Covering studies from psychology, education, linguistics, and literature, this review of reading research in Sweden published in the 1980s includes sections on early reading development or emergent literacy, reading disabilities, and reading comprehension. Material in the review was selected using the following criteria: (1) only research…

Finding meaning in an ordinary prose text and following a description or argument is generally considered less difficult than finding the essential message in a literary text. Sometimes, however, the emotional impact makes it easier for some readers with some texts to see and understand the meaning of some literary texts. Research from the…

Details a cross-cultural study of cloze procedure and comprehension conduced in Japan, Canada, Sweden, and the United States with 10- and 11-year-old children. Concludes that cloze procedure is a valid and reliable measure of certain aspects of reading comprehension in all the linguistic and cultural areas sampled. (FL)

This paper describes a research project which was designed to analyze the extent of functional literacy at different grade levels in Sweden. Functional literacy is defined here as the use of the mechanics of reading for different information purposes. A test battery was administered to 2600 students in grades six through twelve. The test battery…

Three stages of linear causal model building procedures (conceptual, main theory, and auxiliary theory) were used to examine the cultural and personality resources of individuals and their school-related skills as determinants of achievement in mother tongue literature. A path analytic approach was used to test a popular model of literature…

A book-length study described the metacognitive components of good and poor reading ability, with special reference to comprehension. Subjects were 53 Swedish students in grade 5 or 8 and were either good or poor comprehenders as defined by a combination of a reading test and teacher ratings. Data collection consisted of semi-structured interviews…

Successive studies conducted in Sweden have shown that linguistic awareness is an important prerequisite of learning to read. In one survey that measured the various aspects of the linguistic awareness of 6-year-old children, a very close connection was found between preschool linguistic awareness and reading proficiency in school. Another study…

The reading research studies presented in this volume address questions that incorporate more than one culture, language, or writing system, illustrate a broad conceptualization of the study of reading, and represent the expanding international consciousness and program of the International Reading Association. Part one offers the following…