Presents research findings about the development of metalinguistic awareness (MLA) in young children. Discusses MLA and reading readiness, and the implications for beginning reading instruction. Suggests various reading methods which allow children with both high and low levels of MLA to develop literacy. (MM)

In a second-chance program to develop reading competence, secondary students in an Alberta district continue in core academic subjects while enrolling in a 90-minute curriculum based on the "Picture Work Inductive Model." They listen to readings by teachers, write to prompts, and read independently. (Contains 14 references.) (MLH)

This article illustrates the development and use of a situated assessment tool in the context of a collaborative (university-school district) literacy reform effort in British Columbia, Canada. The three-year project was focused on improving literacy, including reading comprehension strategy use, among students in grades 4 through 8. It began in…

Adult literacy students (n=344) read, retold, and answered questions about two narrative and/or expository passages. Miscue analysis revealed few differences across nine reading levels. Results of the three tasks indicate adults at all stages of literacy development make effective use of their knowledge as they read. An integrated, spiral…

Presents the Holistic Educational Literacy Process strategy for adult literacy education consisting of the following 10 steps: presenting an advance organizer; reading silently; reading aloud; listening to the passage recorded; listening and taking notes; highlighting important points; networking structures; summarizing the passage; revising the…

Describes a project designed to make second language reading more pleasurable, noting how computers can help students achieve this goal. The researcher used HyperCard to create reading software with translations appearing in pop-up windows, allowing students to read text with minimal interruption. Students reacted positively to the software, and…

Examines the effects of direct instruction in finding the main idea of an expository text, and in monitoring reading comprehension using self-generated questions based on main ideas. Reports that reading comprehension improved with direct instruction in main idea and question generating. (MM)

Evaluates Phil Ritchie's research report (same issue) on the effects of direct instruction in finding the main idea of expository texts and using self-generated questions to monitor text comprehension. Points out that the most successful teachers of comprehension are teaching comprehension skills directly. (MM)

Examines teaching rime analogy or letter recoding reading strategies to prereaders. Results reveal that experience with rime analogy increased letter recoding ability, but teaching in letter recoding did not enhance rime analogy. Children learned to read with a rime analogy or letter recoding reading strategy, and many developed new reading…

Discusses ways in which to assess, adapt, and use appropriate reading materials for English-as-a-second-language learners, presents guidelines for assessing text difficulty, describes the content and use of simplified readers, and suggests methods for simplifying the reading process rather than the text. (Author/CB)

Analyzed the reading performance of dyslexic, poor, and normally achieving readers on a test of pseudoword reading according to the type of error committed. Findings failed to support the existence of a critical phonological processing difference between IQ reading-discrepant and IQ reading-nondiscrepant disabled readers. (74 references)…

A challenge facing educators is to find ways to arrest and reverse the cumulative deficit in reading experienced by many students with learning disabilities. In this study, we evaluated the effect of a strategy intervention to increase the reading comprehension of eighth grade students with reading disabilities in intact junior high school classes…

A study hypothesized that if prediction, clarification, question-generation, and summarization strategies were taught using scaffolded instruction, then poor comprehenders might be able to learn the strategies so that they could apply them to text on their own and thereby improve their performance on standardized comprehension measures. Subjects…

Based on recent reading research, this secondary school developmental reading curriculum guide presents a reading program to help developmental students acquire strategies to begin independent reading of a variety of print materials and for a range of purposes. The introductory section of the guide presents a rationale and a declaration of…

A study involving 199 eighth graders in British Columbia assessed the use of conceptual, analogical, and outline methods of organization of textual material concerning computer crime and prevention. Findings indicate that simple presentation of a genuine advance organizer does not guarantee that students will use it effectively. (TJH)