This report describes strategies utilized to improve listening skills. The targeted population consisted of elementary students in grades one, two and three in two neighboring Midwestern states. Poor listening skills were documented by parent and student surveys, teacher observation and observation checklists. Review of the literature indicated…

This study looked at the period when language development overlaps the early years of reading, to see how children read and comprehend complex syntactic structures. Thirty-six second, third, and fourth graders, who were considered average readers, were tested in the first experiment using a reading test to determine comprehension of individual…

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of auditory memory tests to predict reading achievement of elementary pupils. Auditory memory was defined as the ability of an individual to reproduce digits, letters, sounds, words, or serial commands, immediately and correctly, in sequential order, after having heard them only once. One hundred…

The comprehension of the Minimum Distance Principle was examined in three experiments, using the "tell/promise" sentence construction. Experiment one compared the listening and reading comprehension of singly presented sentences, e.g. "John tells Bill to bake the cake" and "John promises Bill to bake the cake." The…

The effects of an instructional program in active listening upon reading comprehension were investigated in a sample of 60 black, inner-city children in two Title I elementary schools. The Durrell Listening Reading Test and the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Achievement Test were administered before and after the experimental program. Comparisons with…

Four intact classrooms containing 68 grade four students were involved in a three-month study of the effects of varied amounts and frequency of exposure to oral reading of children's literature on reading and listening comprehension. Pretest and posttest scores from the Durrell Listening-Reading Series were obtained from all students; attitudes…

This study was conducted to determine the relationship between listening comprehension and rate of presentation using meaningful prose materials. A total of 103 students from a suburban sixth-grade class in a central New Jersey school district participated in the study. To determine reading comprehension levels, the students were administered the…

This report describes a program for teaching students to use specific strategies to construct meaning from text. The targeted population consisted of elementary and middle school students in a growing urban community in northern Illinois. The lack of reading strategies was documented by data describing the reading behaviors and achievement of the…

This research studied the effects of abstract-reasoning ability, degree of bidialectism, and grade level on listening comprehension tasks presented in both Standard English and Black English and on oral reading and oral-reading comprehension tasks presented in Standard English, Black English standard orthography, and Black English nonstandard…

A study determined the effectiveness of background classical music on listening comprehension. Nine special education students were read 10 different stories while music was either playing or not. They were asked the same four story element questions after each story. Results showed no significant differences between the two types of listening…

This report focuses on the implementation of strategies to improve student listening skills. The targeted population consisted of primary elementary students located in the suburbs of a large Midwestern city. The lack of students' listening abilities was documented through the use of journals, surveys, checklists, and anecdotal records. Analysis…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the grammatical features of their dialect on the reading comprehension of speakers of a black nonstandard dialect of English. Subjects were 119 fifth grade speakers of black English (BE) in 13 classes in three semirural school districts of a southern state. An oral test in standard English…

This report describes a project for increasing student's ability to comprehend and respond in a reflective manner. The targeted population consisted of 2nd, 3rd, and 5th grade classes in a community unit district located in a suburb of a large midwestern city. The problem of a student's inability to comprehend and respond in a reflective manner…

This descriptive study was conducted to evaluate the need for critical reading-listening instruction in the second and third grades. The subjects were 203 second and third graders from two northwest Florida elementary schools. The subjects were tested in groups of 10 to 15 students with critical listening ability being evaluated by using a…

It was hypothesized that instructing elementary school children to generate meaningful story relationships would increase reading comprehension and retention of low frequency reading materials. It was predicted that generation treatments, which involved various degrees of structural paragraph organization, would produce greater reading…