The purpose of this study was to examine the use of auditory memory tests to predict reading achievement of elementary pupils. Auditory memory was defined as the ability of an individual to reproduce digits, letters, sounds, words, or serial commands, immediately and correctly, in sequential order, after having heard them only once. One hundred…

Published and unpublished studies of factors related to reading comprehension in business communication are briefly summarized. Factors considered include organization of copy, format and appearance, graphics, distractions, reading time, listening versus reading, reader attributes, and readability. (AA)

See related article by Delores Kessler Kennedy and Paul Weener, CS 705 857. (RB)

See related article by James L. Wardrop and Diane L. Essex, CS 705 856. (RB)

Discusses four aspects of listening comprehension citing supportive research: (1) what is involved in listening comprehension, (2) whether it be taught, (3) how it is related to reading comprehension, and (4) what other factors affect listening comprehension. Provides recommendations for teaching. (HTH)

Investigates three types of cues [semantic, syntactic (intensional), and adjacency] to subjects of verbs in English sentences. Finds that, when the adjacency strategy does not apply, even highly literate native speakers have great difficulty in correctly comprehending subject-verb correspondences. Discusses findings in context of the relationship…

Considers first graders' comprehension-monitoring skills related to their decoding and listening comprehension skills. Concludes that monitoring one's comprehension is already present in beginning reading but that the level of decoding and listening-comprehension skills affects the way and efficacy of monitoring. (SC)

Seeks to determine whether it is possible to teach children who are poor readers four text comprehension strategies (clarifying, questioning, summarizing, and predicting) in listening contexts. Demonstrates that it is possible to teach the strategies to poor readers; that they can improve their reading comprehension; and that listening…

This article discusses whole language and phonics approaches to teaching L1 reading. It argues to bring these two perspectives together under an integrated approach to better teach second language reading. The article offers an integrated lesson plan with adaptable activities and techniques that show how to apply the integrated approach.

The relationship of reading performance to difficulty level of material was the focus of this study. Participants in the study were 83 fourth graders from four urban schools. Each student was administered passages at different levels of challenge (independent, instructional, frustration) based on word identification accuracy. Passages were scored…

This article considers the role of reader characteristics in processing and learning from informational text, as revealed in think-aloud research. A theoretical framework for relevant aspects of readers' processing and products was developed. These relevant aspects included three attentional foci for processing (comprehension, monitoring, and…

Defining metaphor as "seeing a concept from one class in terms of a concept from another class," a study was devised that analyzed the degree to which two concepts occupy dissimilar positions with respect to their category or domain (within-domain distance), and the degree to which categories themselves are dissimilar (between-domain distance).…

Criteria for operationalizing reading come from three considerations: the purposes for reading, the linguistic units interpreted as basic, and the cognitive processes assumed to underlie reading comprehension. One purpose of reading is objectification, in which the reader is an interpreter and verifier of an author's symbolic representation of…

The test developed in this study was a 60 item multiple-choice test. Content validity was established by the use of The Barrett Taxonomy of Cognitive and Affective Dimensions of Reading Comprehension as a basis for the test construction. Items were selected to represent subtypes in each of the five major areas of the taxonomy. Construct validity…

In this study 60 first and fourth graders selected pictures that best represented the meanings of sentences read to them. Results indicated that children were instantiating the target words with specific concepts rather than bringing to mind abstract, undifferentiated meanings. (HOD)