Investigates the effectiveness of the Vocabulary Overview Guide in improving vocabulary comprehension and retention. Concludes that, compared to traditional methods of listing words and studying definitions, the guide increases vocabulary comprehension, retention, and metacognitive awareness. (MM)

Presents a study designed to measure to what extent secondary school students' ability to guess the meanings of words in isolation is related to guessing words in context. Finds similarities between strategies used in isolated and contextual situations, but the students also made effective use of context. (MG)

Examines proficient and less proficient high school comprehenders' use of strategies as they read three passages with different top-level structures: collection, causation, and comparison. Finds that both groups of readers use similar strategies. Finds that proficient comprehenders use more previous knowledge on the collection passage and more…

Shows that English as a foreign language (EFL) students in mainland China believe that their command of English vocabulary plays a crucial role in their reading comprehension. Suggests the final replacement of linguistic knowledge by conceptual or sociocultural knowledge as the top factor that affects their reading comprehension seems to take…

Describes two activities (the use of a newspaper and consultation with a dictionary) that English-as-a-second language (ESL) college students can use to independently learn new vocabulary. Finds that dictionary work was laborious but necessary, and that ESL students need to be taught prudent use of the dictionary. (SR)

The importance of context in vocabulary learning is evident from two common-sense observations: what a word means often depends on the context in which it is used, and people pick up much of their vocabulary knowledge from context, apart from explicit instruction. Available evidence supports a relatively strong version of each of these…

A study determined if there would be any significant difference in comprehension from expository text between students instructed to use context clues and prior knowledge and those students not instructed in their use. It was hypothesized that students who only used a dictionary to understand words, not exploring context or prior knowledge, will…

This paper synthesizes research on vocabulary learning and vocabulary instruction to provide teachers with a basis for using different techniques of vocabulary instruction to improve reading comprehension. The limitations of traditional definition and context-based instruction are discussed in the paper, and principles are outlined which explain…

The eight articles in this journal issue focus on vocabulary skills. The topics covered are semantic feature analysis, the use of highway survival terms in a vocabulary list, making vocabulary interesting to secondary students, word lists, the use of newspapers in creating vocabulary lists, six strategies underlying effective vocabulary programs,…

This study examined the effect of the occurrence of homophones in instructional materials on the learning of new vocabulary. Forty-two junior high school seventh graders were randomly assigned to two groups of 21 each. Group one was exposed to a set of six slides that showed sentences using homophonic pairs of words (juxtaposed sentences) and then…

This study investigated whether reading achievement differed between bilingual and monolingual students in the fifth, sixth, and seventh grades in several Texas schools where the Czech-American culture is significant. Selected bilinguals and monolinguals were compared in the factors of sex, age, grade level, reading vocabulary scores, reading…

Reports on a study designed to determine the effects of preteaching vocabulary of differing levels of importance to a text using two different methods of instruction on children's comprehension of basal stories. Concludes that, in general, the results supported the growing evidence for the "direct effect" of instruction on children's text…

Describes the development of a 99-word multiple meaning word list and offers activities designed to develop children's knowledge of multiple meaning words. (FL)

Concludes that the misspellings of poor college-age readers have more internal errors and more dysphonetic misspellings than those of good readers. Offers suggestions for instruction based on these findings. (FL)

Investigates the vocabulary and readability of 50 commonly used application forms. Lists the 100 most frequently used words on those forms and suggests that this list be a beginning point in reading instruction. (FL)