Bernhardt (2005) proposed a compensatory model of second language reading. This model predicted that 50% of second language (L2) reading scores are attributed to second language knowledge and first-language (L1) reading ability. In this model, these two factors compensate for deficiencies in each other. Although this model explains a significant…

One of the key requirements of the Common Core State Standards for Reading is that all students must be able to comprehend texts of steadily increasing complexity as they progress through school. By the time they complete the core, students must be able to read and comprehend independently and proficiently the kinds of complex texts commonly found…

Addresses the question of the relative contributions of surface word forms and root morphemes in word representation and recognition. (FL)

Finds that orthographic information dominated word recognition of both good and poor readers and that both semantic contexts and text difficulty influenced the reading of target words. Shows that good readers used orthographic information more than did poor readers, whereas poor readers used semantic context more than good readers. Finds support…

Develops structural equation models to examine the connections between reading abilities and phonological skills. Finds that skills related to reading at preschool age are similar and have the same relations in a transparent language such as Finnish as they do in English; however, differences exist, especially in the relations between phonemic…

This study investigated children's profiles on four constructs fundamental to areas of children's early literacy acquisition: auditory processing, crystallized ability, processing speed, and short-term memory. These areas were measured using six tests: Memory for Sentences, Visual Matching, Incomplete Words, Sound Blending, Oral Vocabulary, and…

Investigates the effects of purpose for reading and frequency of encounters with unknown words in written context on learning from context tasks performed by 119 sixth grade good and poor reading comprehenders. Finds no significant interactions, resulting at least partial support for Robert Sternberg's model of verbal comprehension. (MG)

Reviews attempts to adequately define dyslexia with a focus on recent efforts at developing a nosology of dyslexia and discusses the neurological basis of reading and severe reading failure with an emphasis on validating evidence provided through brain-mapping procedures and postmortem studies. (HOD)

Details a study designed to determine the effects of passage content (schemata) and syntactic structure (clause order) on the inferential comprehension of causal relations of fifth grade students. (FL)

Compares explanations of letter-detection errors in the word "the" based on the unitization hypothesis (errors occur because the word is processed as a whole unit, and lower order processes are not completed) to the structural model of reading (errors occur because the syntactic function of the word pulls attention away from this word).…

This study was an attempt to determine the nature of the pausing phenomena in oral reading, and whether these phenomena are possible overt features of the verbal processing entailed in reading orally, and also in reading silently, by relating them to the silent and oral reading comprehension abilities of the subjects. (Author)

Noting the limitations of recent word recognition research, this paper suggests ways that these limitations might be overcome and then extends these suggestions into a framework for distinguishing between good and poor readers' ability to comprehend words. The paper begins by reviewing the major models of word recognition and discussing their…

This study determined how children develop reading ability in first and second grade. Subjects, approximately 315 children from 3 school districts in the midwest, were given a series of standardized and customized measures of reading comprehension. Linear structural models were developed at both grade levels using LISREL to explain variance in…

This paper deals with the assessment of children's acquisition of phonological competence. Phonological competence refers to the idealized speaker/hearer's ability to understand the linguistic structure underlying phonetic input/output. Under the Jakobsonian assumption that the learning of phonological opposition follows a regular sequence, an…

Syntactic and semantic cueing were examined as used in oral reading by 30 college freshmen, half of whom were higher in vocabulary on the Nelson-Denny Reading Test and half of whom were higher in comprehension scores on the same test. The subjects were selected from 168 freshmen, all of whom were poor readers and spoke predominantly English. All…