Describes one element of the reading act as it operates in time--how "good-enough" readers of complex fiction strike a personal balance between the need for momentum and the need for accountability to the text. Draws from protocols provided by 33 readers, from eighth grade to Ph.D. level, following two readings of a novel. (PA)

Investigates how well kindergarten phonological awareness (PA) and naming speed (NS) account for reading development to Grade 5. PA was most strongly related to reading in the first two years of school, and NS's initially weaker relationship increased with grade level. Children with weak PA and slow NS were most likely to develop reading…

This article discusses the need to teach decoding to secondary students with reading difficulties using one of three approaches: reading segmented words part by part; decoding different syllable types; or using a flexible strategy for reading long words. It also stresses the need for reading practice and research-validated programs. (Contains…

Addresses the question of the role of general speed/rate of processing in reading impairment in adults. Compares 95 adults varying in word-recognition ability. Shows significant and pervasive speed/rate differences among groups, as well as differences in accuracy performance. (SG)

Tests hypotheses that reading styles of good spellers and dysgraphic spellers differs. Concludes that an underlying source of difficulty for dysgraphic spellers, one that may be related to the reading style they exhibit, is a more limited working memory capacity. (MS)

A study analyzed the relation of four information presentation methods--text, tabular, black-and-white graphics, and color graphics--to level of retention, reader reaction, and reading time. Results confirmed that the incorporation of color graphics in a document increases psychological reaction, but does not necessarily improve task performance.…

Previous research has been inconsistent in supporting any one model of idiom comprehension. This study found evidence of the effect of familiarity on reading times for sentences containing idioms, as well as new evidence that literalness affects reading times and that both familiarity and literalness exert interactive effects. (22 references)…

Describes "rauding" (a combination of "reading" and "auding") as representative one of five basic reading processes that involves the comprehension of complete thoughts in sentences of textual material (the central process for understanding written or spoken language), requiring a certain minimal amount of time, and…

Proposes a system for document organization based on cueing and page formatting techniques, in which the logical and systematic use of cueing and formatting creates a visual hierarchy organizing and signalling information for the reader. Maintains that proper application produces increased reading speeds, ease of access, and comprehension. (SR)

Discusses a study of fast and slow adult readers' textual organization subprocesses. Reveals that title and text type variables were manipulated in the study. Concludes that fast and slow readers processed textual organization similarly and showed identical comprehension performances. Calls for research into the characteristics of good…

Reviews research on lexical access (the process of getting information about a word from a mental dictionary). Discusses implications for comprehension development. Suggests that individual differences in comprehension depend on speed of lexical access as well as on speed of decoding. (SR)

Video segments captioned at different speeds were shown to a group of 578 people (ages 8 to 80) who are deaf, hard of hearing, or typically hearing. The most comfortable speed was found to be about 145 words per minute (WPM), close to the 141 WPM mean rate actually found in television programs. (Author/CR)

This Australian study compared effects of relative-size magnification and relative-distance magnification on the reading rates of 24 adults with normal vision and 22 adults with low vision. For the subjects with low vision, the magnification method did not affect their reading rates, although subjects with normal vision showed slower reading at…

Measured both reading speeds and comprehension in two groups of learners exposed to intensive and extensive reading programs. The extensive group was exposed to a regime of graded readers, while the intensive group studied short texts followed by comprehension questions. Results indicate that subjects exposed to extensive reading achieved both…

Three tables present data from 22 braille-reading blind children, ages 6 to 12, including demographic data (such as years of braille use, IQ, age, hand movement type, and reading rate); highest and lowest reading rates, by years of braille instruction and IQ scores; and oral reading rates. The methodology used is suggested for teachers doing…