KNOWING ABOUT READING BEFORE READING: PRESCHOOL CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS OF READING

This paper reports findings from an investigation of preschool children's concepts about reading. Three tasks related to several basic ideas about reading were presented to 60 preschool children, ranging in age from three to five years. The first task assessed children's ability to identify oral and silent reading. The number of children who correctly identified both forms of reading increased with age, with almost all five‐year‐olds giving accurate responses. The second task was aimed at establishing children's perceptions of their own reading ability. Only four of the 60 children incorrectly evaluated their own reading ability. The third task investigated children's ability to recognize what it is on a page that is read. Three‐year‐olds were, on the whole, quite unaware of the salient information in books. Even among the five‐year‐olds, who performed significantly better than three‐ and four‐year‐olds on this task, some children's responses indicated an ambiguity about the role of print in reading. Suggestions for adults who guide young children through their early experiences with print are drawn from the findings of this investigation.     

Resistant Readers?

Abstract

This article employs three complementary motivation theories to analyze the difficulties of Kelly, a student who has been termed a “resistant reader.” Twelve questions, emanating from the three theories, are offered to guide the analysis of factors contributing to Kelly's avoidance of reading. Each question is accompanied by strategies to encourage reading. The reader is cautioned against incorrect and pejorative assumptions when working with students like Kelly. The term resistant reader is rejected as inaccurate.     

CONFRONTING ASSUMPTIONS: PRESERVICE TEACHERS' BELIEFS ABOUT READING AND LITERATURE

This article describes one group of preservice teachers' beliefs about reading and literature. What teachers think of these subjects affects how they implement literature-based reading instruction and influences their students' views of reading and literature. During one part of a language arts education course, 39 students read about and discussed major assumptions of reader response, engaged in self-selected novel studies, and designed literature-based learning units. Students reflected on what they learned at the end of these activities. Through qualitative analysis of students' reflective writings, I identified eight beliefs students had formulated. More than three-quarters of the class gained insights into the reading process, the interpretative nature of reading, and pleasure reading. Half the students came to view writing as a means of identifying, shaping, and enriching readers' responses to literature. Finally, more than half the class described features of quality literature and one-third wrote about using literature outside the language arts. This study documents ways teacher educators can help preservice teachers examine assumptions about reading and literature that will influence how they deliver instruction.     

SEMANTIC AND PHONOLOGICAL CODING PROCESSES IN SKILLED AND LESS SKILLED READERS' READING OF TEXT

Abstract

Two experiments examine the memory coding processes of skilled and less skilled readers during the reading of connected text. In experiment 1, students read several paragraphs which required a lexical decision about an underlined letter string within a sentence. Underlined letter strings were either synonyms, repeated words, or control words in reference to items in the sentence. Students were later asked to recall words related to their lexical decision, as well as verify the occurrence of sentences from the text. Skilled readers recalled more synonyms than poor readers, whereas no differences emerged between groups in their recall of other types of words related to the lexical task or for the verification of sentences. Experiment 2 procedures were similar to Experiment 1, except that synonyms were replaced with homophones and the sentence verification task included phrases related to the homophones. When compared to less skilled readers, skilled readers recalled more homophones and repeated words, but were more likely to be disrupted in correct verification of sentences with homophones. Taken together, the experiments suggest that along with phonological coding, semantic processing contributes an important amount of variance to deficiencies in the reading of connected text.     

READING IN VOCATIONAL SUBJECTS: AN ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ READING ABILITY AND CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE

The study investigated the reading ability and classroom performance of vocational students enrolled in the second year of study in auto mechanics, carpentry, electronics, graphics, and masonry. Performance on the California Achievement Test showed average reading achievement for electronics students and below average reading achievement for students in the remaining vocational areas. Students’ ability to read their vocational textbook was measured by a cloze task, with auto mechanics students showing an adequate level of comprehension for instruction. Carpentry, graphics, and masonry students showed performance below instructional level. Significant differences were found in reading achievement between electronics students and the other four areas, and between auto mechanics and masonry. Vocational students in the present sample represented, to some extent, separate groups for reading achievement rather than the traditional view of homogeneity across vocational subjects. Teachers’ evaluations of students’ classroom performance showed statistically significant correlations with textbook reading ability in only two subjects, auto mechanics and carpentry. Correlations suggested that success may not always be dependent on the ability to comprehend the textbook, and that the vocational teachers sampled may not have placed a high value on reading ability as an indicator of competence in a vocational subject.     

EFFECTS OF STRESSING ORAL READING ACCURACY ON COMPREHENSION

Abstract

Recently, authorities have argued that the traditional demand for accuracy in oral reading may in fact retard comprehension. This study investigates the validity of that argument. Thirty third‐grade students of average ability individually read aloud a 109‐word passage and immediately retold as much of it as they could remember. Half of the students (the high criterial group) were instructed to be very careful to pronounce individual words accurately, and half (the low criterial group) were instructed not to worry unduly about accurate pronunciation of individual words. Students’ readings and retellings were tape recorded. The dependent measures were comprehension (total propositions recalled), reading time, misses (hesitations of two or more seconds), and false alarms (words mispronounced). Results indicated significantly better comprehension (p < .05) and significantly faster reading times (p < .l) for the lower criterial group. The major implication for teaching is that overemphasizing accuracy in oral reading can actually retard comprehension. This implication and suggestions for further research are discussed.     

THE EVOLUTION OF A RESEARCH DESIGN: A CASE STUDY IN CONTENT READING

In recent years, educators and researchers have become increasingly interested in naturalistic or responsive research. This approach to inquiry seems to be uniquely suited to research in the complex educational setting found in classrooms. This paper discusses one aspect of the application of a responsive paradigm to research in reading in the content area ‐‐ the evolution of the research design. In this study of four secondary school social studies classes major modifications in design were made at several points. These modifications are described and the reasons for the changes are discussed. In summary, allowing the design to emerge as the study progressed resulted in the collection of data that provided a complete view of reading in these classes. In addition, on a personal level, the researchers found that engaging in this type of inquiry influenced their views about how to collect data and what data to collect while, at the same time, enlarging their perspective of reading occurring in content area classrooms.     

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LISTENING AND READING COMPREHENSION OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF TEXT AT INCREASING GRADE LEVELS

This study examined the hypotheses that (a) the relationship between listening and reading comprehension becomes stronger after decoding mastery; (b) the difference between listening and reading decreases with increasing grade level; and (c) similar patterns of relationship and difference are obtained with narrative and expository texts. The sample included 612 students in Grades 2, 4, 6, and 8. Students read and listened to two narratives and two expository texts and completed corresponding comprehension tests that were in the form of sentence verification tasks. The findings confirmed the first two hypotheses but not the third one. In the case of expository text, the relationship between listening and reading comprehension was weaker than the corresponding one with narrative text, and performance levels were comparable across all elementary grades. Moreover, reading comprehension levels were higher than listening comprehension levels in Grade 8, regardless of text type. The implications of these findings with respect to the dominant unitary process model and the assessment and instruction of oral and written language comprehension are discussed.     

THE DEVELOPMENT OF ORTHOGRAPHIC LINGUISTIC AWARENESS IN KINDERGARTEN CHILDREN AND THE RELATIONSHIP OF THIS AWARENESS TO LATER READING ACHIEVEMENT

ABSTRACT

To examine the developmental course of children's understanding of print concepts, orthographic linguistic awareness, the Concepts About Print (CAP) test was given to 29 boys and 27 girls three times during their kindergarten year and on two occasions during their first‐grade year. That approximately 20% of these children did not understand print‐direction and letter‐word concepts at the beginning of the first grade confirmed previous findings that many children entering formal reading instruction may have little knowledge of the reading instruction register. Orthographic linguistic awareness, measured even at the beginning of kindergarten, was found to be highly correlated with reading achievement measured at the end of the first grade, and these relationships between orthographic linguistic awareness and reading achievement were consistently higher for the girls than for the boys. Path analyses including the Record of Oral Language, Metropolitan Readiness Test and Iowa Test of Basic Skills revealed strong direct influences of orthographic linguistic awareness at the beginning of the first grade on reading achievement measured at the end of first grade     

THE READING THEORETICAL ORIENTATION OF TEACHERS WHO INSTRUCT SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS

Abstract

This study investigated the reading orientation of teachers who instruct students with special needs. These teachers were defined as those who taught students in remedial reading pull‐out programs, resource rooms and Chapter 1 programs. The Theoretical Orientation to Reading Profile (DeFord, 1985) was completed by 177 special needs teachers. This instrument identifies three theoretical orientations to reading: whole language, skills, and phonics. The results from the TORP indicated that the teachers in the study were not strongly associated with any one theoretical orientation but tended to be eclectic. In addition, the teachers clustered primarily into two orientations: whole language and skills/phonics. No significant differences among the three groups of special needs teachers and their theoretical orientations to reading were found. However, 93% of the respondents qualified their answers to the TORP through unsolicited written commentary. Implications for reading instruction in special needs settings and reading education programs are presented.     

HOW ELEMENTARY STUDENTS REFERRED FOR COMPENSATORY READING INSTRUCTION PERFORM ON SCHOOL‐BASED MEASURES OF WORD RECOGNITION,FLUENCY, AND COMPREHENSION

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine how elementary students referred for compensatory remedial reading services performed on several key reading process variables: total word recognition errors while reading brief passages, significant or meaning‐changing errors, comprehension, and reading rate. In order to maximize ecological validity, the students were assessed by the school‐based reading specialist/teacher using assessment materials normally used in diagnostic evaluations of students referred for compensatory reading instruction. Although performance across all variables was below instructional levels for students’ assigned grades, both word recognition variables and comprehension approached instructional levels. Reading rate alone was consistently and significantly below several previously identified standards of performance. We feel that poor performance in rate may be an indicator of fluency problems (including automaticity in word recognition and text phrasing). Suggestions for instruction to overcome difficulties in fluency were presented.     

THE MISUSES AND APPROPRIATE USES OF NORM‐REFERENCED TESTS OF READING COMPREHENSION

This article reviews four uses for norm‐referenced tests of reading comprehension: (a) as a means of placing students at the appropriate instructional level, (b) as a means of diagnosing reading difficulties, (c) as a means of documenting instructional gain, and (d) as a means of predicting future comprehension performance. It is suggested that the first three uses listed above are actually misuses of the tests. The only appropriate use is to predict future performance.     

READING,WRITING. AND WORD PROCESSING

In the past, reading, writing, and word processing were researched independently. Currently, we see research regarding important connections between reading and writing as well as between writing and word processing. However, critical connections exist between all three areas. In order to have classrooms that promote literacy, we need to use word processing and its accompanying tools as students engage in reading‐writing processes. This paper addresses how word processing, with its prevision, writing, and revision tools, facilitates connections between reading and writing.     

NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS

Naturalistic studies have reported contextual facilitation of oral reading in passage‐length materials, but inconsistent results have been obtained in studies of sentence‐long contexts. While studies of intrasentence contextual facilitation effects constitute conservative tests of top‐down reading theories, failure to observe such effects raises serious doubts concerning the scope of those theories. The present study examined both quantitative and qualitative aspects of children's oral reading of words in isolation and in sentence‐length contexts. Results indicated that, although sentence‐long context did not facilitate reading accuracy, children did appear to be exploiting contextual information in their reading of sentences, with a relatively high proportion of reading errors being contextually acceptable. Introspective data suggested that children may have adopted different reading strategies in the two context conditions, using a slower, bottom‐up strategy for words in isolation and a fluent, top‐down strategy for the sentences.     

STRATEGIC KNOWLEDGE WHEN READING IN ORDER TO WRITE

Abstract

Students who are asked to write research reports need to apply both social and cognitive strategic knowledge to the task. They must interpret the social context and use their knowledge of the process of researching and the content of the subject as they negotiate the complex task of reading in order to write a report. This case study describes six high‐achieving eighth‐grade students who were asked to write a short report (3‐5 pages) about a significant person they would like as a personal mentor in high school. During the seven 40‐minute sessions, the investigators used a variety of sources (field notes, student interviews on audiotapes, and videotapes) for data collection. Results indicated that the students choose their research topics rapidly and all students but one created a task impression of the assigned report with little difficulty. Interview data revealed students using both content- and procedural-related goals to accomplish their task. The social and cognitive dimensions these students used while researching are described and implications for classroom instruction are given.     

THE INTERFERENCE OF SOME ANAPHORIC EXPRESSIONS ON READING COMPREHENSION

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to investigate the interference of certain anaphoric expressions (pronouns) on eighth grade students’ reading comprehension. The subjects (n=103) were administered cloze .tests of anaphoric comprehension in which either 0%, 33%, 66% or 100% of the pronouns were replaced by appropriate referents. Analysis of covariance was utilized to analyze the resulting data, using passage form as the independent variable, and SRA reading achievement scores as the covariate. The null hypothesis was rejected, which stated there would not be significant differences among subjects’ cloze scores on reading the four different forms of the passages. The results suggest that use of anaphoric expressions in some instances will interfere with the reading comprehension of eighth graders. Practical and theoretical implications of the results are discussed     

EARLY AND CURRENT READING AND SPELLING PRACTICES OF GIFTED SPELLERS

This study continued investigating the early reading and spelling experiences as well as the spelling practices of the finalists in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee, specifically the 1987 spellers who were considered gifted spellers. Two open-ended questionnaires were used: one for the parents of the spellers and one for the spellers. A follow-up telephone interview was conducted with a random sample of respondents. Results indicated that gifted spellers showed an early interest in language arts activities with 86% of the parents reporting that their children could read prior to formal schooling. The spellers considered themselves avid readers and indicated sophisticated metacognitive awareness whether reading or spelling. Results that suggested the spellers passed through developmental spelling stages far earlier than average children and relied on visual memory strategies, word meanings, and saying/writing words to master the orthography replicated findings from an earlier study.     

A PHYSIOGNOLINGUISTIC APPROACH TO READING ASSESSMENT: AN ALTERNATE FORM OF MISCUE ANALYSIS

This article is a good natured parody of an area of controversy, informal classroom reading assessment, which has been receiving a great deal of journal coverage in recent years. Any similarity between this article and actual research being conducted is completely gratuitous.     

COMPREHENSION INSTRUCTION IN A READING CLINIC: COMPARISON OF CLINIC AND CLASSROOM PRACTICES

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine middle school students’ (grades 4 to 8) metacognitive knowledge about science reading, science text, and science reading strategies. The 52 subjects were selected from 532 students who completed a survey instrument designed to determine students’ knowledge about science reading, science text, and science reading strategies. The stratified randomly sampled students were interviewed using five structured protocols. The protocol items were based on 21 strategic characteristics of successful readers of science text and three domains of metacognitive knowledge: declarative, procedural, and conditional. Quantitative analyses reveal surface level metacognitive knowledge about 20 of 21 strategies explored and similar levels of knowledge across the three metacognitive domains. A qualitative analysis indicates that average middle school students’ metacognitive knowledge of science reading, science text, and science reading strategies is similar to that of younger and poorer readers of narrative text.     

MOTIVATING STUDENTS TO ACTIVELY ENGAGE IN READING

An understanding of human motivation is an essential component of effective reading instruction. Rather than rely totally upon making activities “fun” for students, this paper proposes that the understanding of basic theories of motivation can result in a pervasive concern for motivation in the classroom. Utilizing a balance of intrinsic and extrinsic means of motivation, teachers can set the stage for increased involvement and learning.