The purposes of this research were to develop a new methodology for measuring comprehension and analyze individual differences in perceiving sentence difficulty. Written descriptions of commonly occurring visual scenes served as the stimuli in the new methodology. The reader's success in drawing a scene after viewing a written description of it…

Fourth and sixth graders and adults read words preceded by either a congruous, incongruous, or no-sentence context, and then completed another task where they named the color of the target word. Results suggested that context effects are mediated by automatic processes which decrease in importance with age and reading ability. (Author/JMB)

Shows how older, largely context-free models of reading and its instruction became changed into a multidimensional, context-dependent orientation toward written language and the reading process and concludes with suggestions for using a variety of contextual strategies to increase reading comprehension. (HOD)

This brief focuses on the word identification strategy component of the Strategic Instruction Model (SIM) and reviews recent research showing the effectiveness of this strategy for secondary students with disabilities. The word identification strategy is intended to help struggling readers decode and identify unfamiliar words and is based on the…

Reports a study testing the effect of minimal contrast among word forms commonly found in beginning reading instruction. (TO)

Five experiments are described that detail both the structure of lexical representations accessed in visual word recognition and the method of parsing words in order to access these representations. The results support a system of lexical access that is not mediated by phonological encoding. (SW)

Examines the relationships among accuracy and latency of word recognition and comprehension by nonfluent readers and whether component letter or holistic processing was used in word recognition by these same readers. (HOD)

Investigates the properties affecting the time taken to read individual words and to discriminate between words and non-words. (Editor/RK)

This study, using the Visual Pattern Recognition Test for Prereading Skills, found that beginning readers improve in word recognition if they are given training in identifying essential components of letters. (HOD)

Fourteen adults who stuttered and 14 adults who did not participated in a self-paced word-by-word reading experiment. Results indicated that the two groups were not different with respect to speed of word identification but that persons who stuttered retrieved semantic information more slowly than those who did not stutter. (Author/PB)

This article takes a brief look at the research on using letter-sound blending and word-family reading instruction for teaching word recognition to students with reading difficulties. It then examines the effectiveness of combining these two methods. Ideas for implementing both methods in the special education setting are included. (Contains…

Presents a study designed to measure to what extent secondary school students' ability to guess the meanings of words in isolation is related to guessing words in context. Finds similarities between strategies used in isolated and contextual situations, but the students also made effective use of context. (MG)

A sample of 133 Spanish children (ages 8 to 13) was classified by IQ and reading level and given a lexical processing task. The study found that IQ did not explain differences between learning-disabled (LD) or nondisabled (NLD) children in lexical processing. Lexical and sublexical parameters had a greater influence on LD students than NLD…

Examined whether children with reading problems could be taught to use multiletter patterns in word decoding. Testing used practiced words and similar and dissimilar nonpracticed words. Found that all types of practice were beneficial for the recognition of practiced words transfer to the reading of novel words appeared only when graphemic and…

Elaborates the view that phonological recoding, or print-to-sound translation, is a self-teaching mechanism enabling learners to acquire the orthographic representations necessary for visual word recognition. Discusses developmental properties of phonological recoding, reviews evidence on the importance of cognitive abilities underlying the…