Presents contrasting evidence on the rate of letter identification. (AEA)

Supports the argument that there are differences between the reading strategies of children and adults and suggests that pedagogy can take these into account to make adult basic education programs more effective. (AEA)

Participation in any one of four types of composition courses or two types of reading methods courses failed to increase college students' reading comprehension or vocabulary development or to change their attitudes toward reading or writing. (MKM)

Reports on research probing job-related literacy demands and on programs promoting job literacy. (JT)

Details a study indicating that the minimal level of literacy necessary for adults in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is very high. Provides a master list of vocabulary words, symbols, numbers, abbreviations, computational skills, and writing skills needed for functional literacy. (MKM)

Reviews the origins of melodrama, essential components for instructional purposes, and key elements that help melodrama succeed. Suggests methods for implementation of content-focused melodramas in history classes and methods to evaluate student understanding of the content. (RS)

Investigates whether transfer of reading and listening comprehension skills occurs in bilingual programs. Finds that reading and listening skills in the native language do transfer to reading in the second language but that general language ability is not significantly involved in the transfer of reading skills to a second language. (RS)

Encourages classroom teachers to improve their students' reading and reasoning skills by helping them to interpret math problems correctly. (RAE)

Discusses illiterate and semiliterate adults who want to become literate to enjoy a more satisfactory quality of life. Describes their life experiences and provides examples of effective instruction methods based on the language experience approach, including dictation, word banks, journal writing, individualized and assisted reading, and…

Determined that mildly handicapped students need an average of 46 repetitions in context for a word to be recognizable on a word recognition test. Also found that low imagery words require significantly more repetition and that high imagery words are as learnable in isolation as in context. (SKC)

Discusses possible limitations to the use of context for word learning (such as poor reading skills and text complexity). Recommends that content area teachers be aware of these limitations and provide specific instructions in determining word meaning from difficult contexts. (SKC)