Three youths with mental retardation and behavior disorders were taught functional sight words that supported participation in recreation activities in community settings. Direct instruction with in vivo word find activities was demonstrated to be effective in promoting acquisition of functional sight words. Word recognition was maintained at…

Summarizes current cognitive psychological knowledge concerning second language vocabulary acquisition and discusses implications for the development of effective computer-assisted vocabulary acquisition methods. (85 references) (Author)

Response practice variables for learning spelling and sight vocabulary were studied in 4 experiments involving a total of 18 rehabilitation clients and adolescents with developmental disabilities or behavior disorders. The experiments specifically examined the "cover write" method, written versus oral practice, less versus more response practice,…

This article discusses using sign language to help students with learning disabilities remember sight words. It describes the rationale for using sign language, gives directions for playing a game called Sign-o (similar to the game Bingo), provides extension activities, and includes a game board ready for duplication. (Contains references.)…

This paper reports a study that followed the development of reading skills in 72 children from the age of 8.5 to 13 years. Each child was administered tests of reading, oral language, phonological skills and nonverbal ability at time 1 and their performance on tests of reading comprehension, word recognition, nonword decoding and exception word…

Online comprehension of naturally spoken and perceptually degraded words was assessed in 95 children ages 12 to 31 months. The time course of word recognition was measured by monitoring eye movements as children looked at pictures while listening to familiar target words presented in unaltered, time-compressed, and low-pass-filtered forms. Success…

"Reading Mastery" is a direct instruction program designed to provide explicit, systematic instruction in English language reading. Reading Mastery is available in two versions, "Reading Mastery Classic" levels I and II (for use in grades K-3) and "Reading Mastery Plus," an integrated reading-language program for…

This study investigated the word recognition processes of readers of Chinese as a native language (L1) and as a second language (L2), focusing on the effects of two factors, word familiarity and word structure difficulty (complexity of orthographic symbol), on reading accuracy and response time. Subjects were in three groups: (1) 14 adult native…

Prepared by teachers in a summer course, this handbook presents brief descriptions of various aspects of reading instruction and related lesson plans and class activities. Beginning with brief biographies of 5 leaders in reading education (both living and deceased), the handbook consists of sections that discuss reading readiness; word…

Balancing major new approaches to reading with valid traditional ideas, this seventh edition of the book prepares teachers to develop their students' abilities to read fluently and to foster their students' enjoyment of reading. Thoroughly revised, it surveys all the commonly used approaches to teaching reading and guides instructors in choosing…

College students were presented with an artificial language in which spoken nonsense words were correlated with visual references. Inferences regarding vocabulary acquisition were drawn, and it was suggested that the processing of the language was mediated through a semantic memory system. (CK)

An experiment was developed under the assumption that learning about word families could help ease the introduction of short vowels to first grade students. The hypothesis was that teaching the word families would increase students' reading vocabulary, in contrast to the learning acquired by students taught only phonetic analysis. The control…

This study investigates the cognitive processes used by nonnative students of English as a second language (ESL) in recognizing vocabulary items. Four specific questions are addressed: (1) To what extent does context aid in evoking educated guesses? (2) To what degree can contextual clues mislead intelligent guessing? (3) Do foreign language…

Recent cognitive research concerned with training of word recognition skills and vocabulary skills in English monolinguals has implications for second language learning theory and the teaching of English reading skills to native Spanish speakers. Researchers in reading development, cognitive psychology, and second language proficiency assessment…

THIS READER, ALONG WITH "BEGINNING CHINESE READER, PART II," IS CLOSELY INTEGRATED WITH THE SETON HALL UNIVERSITY TEXTS FOR SPOKEN AND WRITTEN CHINESE, "BEGINNING CHINESE" AND "CHARACTER TEXT FOR BEGINNING CHINESE." OF THE 400 CHARACTERS IN THESE TWO READERS, ALL BUT 33 HAVE BEEN PRESENTED TO THE STUDENT IN "BEGINNING CHINESE" AND "CHARACTER…