Reports on a study that examined children's understanding of written direct and indirect speech by testing reading comprehension of two passages using cloze tests and referent location tests. Found that children have difficulty in interpreting written direct speech, especially when it contains a variety of pronouns. (ARH)

Results of an informal experiment conducted with five seven-year-olds and three nine-year-olds suggest that being able to infer well from a piece of reading material does not necessarily prevent children from making mistakes at the level of literal comprehension. (GT)

Presents information gathered as to how children make use of reading skills and what effects factors in the text, such as vocabulary, syntax, layout, and even illustrations, can have on the child's response. (RB)

Contains a review of the literature in reading research during 1973. (RB)

Reports on a study that probed the relative influence of text (including illustrations) and background knowledge upon child and adult novice readers' incorrect responses to comprehension questions. Found that novice readers use background knowledge more than textual information to answer comprehension questions. (ARH)

Describes study which questioned theories of skill hierarchies in reading and states that it cannot be assumed either that the transfer of one skill in literacy is made to another skill or that a transfer is made to other "real life" reading situations. (JM)

Reviews studies dealing with dyslexia, reading development, and reading materials and interests. (DF)

Discusses the nature of cohesive relationships and the contribution of cohesion to comprehension in determining the role of cohesion in written text. (DF)

Investigates the effect of word frequency on reading comprehension. Finds that comprehension is improved using high frequency words, independent of age or socioeconomic class of the student. Concludes that knowledge of vocabulary facilitates comprehension, but does not explain group differences. (RS)

Suggests that reading comprehension is a special case of language comprehension; considers the effect of prior knowledge and experience on recall of meanings; points to the role of "scripts" (information accumulated about a situation, word, or concept) in reading comprehension; and outlines implications for teachers. (GT)

Suggests that further explication of the notion of "importance" will benefit the reading field, at both practical and theoretical levels. (ARH)

Discusses the theory that reading is more than the searching for meaning within a text. Argues that the meaning of a text actually is in the interaction between reader and text. (FL)

Reports on a study that examined the relationship between understanding of specific cohesive items and general reading comprehension ability, as well as differences in performance of girls and boys. Makes suggestions for the classroom based on the findings. (ARH)

Examines how students use geographical maps in history and social studies textbooks for comprehension purposes. Reports training 32 eleventh graders to use maps as aids in their comprehension of information. Finds a positive impact upon comprehension and learning of the original training passage. (MG)

Reports on reading research studies conducted in Great Britain during 1979, noting that two areas have attracted much more attention recently--reading comprehension and the importance of motivation. (HOD)