Examines the differences in effectiveness of three types of dictionaries--monolingual, bilingual, and "bilingualised" in the comprehension and production of new words by learners of English as a foreign language. The study tested participants on the comprehension of target words and on their ability to use these words in their own sentences. (16…

Analysis of research on reading instruction for children with moderate mental retardation indicated that word analysis instruction is a feasible option; word analysis is the most effective method of oral reading error correction; and the strongest sight-word instruction methods include those that use picture integration, constant delay, and the…

This review of 20 years of literature on sight word instruction for individuals with handicaps examines effectiveness data for procedures teaching word recognition and comprehension. Covered are "errorless procedures," prompt elimination, stimulus fading, time delay, easy to hard discrimination, and trial and error with feedback. Two tables…

Second and fourth graders and college students categorized one- and two-syllable words. Categorization response times for second graders were related to the number of letters in one-syllable words. Second and fourth graders had longer categorization times than college students for four-letter, two-syllable words. (BC)

Assessed first and third graders' and undergraduates' knowledge of strategies appropriate to comprehension and memory. Also assessed their knowledge of task variables affecting comprehension and memorization tasks. Only undergraduates showed understanding of comprehension-memory distinction. Third graders showed some understanding of differential…

Finds the most effective schools and teachers to be distinguished from moderately and less effective schools by the following: time spent in small-group reading instruction, with much teacher collaboration; coaching children in strategies to figure out unknown words as part of phonics instruction; higher-level comprehension questions; more…

Purpose: Two studies were conducted to investigate the effects of classroom noise on attention and speech perception in native Spanish-speaking second graders learning English as their second language (L2) as compared to English-only-speaking (EO) peers. Method: Study 1 measured children's on-task behavior during instructional activities with and…

Using authentic materials, this study compared the oral reading miscues of 20 university students with reading related learning disabilities to 20 controls matched for age, gender, ethnicity, college GPA, reading achievement score, and college of major. All participants orally read two passages with different text structures from a college…

The effects of computer-presented automatization exercises in a group of 14 poor readers were assessed in comparison to a matched control group of 14 poor readers that received computer-presented exercises aimed at the use of context for word identification and comprehension. Training took place three sessions a week for 15 minutes per session and…

The purpose of this experiment, conducted with second-grade children (mean age: 7;8), was to examine the hypothesis that less skilled comprehenders in a reading situation suffer an impairment in spoken language comprehension and, more specifically, in the on-line processing of anaphoric pronouns. Skilled and less skilled comprehenders performed a…

The participants in this study, Joelle, Peter, Troy, and Malia (pseudonyms), are part of the approximately 25% of adults in the United States who function in the realm of low literacy. Adult literacy educators continually strive to meet the needs of this population. One challenge is to provide meaningful literacy programs for adults that will…

This study tested the hypothesis that more proficient language learners are more aware of the strategies they use in reading. Subjects were 28 native speakers of Mandarin Chinese who learned English as a Second Language (ESL). All were university students; experienced readers were recruited from among fourth-year English majors and inexperienced…

Outlining how teachers can best support a literate community yet still meet the needs of individual readers, this book explains how to create a balanced literacy program for grades K-3 based on guided reading and supported by reading aloud, shared reading, interactive writing, and other approaches. The book also presents guidelines for observation…

When matched for achievement level and educational objectives, computer technology can be particularly effective with at-risk students. Computer-assisted instructional software is the most widely available type of software. An exciting development pertinent to literacy education is the development of the "electronic book" (also called…

The word and picture processing abilities of 11 children (ages 6-10) with partial vision were studied in a variety of ways over a period of 14 months. The studies found that in processing words partially sighted children, like fully sighted children, used both lexical and nonlexical processing, though perhaps in difference balance. Recognition and…