The phonological information provided by written words may be used by the reader as a convenient temporary storage medium and as a way of gaining access to the lexicon. Beginning readers should be able to exploit the sound-based patterning of the orthography in reading single words and to bypass it on occasion. Some words do not conform to English…

This literature review examines the relationship between phonemic awareness and the ability to read. It addresses four main issues: (1) if phonemic awareness is a prerequisite for or a consequence of learning to read; (2) what is needed to teach phonemic awareness; (3) tasks or activities and assessment tools to develop phonemic awareness; and (4)…

The human cognitive system may have a developmental property that makes acquisition of fluent reading skills difficult after a certain age. This problem may be seen to affect two different populations: participants in adult literacy programs who lacked access to schools as children and educated adults fluent in languages with non-Latin scripts.…

A review of the literature on the relationship between reading ability and mathematical ability shows the process of reading mathematics to be very different from the process of reading English prose. (AEA)

Review of the contribution of various oral language abilities to early reading performances found that, although phonemic awareness was the best predictor of early reading skills, metasyntactic ability also often accounted for significant variance. Once children acquire initial decoding skills, narrative discourse and other metalinguistic skills…

To investigate the recommendation that children practice reading aloud at home, conversations of 3rd graders reading to their mothers were audiotaped, transcribed, and coded. Conversations between below-average readers and their mothers were marked by the frequent use of error corrections. College-educated mothers asked significantly more…

This review of research finds that, when IQ and reading ability are controlled, "true" math deficits of students with learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders, and attention deficit hyperactive disorders (ADHD) are specific to mathematical concepts and problem types. Slow computation affects problem solving by increasing attentional…

A discussion of the benefits and reasons for incorporating literature instruction into beginning and intermediary, as well as advanced foreign language programs, presents suggested prereading, reading, questioning, and postreading activities to help students enjoy and appreciate authentic foreign literature. (CB)

This study investigated the effects of English captioning used as knowledge of results feedback during English listening comprehension practice for Taiwanese students. A total of 72 college freshmen at National Taiwan Normal University--36 with above average and 36 with below average English reading proficiency--participated in the study, using an…

This report was prepared to assist the United States Army in evaluating the usefulness of readability formulas in identifying material that will be comprehended by readers at a given reading skill level. Existing readability methods and research findings were reviewed against three major criterion questions and the findings are discussed. The…

Following a review of metalinguistic abilities and their relation to reading ability in learning-disabled students, special consideration is given to phonological awareness. Both developmental/preventative and remedial approaches for heightening sound awareness are described, focusing on the characteristics of speech sounds themselves rather than…

Reports on reading research studies conducted in Great Britain during 1979, noting that two areas have attracted much more attention recently--reading comprehension and the importance of motivation. (HOD)

This article presents conceptual models of relationships between print size and reading speed and preferred viewing distances. These models illustrate how various factors can influence reading behaviors and influence decisions about the optimal angular size of print and resolution reserve. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

Describes three learner assessment strategies and their possible effects on text design strategies for distance education materials. Prior knowledge, reading ability and text readability, and learning styles are examined; learner characteristics and potential instructional strategies are discussed; and the relationship of learning styles to…

This literature-based review examines the relationship between the acquisition of segmental awareness and the acquisition of alphabetic literacy. Cited studies show that the segmental analysis ability of most dyslexics is very poor and suggest one factor may be related to the conscious representation of speech on which the analytic capacity…