The Jewish tradition of text study and commentary may convey important messages to educators because of its probable inherent interest and for possible recommendations for pedagogical practice that might be suggested by it. Beyond seeking guidance in religious and everyday affairs, the last 2000 years of Torah study reveals a passionate commitment…

Examines the subprocesses of reading, as identified in first- and second-language reading research, and the two types of input required, i.e., data from the text and learner stored data. It is argued that, through activities designed to work with each one of the subprocesses in turn, attention can be focused on the subprocess as well as the…

Investigates the effect of repeated readings on college students' recall. Finds that reading a text twice increased factual retention, but that good readers benefit quantitatively and qualitatively from repetition while poor readers only benefit quantitatively from the opportunity to reread. (RS)

A study examined the extent to which reported familiarity, reported utility, and perceived applicability of content area reading strategies were related to teaching in the primary grades. A total of 68 first- through third-grade teachers representing 6 elementary schools in 2 districts responded to the Content Area Questionnaire. Frequency…

A study examined the strategic behaviors of email users when they are reading online email messages. Three voluntary subjects (an undergraduate student and 2 graduate students) read a group of 24 email messages collected through a listserv discussion group. The messages were collected over a period of 1 month concentrating on one theme. Subjects…

Mapping (a visual system of condensing materials to show relationships and importance) is a strategy for reading which may be used by students in various courses throughout their college experience, or prior to their college experience. Mapping may also be used by individuals, small study groups, or in large groups. Mapping consists of four basic…

Teachers and their students can benefit from examining the role of professional editors and their response to writing. The editor's role lies primarily in giving service to the writer, the reader, the publishing house, and the power of the written word. Editors like Harold Ross and Max Perkins have evoked the trust of many writers by making sure…

A study was conducted to investigate the effects of high and low relevant text underlining and annotating (making margin notes or other marks to indicate important material) on test performance. The subjects, 67 college freshmen, were randomly assigned to one of four experimenter-generated conditions: (1) high relevant underlining; (2) high…

Unskilled readers can become skilled readers and learners of whole text, if they are given instruction in effective strategies and taught to monitor and check their comprehension while reading. Two strategies for comprehension monitoring are self-questioning and reciprocal teaching. Questions students can ask before reading concern the concepts…

A study examined how, when, and under what conditions severe dyslexics developed high literacy skills, as well as the role of gender differences in literacy development and professional success. Subjects were 60 highly successful dyslexic adults (30 men and 30 women) and 10 nondyslexic male and female normative controls. Results indicated that…

This paper reports the results of a think-aloud study that investigated the comprehension processes of 10 Chinese English as a Second Language college students as they read texts in English. All participants were asked to read two English passages and think aloud as they read them. After reading each passage, the students answered 20…

Some techniques parents use in teaching the content of picture books were studied using 72 three-year-olds, whose parents read them two picture books. Testing for recall and rereading the book were found to be effective for teaching the content. (SLD)

Literature relating summarization skills to reading improvement and to test score gains is reviewed, and two new studies are reported. One study compared gain on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) of two groups of students, one (n=7 students) receiving instruction in summarizing skills and the other (n=14) receiving TOEFL…

Noting that there are many strategies a teacher can use to increase motivation and confidence of students who avoid reading, this paper discusses the strategy of using repeated readings through audio support. After an overview, the paper discusses setting up the program. Three scenarios are presented: a student who does not like to read, a student…

A study examined the effects of training students in two kinds of self-questioning strategies, critical self-questioning and interpretive self-testing, on their acquisition of information from a science text. Subjects, 175 ninth-grade students from a junior high school in southeastern Idaho, were blocked according to their reading ability and then…