Although literacy achievement has improved in Chile, adolescents' underperformance in reading comprehension is still a serious concern. In English, core academic-language skills (CALS) have been found to significantly predict reading comprehension, even controlling for academic vocabulary knowledge. CALS are high-utility language skills that…

This study examines students' perceptions of the outcomes and processes of engaged reading in classrooms prioritizing engagement through self-selected, self-paced reading of compelling young adult literature. The primary data were 71 end-of-year student interviews, supported by end-of-year teacher interviews, biweekly observational data,…

Analyzes above and below average readers' informational reports, which synthesize both source texts and writer-generated materials. Concludes that general reading ability and success at synthesizing overlap, and that success at synthesis may be related to cognitive factors associated with comprehension, such as sensitivity to text structure. (RS)

Observes the range of reading and writing activities engaged in by eighth grade students. Finds that students constructed different literacy practices to signal membership status in various clubs. Notes that membership extends the theory of authentic literacy by highlighting how teachers might promote the authentic literacies valued by educators.…

Using eighth-grade subjects, a study examined the strategy differences between good and poor readers as they summarized what they had read. (HOD)

Analyzes whether comprehensible input via captioned television influences acquisition of science vocabulary and concepts using 129 bilingual seventh and eighth graders. Finds that comprehensible input is a key ingredient in language acquisition and reading development. (MG)

This article describes a qualitative research study that explored how a middle school case-study class read and responded to "culturally conscious" African American children's books (Sims, 1982, p. 49). First, I relied on literary analyses conducted mainly by Sims (1982) and Harris (1995) to identify African American textual features contained in…

Examines whether eighth grade students acquired measurable knowledge about unfamiliar words while reading natural text. Suggests that incidental learning from context accounts for a substantial proportion of the vocabulary growth that occurs during the school years. (HOD)

Reports on a study providing evidence that prior knowledge influences the comprehension of texts and that the effect is not because of contrived materials or other validity problems. (FL)

Concludes that both able and less able eighth grade readers who read text versions in which key concepts and the relations between them had been explained thoroughly learned significantly more word meanings than did students who read any of the other versions. (FL)