Audiobooks allow language learners to read and listen to the same text simultaneously; yet the effects of this bimodal input (written and spoken) on learners' comprehension have been inconsistent, suggesting that the conditions under which audiobooks can help comprehension are not well understood. As such, I explored silent reading speed and text…

Unlike alphabetic languages, Chinese text marks no word demarcation. Previous research inserted word-demarcating spaces into Chinese text but found inconsistent effects on reading efficiency. To address the potential trade-off effects of the additional length caused by inserted spaces, this study introduces color-and-font formatting as a word…

In this study we assessed the effects of paragraph length on the reading speed and comprehension of students. Students were randomly assigned to one of three groups: short paragraph length (SPL), medium paragraph length (MPL), or long paragraph length (LPL). Students read a 1423 word text on a computer screen formatted to align with their group…

The problem under investigation for this study was to identify a method for determining a student's potential for success in an online communication course using the Readiness for Education At a Distance Indicator (READI) assessment instrument as a predictor. The READI tool focuses on six areas that students should score well on in order to be…

This article describes a study to determine whether assistive technology, specifically text-to-speech software, can be used to help students with dyslexia cope with academic texts in English. Results from the study indicated that the text-to-speech software enhances students' immediate and long-term academic reading performances. A list of…

In this study the author charts the trajectory of an adolescent student's identity, from being a struggling reader to a competent reader and successful young actor. The author argues that reading is central to our ability to make sense of both our inner selves and our surroundings, and that it is therefore imperative that unskilled readers are…

Comprehension was compared for speeded reading and listening to compressed speech. No difference between reading and listening comprehension was found at any of the speeds or difficulty levels, contrary to previous suggestions of a listening disadvantage. (Author/GK)

According to Gough and Tunmer (1986), in a "Simple View of Reading" (SVR), Reading comprehension (RC) = Decoding (D) x Linguistic Comprehension (C). To further evaluate this model, this paper describes an exploratory study of the performance of 60 university students, the majority of whom received academic accommodations at university to…

Reports data that indicate there is an optimal rate of reading and listening to prose and that support interrelationships among accuracy, rate, and efficiency of comprehension. (AEA)

In this study, rate controlled speech is defined as speech that is reproduced in less time or in more time than the time required for its original production. The particular comprehension skills of interest were: the ability to detect main ideas; the ability to determine supporting details; and the ability to draw conclusions. These skills were…

Evaluation of 16 college students with dyslexia found no significant differences between listening comprehension and reading comprehension. Comparison of the 16 dyslexic students with 16 nondyslexic students revealed significant differences on reading achievement and reading time but not on untimed reading comprehension. (JDD)

Two groups of undergraduates differing in reading ability were tested on a number of reaction-time tasks designed to determine the speed of encoding visual information at several different levels, tests of sensory functions, verbal and quantitative reasoning ability, short-term auditory memory span, and ability to comprehend spoken text.…

Describes a study in which it was found that informational background has some effect on reading speed and comprehension. (TJ)

This book is presented for teachers who do not use a reading course and who wish to produce their own material as well as for individuals developing materials for tailor-made courses. Various types of reading comprehension exercises are described and classified. The exercise-types suggested can be adapted for all reading levels. The book begins…

Reviews research indicating that, on the average, students read narrative prose faster and comprehend it better than expository prose. (AEA)