Although research has established that phonological awareness is a predictor of future reading skill, the effects of variant vs. contiguous presentations of grapheme-phoneme correspondences as part of a teaching program have not been examined. A variant presentation is one in which there is a mismatch between the letter and sound or sound and…

To tailor instruction to levels of learner proficiency in a domain in adaptive learning environments, rapid on-line methods of assessing learner knowledge and skills are required. Cognitive studies indicate that major factors in expert performance are organised structures in the person's knowledge base. Measuring different levels of acquisition of…

This study attempted to determine whether the findings of psycholinguists to syntax and reading comprehension could be generalized to children of other English-speaking cultures. Specifically, the influence of material written at different levels of syntactic maturity (according to the T-unit analysis) upon the reading comprehension of selected…

Following the style of the 1958 original, this third edition of the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability is both a standardized attainment test and a diagnostic test and thus can be used to assess reading progress objectively as well as to obtain structured diagnostic observations of an individual's reading behavior. This Reader contains narratives…

Reports results of literacy tests of 5,500 10-year-old and 5,100 14-year-old students throughout Australia in 1980. Compares these results with those of testing in 1975, pointing out that in reading, overall results were almost identical, while in writing some tasks showed improvement. (JM)

This review of cross-national data on educational achievement indicates that the U.S. educational system has clearly been responsive both to the rapid changes in society and to its basic democratic ideology. (Author)

A study investigated the self-perceived, on-the-job literacy tasks of electrical mechanic apprentices in Victoria, Australia. A random sample of 401 apprentices from 19 locations representing all levels of apprenticeship training were questioned about their reading needs and the consequences of making a reading error in their work. Data were…

The paper reports on an Australian study comparing two methods of teaching a word recognition reading task to eight mildly retarded adolescents. One method involved incidental learning, while the other involved a more structured paired-associate approach. It was found that all eight Ss learned a short list of tool names equally well under either…

This paper constructs a taxonomy for non-oral reading based on Kenneth and Yetta Goodman's reading research. Cloze type deletions reveal how proficient readers and low ability readers from 6 to 14 years of age use graphophonic, syntactic, and semantic cues. It compares performance of Australian children on oral reading and outline strategies with…

Children with reading and/or spelling difficulties were examined to test ability to read and spell using correspondence rules and whole-word rules. Children deficient in both reading and spelling skills had difficulties using correspondence rules to spell and read and difficulties with whole-word reading and spelling. (Author/DB)

Second and fourth graders were assessed as skilled or less skilled in reading ability. Less skilled fourth graders performed worse than skilled second and fourth graders in recognizing the odd phoneme in a group of phonemes and performed similarly to skilled second graders on a test of verbal working memory. (BC)

Compares the reading and comprehension ages of children who were in Reading Recovery at age 6 to those in a comparison group as they enter their fifth and sixth years in school. Reports that the ex-Reading Recovery children were 12 and 13 months superior in terms of reading and comprehension ages, respectively. (CMK)

Noting that each individual chooses his own way of making sense, this collection of essays by Australian educators focuses on helping adult learners in literacy programs increase their self-confidence. The essays share a common idea--that the most significant points of departure for learning are students' own messages--their past experiences,…

This study, carried out in 1975-1976 and reported in this document, focused on the following aims: to identify specific tasks and competencies associated with basic literacy and numeration skills which children in Australia need to master; to prepare appropriate performance (criterion-referenced) tests to measure levels of competence of 10- and…

This study, carried out in 1975-1976 and reported in this document, focused on the following aims: to identify specific tasks and competencies associated with basic literacy and numeration skills which children in Australia need to master; to prepare appropriate performance (criterion-referenced) tests to measure levels of competence in the basic…