Discusses four studies of the Uninterrupted Sustained Silent Reading method designed to determine whether teacher modeling of appropriate reading behaviors would consistently lead to increases in student reading activity. Concludes that this method provides an effective environment in which students model teacher behavior to improve attentiveness…

Building on research showing the interdependence of language skills and reading proficiency, this study examined the effects of using the "Language Arts" strand of the "Reading Mastery Signature" 2008 series program as a supplement to non-Direct Instruction reading programs with English Language Learner (ELL) students.…

Two eye movement experiments examined whether skilled readers include vowels in the early phonological representations used in word recognition during silent reading. Target words were presented in sentences preceded by parafoveal previews in which the vowel phoneme was concordant or discordant with the vowel phoneme in the target word. In…

Results of an experiment to establish an operational definition of "silent letter" suggest that a silent letter is one that, when added to graphic syllable, makes no difference to its pronunciation. This finding contradicts the theory that silent speech occurs in silent reading. (CMG)

Students in 61 English classes at an urban high school participated in an investigation of the effects of sustained silent reading (SSR) on their reading comprehension skills and on their atttiudes toward reading. SSR calls for a systematic structured time in school for students to read books of their choosing without being tested when the reading…

Students in an undergraduate human development course (N = 215) participated in a brief assessment of their reading (comprehension level, reading speed, comprehension rate) and multiple-choice test-taking skills on the second day of class. Students first read a one-page, 400-word passage unrelated to the course and then answered 10…

PURPOSE: The purpose of this article was to test the effects of vocal loading in healthy, peripubescent teenage boys. It was hypothesized that select acoustic measures, ratings of physical appearance of the larynx, and self-ratings of physical effort and vocal quality in the experimental group would significantly change in response to 2 hr of…

An observational study of reading instruction was conducted in general education, resource, and self-contained classrooms, grades 1-4, in public schools. Participants included students who were deaf or hard of hearing and their reading teachers. Results indicated that time engaged in reading and/or academically responding varied significantly by…

A study investigated whether 19 at-risk fifth-grade students would benefit from using Sustained Silent Reading. Ten students were exposed to 15 minutes of Sustained Silent Reading at least four times a week over the course of a school year, while nine students were not. All students were administered a pre- and post- self-concept inventory and a…

The present study utilizes traditional silent reading and a think-aloud procedure to investigate the role of lexical cues to meaning in the incidental acquisition of the Spanish future tense. A total of 161 beginning-level university students of Spanish participated in the study. Two versions of a reading passage that contained 13 target items…

The purpose of this study was to develop and gather validity evidence for silent reading fluency passages. A number of passages were written following a traditional story grammar structure (character, setting, events) and placed on a computer for students to read silently. We describe in detail, the manner in which content-related evidence was…

Presents graphs inadvertently left out of an article published in the previous issue of this journal. (MG)

Mario, an adolescent English-language learner and struggling reader, participated in a university-sponsored summer literacy program. After the program, a follow-up literacy assessment was conducted, and Mario was interviewed about his perceptions of and practices with literacy. The findings of this case study demonstrate the possibility that…

A study investigated whether there was a significant difference in the comprehension and appreciation of literature studied through oral interpretation when compared to silent reading. Two hundred and sixty-three third, fourth, and fifth graders from Terre Haute, Indiana were separated into experimental and control groups, and were given pre- and…

Examines the differences between beginning and skilled readers in the units used to represent the meaning of text. Compares reading times and recall of 50 third- and fifth-graders. Stimulus sentences all had the same number of words but varied in the number of underlying propositions. (Author/CB)