Identifies three problem areas in teaching students with limited English proficiency to read: (1) the readers' input (what they bring to the reading process), (2) the author's input, and (3) the reading process itself. Recommends that teachers acquaint themselves with students' prior knowledge and language competence level and strive for a balance…

Discusses ways that libraries can improve children's library services, including offering family activities; exposing children to books; creating a secure, comfortable environment; reinforcing and improving self-esteem; offering programs to improve reading skills; and developing imagination. Offers intellectual freedom policies for collection…

Describes an informal inventory that gives underprepared college freshmen the opportunity to express their own perceptions of their reading needs and interests. Finds that students are most concerned with reading rate. Suggests that speed-reading activities play to students' interests while at the same time giving practice in comprehension skills.…

Briefly reports on five out-of-school-studies and three in-school studies showing the value of free voluntary reading (FVR). The failure of direct reading instruction and its implications for developing reading skills, the components of a free reading program, and the role of writing are discussed. (34 references) (KRN)

Maintains that student reading often is seen as a major component of university study, yet the amount actually undertaken frequently falls short of teacher expectations. Describes the use of course readers, or teacher-compiled reading packets, in geography courses and provides a set of recommendations regarding the approach. (CFR)

Interactive computer programs, developed at Indiana University's Learning Skills Center, were designed to model effective strategies for reading biology and psychology textbooks. For each subject area, computer programs and textbook passages were used to instruct and model for students how to identify key concepts, compare and contrast concepts,…

Including sections on research, programs, and professional problems and issues, this yearbook contains presentations given at the 1978 and 1979 meetings of the North Central Reading Association. Papers include: "The Effects of Anxiety on Reading Comprehension" (David Wark and others); "Some Effects of Anxiety on University Students" (J. Michael…

Focusing on improving college students' reading efficiency, a study investigated whether a commercially-prepared computerized speed reading package, Speed Reader II, could be utilized as effectively as traditionally printed text. Subjects were 70 college freshmen from a college reading and rate improvement course with borderline scores on the…

The primary aim of the reading center at Brigham Young University (Utah) is to teach typical university students critical reading skills, not just to work with students needing remedial or basic help. The reading center also serves as a resource for teachers in all disciplines who want help in recognizing and evaluating good reading, or who want…

The proceedings of the fourth annual meeting of the College Reading Association (a fledgling organization in 1961 when this meeting was held) consisted of two symposia, a number of papers, and special reports on research related to reading, as follows: (1) "Opening Remarks" (Albert J. Mazurkiewicz); (2) "Improving Reading in the…

Because thematic statements are too global to aid poor readers in comprehending texts, a series of studies using a common procedure was conducted to determine the relationship between teaching thematic concepts prior to reading and reading comprehension. The thematic organizers used in the studies contained three paragraphs that defined the…

Although much has been said about the influence of reading upon writing, little information is available concerning the effect of writing practice upon reading comprehension. During one experimental study, college freshmen students in a remedial reading course wrote in the expressive mode for ten minutes a day. This simple act of writing, without…

The report drawn from the second annual conference that was designed to provide professional dialogue for those concerned with the improvement of college reading programs, this volume contains the following papers: "Organization, Development, and Implementation of College Reading/Study Skills Programs: Some Assumptions and Conclusions" by Frank L.…

A 3-YEAR EXPERIMENT IN IMPROVING THE READING AND WRITING SKILLS OF CULTURALLY DISADVANTAGED COLLEGE FRESHMEN WAS CONDUCTED IN ORDER TO DETERMINE (1) WHETHER OR NOT SPECIALLY SELECTED MATERIALS, EXPERIENCES, AND METHODOLOGY CAN MOTIVATE STUDENTS MORE THOROUGHLY THAN DOES THE TYPICAL FRESHMAN ENGLISH COURSE, AND (2) WHETHER THE EFFECTIVELY MOTIVATED…

This yearbook contains addresses and discussion group reports from the fifth annual meeting of the Southwest Reading Conference for Colleges and Universities. Part 1 includes addresses which consider: definitions of reading, psychological explanations of reading, the sociology of reading, recent research in college reading, reading and semantics,…