Investigates whether ESL students find some types of words easier to guess than others and whether better ESL students use context more effectively than do weaker students in guessing unknown words. (FL)

Although reading instruction alone can teach students many of the skills and strategies they require for reading content area materials successfully, students also must have ample opportunities to apply these skills and strategies in "real" reading situations--that is, as they read in the content areas. Specifically, teachers can provide…

The controlled vocabulary method of reading instruction (popular in the 1950's and 60's in the Dick and Jane basic reading series) had many inherent and numerous strong points. As with all beginning reading instruction methods, including the Big Book, heterogeneous reading group, holism, phonics, library book, and constructivist methods,…

Article describes a word test given to seventh-grade students that revealed a list of science words that should prove to be helpful to teachers in the teaching of science. (ML)

Illustrations of authors' contextual clues to word meaning. (RD)

Suggestions are made for a five-day cycle of activities that can be used with primary students to reinforce language from stories they've dictated. Some activities are teacher-directed, while others can be completed independently. The activities can also be adapted to group-dictated stories. (Author/SJL)

Describes two teaching procedures, one designed to combine word recognition practice with syntactic (word order) skill development, the other designed to help children develop sequencing comprehension. (AEA)

This study compared effectiveness of word sorts on word recognition, pseudo-word recognition, phonological awareness, and spelling among 16 children with mental retardation or undiagnosed reading problems. Both groups completed sorts successfully, but children without disabilities made greater gains on a pseudo-word naming task. (Contains…

Twenty language-delayed children (age three to six) viewed a presentation incorporating object, action, attribute, and affective state words into a narrative script. In pre- and postviewing word comprehension measurements, subjects scored lower than children matched for chronological age and children matched for mean length of utterance.…

Describes a method of increasing vocabulary recognition of Chapter 1 elementary students by using mastery words from basal programs, sight word cards, and modified cloze stories. (MG)

Explores the development of 280 students across 7 grades in spelling and word knowledge as well as their pattern of use of lower- to higher-order strategies in their attempts to spell words, write derivations, and display syntactic knowledge. Older students gradually make less use of lower-order strategies in spelling, writing derivations, and in…

The effects of a task-based vocabulary learning technique that focuses learners' attention on the underlying meaning of a word were investigated. The words came from Xue and Nation's University Word List. The experimental exercises encouraged high quality discussion and increased utilization of context clues to determine word meaning. (26…

Word learning in a supported-learning context is described for 30 preschoolers with specific learning impairment (SLI) and 30 controls. Daily production probes assessed number of words learned and daily posttest assessed comprehension of the words. A minority of children with SLI learned to produce significantly fewer words. (Author/CR)

Describes seven learning strategies designed to promote word recognition, vocabulary development, and reading comprehension in secondary students with mild disabilities. An instructional sequence is provided for each of the strategies, research findings are reported, and a checklist is included that teachers can use to evaluate learning…