Discusses a study which focused on how well elementary children supply appropriate intonation to written sentences and which found that many intonation patterns predictable by syntax had not been mastered even by children who were reading on fourth and fifth grade levels. (JM)

Finds significantly more errors and a higher percentage of detrimental errors on passages composed of later appearing structures. Supports Goodman's view of the reading process (that reading is a "psycholinguistic guessing game"), and indicates a need for more sophisticated readability formulas. (RL)