A critical reader "does more than simply soak up bits and pieces of information." He applies a personal reserve of knowledge and experience to a text to ascribe possible meanings. In other words, he interprets. In addition, he compares his own values and beliefs with those suggested to him by a text and defends them, if necessary. In…

A study examined adult readers' phrasing ability to determine (1) if passage difficulty was a salient variable in readers' sensitivity to phrase boundaries in reading; (2) if phrase sensitivity was an issue of concern for young adult readers; and (3) if difficulties in phrasing were due to an overabundant or an inadequate sensitivity to phrase…

Prereading activities, analogous to prewriting activities, can draw on the reader's prior knowledge of the subject and make the student's reading of literature more proficient, raise the comprehension level, and make class discussions more meaningful. Some suggested prereading activities for the literature classroom include (1) making students…

Twenty college and 38 high school deaf students were studied in the hope of determining whether the deaf (who are, in a way, second language learners of English) will select referents differently as compared to hearing native English speakers. Seventy-three normal hearing students were used as the control group. Booklets were prepared containing…

Discusses a descriptive study of reading strategies used by lawyers and law professors, and reports on an experimental study where law students were taught the strategies. Finds that the strategies significantly improved comprehension, especially of beginning law students. (SKC)

Discusses the use of the Study Skills Questionnaire to help college freshmen increase their knowledge of their own study strategies, including the ability to think on different levels, their task completion strategies, and the use of study aids. Suggests college faculty use results of the questionnaire to adjust teaching methods to student needs.…

Concludes that despite the potential disruption to the flow of understanding, readers' use of lookups is a necessary and appropriate fixup activity when reading only is inadequate for remedying text confusions. (FL)

Individual differences in the reading comprehension standards of 90 undergraduates were examined. Students were classified as having a dualistic or relativistic conception of knowledge by attitude measures. Data suggest that epistemological beliefs may dictate choice of comprehension criteria and that these epistemological standards may control…

Concludes that relevant context had an effect on particular cloze items, as the positioning of items at the end of the natural passages did facilitate their prediction. (FL)

Using a developed structural schema specifying the categories of knowledge important to understanding a scientific theory, two experiments involving 82 undergraduates were conducted to assess the effects of structural schema training and text organization on the comprehension and recall of scientific prose. (Author/PN)

Provides an overview of the types of reading programs found in four-year colleges, shows what research says about the different strategies used by good and poor readers in comprehending material, and reviews several existing university programs that are successful in providing instruction in these important reading and learning strategies. (FL)

Describes "Review in the Round," a student-centered review process that combines discussion and cooperative learning. Describes its purposes, preparation (outside class), and the review procedure. (SR)

Points out reading/comprehension strategies applied by higher education first-year students during their daily learning academic tasks and their major difficulties in the field. Research consists of a measuring frequency Likert scale questionnaire completed by 1,000 students from four of the main Portuguese state universities from science and…

In 2 experiments, 80 and 88 college students, respectively, used either imposed or spontaneous tactics for studying a descriptive prose passage. Imposed tactics were either outlining or relating passage information to prior knowledge. Spontaneous tactics were at least as effective as were tactics imposed via short-term training. (TJH)

Examines the effect of marginal glosses on improving the comprehension of an intermediate-level college foreign language literary text. Students who received a vocabulary list and guide before or during reading recalled significantly more of the passage than those not receiving such help. (CB)