The role and importance of time was stressed as a key factor in an alternative theoretical viewpoint to the classic reading theory, which suggests that speed and comprehension are the two important dimensions of reading. Noting newer language processing models which detail the multiple interacting systems operating across time during the…

Four Project English studies, two in composition and two in reading, reflected the following research findings. The first study in composition found no correlation between knowledge of traditional grammar and performance in composition among college freshmen as measured by the STEP Essay Test and the Iowa Grammar Information Test, although the…

This study examined the adaptability of reading rate to passage difficulty under different conditions of task-induced processing. Sixteen experimental passages varying in subject matter and ranging from 85 to 171 words were selected from a set of 32 texts rated for comprehensibility. The eight easiest and eight hardest texts were selected. Another…

The purpose of this study were to survey scientific research, professional literature, and doctoral dissertations on reading comprehension done from 1948 to 1972, to identify the reading factors believed to affect reading comprehension, to analyze the identified reading factors by studying the major available research and related literature, to…

This handbook is designed to help students develop a better understanding and appreciation of the newspaper, its uses by the general public, and its role in the democratic system. Contents include: "The History of Newspapers"; "Why Should You Read a Newspaper?"; "What Do You Read in a Newspaper?"; "How Well Do You Read?" which stresses reading…

The purpose of this investigation was to identify the superior method of accelerating reading rate without the use of mechanical assists. A secondary purpose was to identify personality characteristics which might serve as predictors of success in reading rate. Thirty volumteer college level students completed an unstructured course in reading…

A fictional story was written in three versions: (1) traditional prose of 1,620 words, (2) medium telegraphic form of 947 words, and (3) highly condensed telegraphic form of 455 words. Two hundred and ten braille readers from grades 6 to 9 were assigned to one of the three treatment versions. Nine groups were formed on the basis of comparable age,…

Reports on a study to determine whether students of Chinese read faster when the text is written in characters than when written in Romanization. Results show reading efficiency as determined by speed and errors in translation to be greater with Romanization, while there is more overall accuracy with characters. (CLK)

According to a theory of textual cohesion, anaphoric references and noun phrase organizers may serve as cohesive ties linking separate sentences into unified paragraphs. This study revealed that only the noun phrase organizer condition was significant in promoting comprehension and indicated no difference in time scores by paragraph condition.…

Oral reading speeds for letters, words out of context, and simple text and reading achievement were measured in samples of children and adults. Results are used to discuss the nature and development of a general identification speed variable and an orthographic structure variable. (AA)

This study deals with the patterns of word-by-word reading times over a sentence when the subject must code the linguistic information sufficiently for immediate verbatim recall. A class of quantitative models is considered that would account for reading times at phrase breaks. (Author/RM)

Hypothesizes that good spellers read by full cues while poor spellers read by partial cues, and also investigates short term memory differences between the two groups. Finds good spellers were faster readers, better at identifying matches and mismatches between similar nonsense words, and had better short term memories than poor spellers. (SKC)

Examines expository text processing abilities of fourth- and sixth-grade students and college students. Reports these major findings: topic sentence reading times were shorter if a transition question informed the reader of the next topic; topic sentence reading times were shorter if the new topic was directly related to the immediately preceding…

Examines how spelling-to-sound irregularity affects pronunciation latencies when words are presented in a sentence, and concludes that pronunciation latencies are strongly affected by the type of preceding sentence, with the specific sentences producing shorter latencies than the general sentences. (HOD)

Structural equation modeling procedures were used to verify a causal relationship between the phonological, word recognition, reading rate, and comprehension components of the reading process. Results indicated proficiency in phonological skills was important for development of word recognition ability, a major contributor to reading…