Examines the relative effectiveness of dictionary definitions and definitions revised to address problems found in traditional definitions. Finds that revised definitions led to significantly more responses that demonstrated a characteristic use of the word. Concludes that revised definitions were more effective in helping students understand…

Examines the ability of children to evaluate their comprehension of text using lexical, external, and internal consistency standards. Finds that children more often use lexical and external consistency than internal consistency and that the results of verbal report measures are inconsistent with performance measures. (RS)

Explores the literacy experiences of five diverse students (three of whom in previous years had received reading instruction in pull-out programs) participating in small-group literature discussions. Illustrates how diverse learners can successfully draw on their own backgrounds and experiences to create an environment for developing rich and…

Examines students' ability to understand definitions of novel verbs--in 2 experiments upper elementary students received definitions of pseudowords paired with sentences using those words and evaluated use as appropriate for definition given. Finds students' judgments about these sentences were not substantially different from chance, suggesting…

Examines how bilingualism and biliteracy affect metacognition. Finds three strategies unique to successful Latina/o readers: (1) they actively transferred information across languages; (2) they translated from one language to another but most often from Spanish to English; and (3) they openly accessed cognate vocabulary when they read. (RS)

Investigates the effects of instructions to induce mental imagery and attend to text illustrations on fourth graders' reading comprehension and recall of narrative text. Finds that images and illustrations independently enhanced reading performance and that, in combination, these two strategies resulted in impressive increases in children's…

Forty-six fourth-grade boys were tested to determine to what extent their substitution miscues affected their silent reading comprehension ability and their retelling ability following oral reading. It was found that, while substitution miscues generally detracted from comprehension and retelling, not all substitutions detracted equally. (MKM)

Finds that Japanese fifth graders' naming speed was a good indicator of the automaticity of the lexical access for both syllabaries and morphograms, but that skilled/less-skilled differences in vocalization latencies were greater for real words than for pseudowords for both hiragana and kanji. Discusses the applicability of C. A. Perfetti's verbal…

Tests the effectiveness of an instructional graphic (frames) on fourth and fifth grade students' ability to learn from reading their social studies textbooks. Finds that, for fifth grade students, framing was a more effective instructional technique than was the instruction suggested in the teacher's edition of the regular classroom social studies…

Using eight intermediate grade remedial reading students as subjects, a study was conducted to (1) validate the method of repeated readings to determine if improvements in fluency could be achieved, (2) identify aspects of reading and fluency that change with repeated practice, and (3) determine if improvements in any of these areas had any…

Latent inferential comprehension scores were calculated for fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students in a study that investigated cognitive styles as mediating variables in comprehension processes. (HOD)

Concludes that when presented stories, some of which were inconsistent because of missing pages, less skilled readers were poorer at reporting a missing page, placing it correctly, and fixing the story than were skilled readers. Stories are appended. (FL)

Finds support for the efficacy of a direct instruction paradigm for teaching children reading comprehension skills. (FL)

Examines the effects of teaching individual word meanings and deriving word meaning from context. Concludes that instruction in individual word meanings effectively teaches specific word meanings, training in deriving meaning from context improves students' ability to derive word meanings, and practice in either method leads to higher levels of…

Examines effects on recall and comprehension of a passage from a fourth-grade textbook and versions revised for greater coherence or to exhibit voice. Finds that, immediately after reading, the voiced coherent passage held significant advantage over all other passages in both recall and comprehension. Finds similar, though statistically…