Surveys of literacy attainment have been going on in the United Kingdom since 1948. The main finding is that literacy standards have changed very little in that time. Among 8-year-olds (children in Year 3) in England and Wales, however, standards fell slightly in the late 1980s, and then recovered in the early 1990s. The few international…

Despite movements to fight illiteracy in Laos, the number of illiterates in 1997 remains around 300,000 which represents 27% of people in the 15-40 age group. Concentrated Language Encounter (CLE) techniques were adapted for teaching reading and writing in the Lao language. A pilot project implemented CLE techniques at nine pilot schools in two…

This thesis examined variations in the word decoding skills of children with reading disabilities. These variations were related to possible cognitive, developmental, and environmental causes of reading disability. Possible implications for educational interventions were also analyzed in the five studies. The thesis critically examines the…

This paper outlines the changes and resultant strategy alterations that took place in the legal education system of the Lao People's Democratic Republic in 1991 and how these changes affected the Vientiane School of Law. In the late 1980s, the government was transformed from a centrally-governed economy into a market economy. The difficult task…

This paper examines the context of critical reading and considers how it can best be taught. The paper also includes some reflections on the current "state of the art" in critical reading in an English for Special Purposes (ESP) or English as a Second Language (ESL) context. The paper details a series of attempts to develop a set of…

This report provides a detailed account of a three-year project that sought to determine how average and above average ten- and fifteen-year-old readers in Great Britain actually used reading in school. The 11 chapters cover the following topics: the origins, background, and development of the project; the differences between spoken and written…

A collection of 28 papers deals with reading in various parts of the world. The following countries are represented: Australia, Canada, England, France, Germany, India, Iran, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, and the United States. The papers are organized under four main headings: (1) Developmental Reading: This section discusses reading…

A collection of 28 papers deals with reading in various parts of the world. The following countries are represented: Australia, Canada, England, France, Germany, India, Iran, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, and the United States. The papers are organized under four main headings: (1) Developmental Reading: This section discusses reading…

Investigates the effects of four types of prereading activities on comprehension of Australian fifth grade students: (1) irrelevant tasks (control); (2) pictorial introductions to the subject; (3) content-directed questions; and (4) free-association to the passage's titles. Determines that, although the pictorial introduction group performed best,…

Noting that the achievements of boys have been the subject of growing concern in England for a number of years, this booklet indicates some ways to improve the achievement of boys in literacy. The booklet focuses on work in secondary schools and is based on visits to 14 mixed secondary schools in urban, suburban, and rural areas. It begins with a…

Reviews contributions made by Marie Clay to the field of reading instruction and literacy. Maintains that Clay refused to be drawn into the battle between the phonics and "whole-word" approaches to reading instruction. Discusses the current status of language instruction in Great Britain and Clay's continuing significance. (CFR)

Finds that a strategy-instruction approach helped second-grade students to find needed information in the nonfiction texts they read and eliminate the copying of text. Discusses how students learned to search for information, take notes, organize notes, and use those notes to compose a report in their own words. (SR)

Describes how the Centre of Excellence for Literacy and Literacy Education in Nigeria strives to promote reading clubs at the grass-roots level to foster literacy empowerment. Shows how these reading clubs enhance democratic participation and critical thinking. Offers a sample of material for discussion and discussion questions for mature readers.…

A study hypothesized that if prediction, clarification, question-generation, and summarization strategies were taught using scaffolded instruction, then poor comprehenders might be able to learn the strategies so that they could apply them to text on their own and thereby improve their performance on standardized comprehension measures. Subjects…

The articles in this collection approach the theme "Reading in the Year of the Child" in a variety of ways. The topics covered in the 23 articles include the following: the school as a center for human development; mainstreaming across nations; mainstreaming and the learning disabled child; a Jungian perspective on reading behavior; the arts and…