Compares a range of reading-related abilities in two groups of college freshmen with higher and lower reading comprehension abilities. Indicates that abilities that appear to relate to reading comprehension include recognition of the order of phonemes in spoken syllables, recognition of words that are good semantic and syntactic fits for sentence…

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)

Explores the role of phonological and syntactic awareness of 9- to 11-year-old Spanish-speaking learners of French in four components of second-language reading. Finds (1) phonological tasks in L2 better explain decoding; (2) word recognition through the visual route is best explained by corresponding ability in L1; (3) sentence comprehension is…

Reports results from one- and two-year follow-up tests for children with reading problems who had previously received 25 hours of training in one of two computer-based remediation programs. Finds children initially trained in phonological skills made greater gains in phonological awareness, phonological decoding, and untimed word recognition at…

The study sought to evaluate open-set word recognition in 54 French, English, and German patients using 5 different kinds of cochlear implants. Three experiments assessed their word recognition in word lists and sentences, environmental sound perception, and gap detection. (Author/JDD)

Investigates whether orthographic processing ability in adults accounts for variance in individual word recognition and spelling skills. Finds that some individual differences in reading and spelling are caused by variation in orthographic processing skills linked to print exposure. (RS)

Found eight-year-old British children less accurate at rejecting psuedohomophones than at rejecting ordinary nonwords in a lexical decision task. New Zealand children did not show the effect. Argues that the difference stems from British children's dependency on sounding out words. (SAK)

Skills in the visual encoding of words were tested by comparing the performances of fourth-grade children with those of adults. In each experiment, adults responded more rapidly to the stimuli than did children. Using a masking procedure, the study determined that the variance in response times was caused by levels of motor skill development…

Finds that a deficiency in phonological coding and an overreliance upon orthographic coding, often observed in dyslexic children, can also be seen in relatively poor readers and spellers within a normal adult population. (RS)

This study examined the impact of environmental print over a 4-year period with 28 children (initially ages 3 and 4), all with severe to profound hearing losses. A four-phase environmental print task was administered annually for four years. Results are interpreted in terms of recognition and interpretation, constructing meaning from print, and…

Two experiments investigated morphological decomposition in ambiguous novel compounds such as "busheater," which can be parsed as either "bus-heater" or "bush-heater." It was found that subjects' parsing choices for such words are influenced by orthographic constraints but that these constraints do not operate…

Compared the sentence processing abilities of 19 children with language impairments (LIs) against those of 20 children without impairments. Results found that the children with LIs had significantly longer mean response times under sentence conditions and lower accuracy overall than children without LIs. (29 references) (MDM)

Six persons, ages 17-20, with moderate mental retardation were taught to identify 3 words by each of 2 different procedures--a fading procedure called the Task Demonstration Model and the Standard Prompting Hierarchy. The Task Demonstration Model produced fewer errors in acquisition, generalization, and maintenance. (Author/JDD)

This study with 47 university students having reading disabilities, 15 students with other learning disabilities, and 12 nondisabled readers found that most nondisabled subjects used a phonological rehearsal strategy for words and nonwords, whereas students with reading disabilities consistently used a strategy of visual scanning for these tasks.…

Describes the development of reading fluency and expression, noting connections among oral reading fluency, word recognition, and spelling. The article presents a model of the stages of literacy development that recognizes the role of tacit knowledge in learning to read and write. A spelling inventory for teachers is included. (SM)