and confirm the interference-perseveration interpretation of the phenomenon. (Author)

This report reviews what is known about the role of vocabulary knowledge or knowledge of word meanings in reading comprehension. It states that while an assessment of the number of meanings a reader knows enables a remarkably accurate prediction of an individual's ability to comprehend discourse, the reasons why word knowledge correlates with…

Three experiments investigated the hypothesis that, when interpreted in context, general terms are typically encoded on the basis of an instantiation. Results indicated that a particular term naming the expected instantiation of a general term was a better cue for recall of a sentence than the general term itself. (CHK)

To characterize basic processes of reading comprehension, this report focuses on how the reader's schemata, or knowledge already stored in memory, function in the process of interpreting new information and allowing it to enter and become a part of the knowledge store. The paper first traces the historical antecedents of schema theory, then…

Three experiments investigated the hypothesis that, when interpreted in context, general terms are typically encoded on the basis of an instantiation. The results indicated that a particular term naming the expected instantiation of a general term was a better cue for the recall of a sentence than the general term itself, even though the general…

This report addresses the nature of the knowledge people possess about word meanings, and how this knowledge is acquired and used in reading comprehension. The report outlines a "standard model" of word meanings which equates word meanings with critical features, or necessary and sufficient conditions for serious, literal use of a word.…

Previous research has shown that adults tend to narrow the meanings of words encountered in context, a process that has been termed instantiation. In the present study, 60 first and fourth graders selected pictures which best represented the meanings of sentences read to them. The sets of pictures included three examples of a target word in each…