bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Inspection of Passages as a Function of Passage-Dependency of the Test Items
Authors: Tuinman J. Jaap
Published: December 2009

It has been repeatedly shown that children are able to guess at the correct answer for multiple choice reading comprehension questions with a likelihood of success which considerably exceeds chance as defined by 1/k, where k equals the number of response options. One factor in determining how seriously this fact tends to invalidate standardized comprehension tests is the degree to which children are prone to answer questions without reading the passage from which these questions were derived. This study attempts to obtain information in regard to children's willingness to skip passages when answering reading comprehension questions.
Reading Comprehension and Three Modes of Prereading Assistance
Authors: Andrews Larry
Published: December 2009

This study investigates relative effects of three modes of prereading assistance—Directed Reading Question, Cognitive Organizer, and a third mode combining the D.R.Q. and the CO.—upon seventh graders' comprehension of a prose selection.

Prior to a silent reading of the task selection, Group A listened to an audio-recording of a DRQ; Group B listened to an audio-recording of the CO; Group C listened to a recording of both the DRQ and the CO. Following the silent reading, students completed a seven-item reading comprehension test.

Test scores reveal significantly greater comprehension (.01) for the students who listened to the Cognitive Organizer. The DRQ group generated the lowest mean comprehension score.

Cognitive Organizer appears to be a more significant prereading activity than does the traditional Directed Reading Question.
The Effect of Transformational Simplification on the Reading Comprehension of Selected High School Students
Authors: Evans Ronald V.
Published: December 2009

Transformational-generative grammar theory has prompted several studies on the reading comprehension of variously transformed sentences. The results have shown that verbal noun phrases, noun and relative clauses, subordinate clauses, as well as the number of modifiers embedded on any noun headword, all combine to complicate reading comprehension. This study compared two identical groups of 12th grade students, reading two versions of five prose selections. One version had simplified all of the previously mentioned structures, maintaining a twelve-word average sentence length. The other version was taken as used in The Davis Reading Test. Both groups were tested by multiple-choice questions from the reading test and by cloze-tests. The results showed a significant achievement on the multiple choice test and on three of five cloze tests for the simplified-version readers.
Analysis of the Chunked Reading Test and Reading Comprehension
Authors: Carver Ronald P. , Darby Charles A.
Published: December 2009

The newly developed Chunked Reading Test was further analyzed by correlating the scores on this test with three other standardized reading tests—Davis Reading Test, Nelson-Denny Reading Test, and Tinker Speed of Reading Test. A rational analysis of the scores on all of the tests suggested that each score could be designated as measuring one of the following three types of variables: efficiency (E), accuracy (A), and rate (R). The tests were administered to 41 college students and the inter-correlations were factor analyzed. Two factors fit the data, and they were readily interpretable as an A factor and an R factor. A single factor fit forced upon the data was readily interpretable as an E factor. The results suggested that: (a) apparent differences among the variables measured by standardized reading tests for adults are more superficial than real, (b) all of the scores on these tests can be interpreted as being valid indicators of individual differences in the efficiency, accuracy, and rate at which thoughts are understood while reading, and (c) empirical support exists for the purported theoretical relationship, E=AR.
Investigation of Reading Strategies: I. Manipulating Strategies through Payoff Conditions
Authors: McConkie George W. , Rayner Keith
Published: December 2009

Reading strategies of several groups of college students were manipulated by using payoff structures which stressed speed vs. retention. The influence of four variables on reading speed and test performance was studied: existence of a payoff structure, type of payoff structure, clarity of payoff instructions, and presence or absence of questions after each passage. Reading rates varied substantially under these conditions, but test performance did not. The potential usefulness of payoff systems for the study of reading strategies is pointed out.
Children's Perceptions of Written Word Boundaries
Authors: Mickish Virginia
Published: December 2009

This study was undertaken to examine first grade children's perception of written word boundaries after a year of reading instruction. One hundred seventeen first grade students from a middle to upper middle class suburban community in the South were asked to mark word boundaries in a written sentence presented with no spaces between the words. The data indicated that many children who were at the end of their first year of reading instruction had little idea of what words are. It was also indicated, however, that as the subjects became better readers, they were better at marking word boundaries.
Learners' Predictions of the Recallability of Prose
Authors: Johnson Ronald E.
Published: December 2009

Do learners of textual prose know which portions of the text are likely to be difficult to recall? For each of two textual passages, samples of college students were able to predict accurately the prose subunits which were actually recalled by various samples of learners attempting immediate or delayed reproductions. Multiple regression analyses provided evidence that the predictions of recall showed considerable congruence with independent ratings of the meaningfulness and comprehensibility of the subunits.
Research on Reading a Second Language
Authors: Hatch Evelyn
Published: December 2009

The experimental research on reading a second language concerns three questions: 1) Should initial reading be taught in the child's first language or in the second language when the second is the language of instruction? 2) What, other than “inadequate grasp of the language,” accounts for slower reading speed and lowered comprehension when reading a second language? 3) What are the most effective methods for teaching reading in a second language? The literature contrasting the reading behavior of native and non-native speakers of English in each of these areas is reported and discussed.
Relative Importance of “Mastery of Reading Skills” as a Goal of Public Education
Authors: Shami Mohammad A. A. , Hershkowitz Martin
Published: December 2009

No one can question the importance of reading as the basis for educational growth. There is, however, some question as to its relative importance to all public groupings with respect to other educational goals. This paper presents the findings of a major goals validation and needs assessment for Maryland, for the goal “Mastery of reading skills.” The data reveal that this goal is consistently rated as the most important or second most important of all educational goals. Furthermore, this consistency not only holds true for all public groups at the state level, but within each local school system, whether urban, suburban or rural. Some questions as to accountability of progress in reading and to its level of attainment are raised.
Reversing Irreversible Sentences: Semantic and Syntactic Factors
Authors: Hutson Barbara A. , Powers James
Published: December 2009

Active and passive sentences were presented with probable and improbable semantic content to 100 first graders and 100 kindergarteners. An “irreversible” sentence was considered probable and its reverse was considered improbable. In a design employing syntax, probability, grade, and sex as factors, probability and syntax were found significant both as main effects and in their interaction. Probability had little effect on the comprehension of active sentences, but strongly affected comprehension of passive sentences. First graders responded correctly more often than kindergarteners; the difference was greatest on improbable sentences, with improbable passive sentences the most difficult. Sex differences were not found. The greater difficulty in comprehending less familiar sentences when syntactic form is not supported by semantic content suggests that the semantic component of grammar may play an important role in the child's acquisition of syntactic comprehension.
Computer Simulation of Reading: A Progress Report
Authors: Leton Donald A.
Published: December 2009

Simuread is a computer program which segments traditional English orthography into minimum graphic signals and designates a segmental phoneme, non phoneme, or phoneme combination for each. The segmental phoneme chains required for the oral representation of the orthography are simulated in numeric output.

The program also derives a conditional association matrix. The rows of the matrix are the minimum graphic signals and the columns are the phoneme designates. The row totals and the percentages of specific graphic-phoneme associations are computed for the cells of the matrix.

Samples of Simuread processing of various texts, a portion of a conditional association matrix and comparisons of the total occurrences of the graphic units in several first grade readers are presented in this article to illustrate its research applications.
Teaching Children to Discriminate Letters of the Alphabet through Errorless Discrimination Training
Authors: Egeland Byron , Winer Ken
Published: December 2009

A group of 64 inner city preschool children was taught to discriminate letters of the alphabet using either an errorless discrimination training (EDT) approach or the traditional reinforcement-extinction approach. For the EDT group the distinctive feature of the letter to be discriminated was highlighted in red and as the training proceeded the red was gradually faded. Each group received ten training trials for each of two different letter combinations presented in a match-to-sample format. The results showed that the EDT group made significantly fewer errors during training and on the posttest compared to the reinforcement-extinction group.
The Development and Validation of R/EAL, An Instrument to Assess Functional Literacy
Authors: Lichtman Marilyn
Published: December 2009

A content-referenced test was developed intended for measurement of functional literacy. Pertinent information regarding item construction and validation procedures are presented. The final version of the test, containing 45 items, is based on task analyses associated with reading performance in 9 domains of every-day reading activities.
Modality Aptitude and Word Recognition
Authors: Vandever Thomas R. , Neville Donald D.
Published: December 2009

Modality aptitude was determined for 282 second graders. Seventy-two children who learned significantly more or fewer words when they were presented in one method (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) than in the other two were selected as subjects. Six categories of subjects resulted: visual strength, visual weakness, auditory strength, auditory weakness, kinesthetic strength, and kinesthetic weakness. Visual strength and visual weakness subjects were assigned to classes in which visual methods were used to teach. The same procedures were used for those having auditory and kinesthetic strengths and weaknesses. At the end of six weeks of instruction, analysis of covariance revealed that children taught to strength did no better than those taught to weakness.
Developmental Differences in Using a Superordinate Context for the Learning and Retention of Facts
Authors: Cunningham Donald J. , Pastore Nancy , Mizokawa Donald T.
Published: December 2009

A study was conducted to explore the developmental differences in utilizing a superordinate context during learning and at retention at two grade levels. Ss were 98 students from third and fifth grade classes divided approximately evenly by sex. A 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design was used: factor 1 was superordinate vs coordinate topic sentence at learning; factor 2 was presence or absence of a superordinate retrieval cue; factor 3 was grade level. Ss were tested on both recognition and recall. Contrary to previous findings, results showed that the condition most conducive to learning was superordinate sentence present at learning, absent at recall. Reasons for the disparity in findings with previous research are discussed.
Color Cues in Word Perception
Authors: Knafle June D.
Published: December 2009

Presents results of 2 matching-to-sample experiments using color cues in Consonant-Vowel-Consonant stimulus words with kindergarten to third grade subjects. Color cues influenced Ss to match according to first letters. When the first letter of each stimulus word was underlined in red, kindergarten and first grade Ss' tendency to match according to first letters was increased; second and third grade Ss' tendency to match according to rhyme was decreased. In the second experiment, when red letters were varied according to letter position, color cues appearing in the first letter position were utilized most frequently by all grades. Control Ss in all grades matched according to the first letter more frequently than the second or third letters, which did not differ.
Acoustic Scanning and Syntactic Processing Three Reading Experiments — First and Second Language Learners
Authors: Hatch Evelyn , Polin Pam , Part Susan
Published: December 2009

To test the acoustic scanning hypothesis for reading, three experiments were conducted with monolingual and bilingual subjects. Ss performed a crossout task, cancelling letters in a text as they read it for comprehension. Letters remaining uncancelled were then analyzed. In Experiment 1, letters were frequently unmarked in function words, words which are highly predictable since they serve primarily to mark case relationships between content words. Changing passage difficulty did not effect the ratio of letters marked in content and function words. No significant difference was found between monolingual and highly-proficient bilinguals. In Experiments 2 and 3, Anglos marked letters in content words and especially in syllables receiving primary or secondary stress, leaving uncancelled those in unstressed function word position. Less proficient foreign students marked almost equal numbers of letters in function and content words and in stressed and unstressed positions. They also marked letters in digraphs as frequently as in single grapheme to phoneme correspondences. In the experiments, Anglos used acoustic scanning along with prediction of syntax for the task; less proficient bilinguals did not. The relationship between acoustic scanning and syntactic processing is discussed and suggestions for classroom application of the findings are included.
Idioms and Reading Comprehension
Authors: Edwards Peter
Published: December 2009

Presents results from a study designed to determine whether idioms cause difficulty for children in the reading and understanding of prose. Two hundred and fifty-six grade eight children were randomly chosen from two high schools and each child was tested with one of four tests which contained increasing amounts of idiomatic expressions. The treatment effect was highly significant, the means increased steadily, with the highest scores associated with the test containing no idioms and the lowest scores associated with the test containing idioms in all items. There was no significant difference between the performance of boys and girls in the tests. An analysis of the four treatment groups showed that there were significant differences between the means of all groups except the two groups containing the greatest number of idioms in the test items.
How Children Read: Matching by Sight and Sound
Authors: Mackworth Jane F. , Mackworth N. H.
Published: December 2009

The Coding Test was given to 80 children from 7 to 12 years old. They were asked to judge whether pairs of pictures, letters or words looked or sounded the same. The test measures three aspects of reading: coding written letters or words into sound, detecting small visual differences, and the speed of processing. In each grade poor readers made more errors than good readers. The ability to detect small differences did not change beyond Grade 3, but the ability to recognize sound-alike words improved throughout grades. There was no relation between reading ability and performance in a non-verbal pictorial task.
Do Children Understand the Basic Relationship between Speech and Writing? The Mow—Motorcycle Test
Authors: Rozin Paul , Bressman Beth , Taft Mark
Published: December 2009

School children who have not yet attained moderate reading fluency were tested for their awareness of a fundamental relationship between our writing system and speech: that the sounds of speech are represented in writing. Children were shown a long and short word written on a card (e.g., mow and motorcycle), and asked which word corresponded to a spoken word (e.g., mow). The word choices were grossly different in length, so that a non-reader could perform perfectly if the relationship between written and spoken length was understood. Children were also asked about their basis for responding.

Most inner-city kindergarteners in a reasonably representative sample did not perform well on this test. A majority of suburban kindergarteners and inner city first and second graders performed well, but many did not. Controls suggested that failure on this test cannot be attributed to the specific form of presentation of the materials or to misunderstanding of the question being asked.
An Analysis of the Language Patterns of Standardized Reading Comprehension Tests and their Effect on Student Performance
Authors: Jongsma Eugene
Published: December 2009

A random sample of passages was drawn from standardized reading comprehension tests for fourth grade students. The number and types of language patterns found in the test passages were determined through a method of linguistic analysis. The patterns identified on the tests did not reflect the patterns used most frequently in the oral language of fourth grade children. When the test passages were rewritten using a larger percentage of high frequency oral language patterns, and administered to comparable groups of students, no significant difference in comprehension performance was observed between those students taking the revised test and those taking the intact standardized test passages.
Identification of the Structure of prose and Its Implications for the Study of Reading and Memory
Authors: Meyer Bonnie J. F.
Published: December 2009

A presentation is given of Meyer's (1974) system for analyzing the organization of information in textual materials. This system is based on Fillmore's (1968) case grammar and Grimes' (1974) semantic grammar of propositions. In addition, the need for such a technique in educational research and practice is pointed out, as well as, comparing Meyer's system to that of three different approaches to prose analysis. Also, the use of the structure of prose in two studies on reading and memory is described. Implications of this structural variable are discussed for other investigations into reading.
Influence of Reading Materials on Response to Printed Words
Authors: Barr Rebecca
Published: December 2009

Beginning reading materials differ considerably in the characteristics of words included in stories. While many reading texts are characterized by a limited number of words that vary in length and pattern, reading materials for phonics or linguistic instruction tend to contain a greater number of words that are similar in length and pattern. Examination of materials indicates that those with particular characteristics support learning by particular methods. This investigation explores the effect of word characteristics in reading materials on children's responses to printed words.
Spanish Language Interference with Acoustic-Phonetic Skills and Reading
Authors: Mathewson Grover C. , Pereyra-Suarez Denise M.
Published: December 2009

The effects of Spanish language interference with auditory conceptualization and reading were studied in second graders. It was predicted that (a) Mexican-American Ss receive lower auditory conceptualization scores on a Spanish interference test than on a noninterference test, (b) degree of interference is positively related to reading ability among Mexican-American Ss, and (c) auditory conceptualization is positively related to reading level, regardless of ethnic group. The findings supported predictions (a) and (c), but not (b). It was concluded that though auditory conceptualization is strongly related to reading, Spanish language interference with auditory conceptualization does not extend to reading skill. In addition, caution concerning interpretation of auditory conceptualization scores was urged in the light of their strong relationship with SES.
Thyroid Function in Relation to Dyslexia (Reading Failures)
Authors: Park George E. , Schneider Kenneth A.
Published: December 2009

Serum total thyroxine was measured in a group of 47 boys and 6 girls who suffered from functional dyslexia. Functional dyslexia is an actual reading level of, at least, 1½ years below mental expectancy. The thyroxine content of the serum of these children was markedly elevated compared to normal readers of similar age distribution (mean thyroxine concentration; dyslexic, 11.44 ug/dl; normal control = 7.69 ug/dl). These results indicate functional dyslexia is associated with systemic change in metabolism.
Some Observations on the Reliability of Measures Used in Reading and Typographic Research
Authors: Hartley James , Fraser Susan , Burnhill Peter
Published: December 2009

This study assessed the reliability of nine different measures used in reading and typographic research. Test-retest correlations were calculated for university students and schoolchildren, both male and female. It was clear that some measures were more reliable than others: for example, oral reading was highly reliable, but comprehension was not. The results are discussed with reference to the objectives of different types of measure.
Readability of High School Text Passages before and after Revision
Authors: Hittleman Daniel R. , Robinson H. Alan
Published: December 2009

Reading specialists at the secondary school level have been concerned for a long time about improved reading in the subject matter areas. Recently, there has been growing concern for qualitatively analyzing some of the difficulties students encounter in reading subject matter materials. Hopefully, analyses of the difficulties the materials present to students will provide information for restructuring or rewriting the materials so they will be easier to read.
Expository Paragraph Properties That Influence Literal Recall
Authors: Aulls Mark W.
Published: December 2009

Carroll and Freedle (1972) have speculated that the structure of prose paragraphs may constitute a form of plan that influences the manner in which information is processed and/or recalled by the reader. This study investigated the influence of prose structure on sixth grade readers' literal recall scores. Internal and external structural properties of meaningful and less meaningful paragraphs were manipulated. Internal as well as external structural properties had a significant joint influence with paragraph meaningfulness on literal recall. Students reading paragraphs with compact subtopic structure obtained significantly higher recall scores than those reading paragraphs employing a discontinous subtopic structure. At each level of paragraph meaningfulness, the presentation of a main idea statement appeared to have a significant influence on recall.
Construct Validity and Reading Research: Some Comments with a Data Simulation Exemplar
Authors: Ohnmacht Fred W. , Weiss Frank
Published: December 2009

Various models of assessing construct validity are considered and found to be lacking. In addition to the two dimensions of (a) trait to be assessed; and, (b) method of assessment, a third dimension of time or age is offered as a logical extension when involved in reading research. A computer simulation for learning performance on five hierarchically arranged skills is offered as an illustration. The results of the simulation suggest that assessment specifically based on hierarchical models requiring prior skill development should take into account the point in time at which the assessment is made and that, more generally, all settings requiring the learning of data are time related.
A Tutoring Program for Adolescents Seriously Deficient in Reading
Authors: Graves Michael F. , Patberg Judythe P.
Published: December 2009

A highly structured tutoring project was used to teach reading to ten seventh and eighth grade students reading between the second and fifth grade level. Tutors for the program were college students. Instruction was not individualized. Rather, each student was placed in one of three consecutive programs accordant with his ability and proceeded through that program in a prescribed manner. Within a program, only pacing was individualized. If a student completed a program during the year, he began work in the next higher one. Results on the Spache Diagnostic Reading Scales indicated a mean gain of 1.4 grade levels. Results further indicated that nine of the ten students made gains of 1 year or better.
Children's Learning of Words as a Function of Minimum Contrasts in Variable Letter Positions
Authors: Knafle June D.
Published: December 2009

Presents results of an experimental task which measured children's learning of CVC words when minimum contrasts were employed in first, middle, and last letter positions ( e.g., tin, win vs. pan, pen vs. pit, pig). Subjects were 84 kindergarten and first grade pupils who knew the alphabet but who had not yet learned to read. The visual and oral task provided measures of transfer, recognition, recall, delayed recognition, and delayed recall. For the sexes separately and combined, first letter position contrasts (rhyming words) were superior to letter contrasts in the middle or last letter positions; middle letter position contrasts were least effective. Last letter position contrasts were more effective for females than males. The results suggest that the teaching of rhyming words is the most efficient initial presentation of CVC words for beginning readers.
An Approach toward Computer Control of Redundancy in Textual Materials
Authors: Herndon Mary Anne
Published: December 2009

The presence of redundancy in written language has been established by a number of psychological researchers. Redundancy, when evident in terms of the presence of excess words, phrases and even sentences that are not essential to the kernel of meaning, can result in a possible textual processing inefficiency. On the basis of the occurrence of this inefficiency, one potential research area would be that of the selective controlling the presence of redundancy in text. The results of research in this area would have particularly useful effects on a visually handicapped individual since the inefficiency would have a more pronounced effect than on a normal individual. RDE (Redundancy Detection and Editing) System was developed as a prototype for a system that would possess the capability of controlling redundancy in textual material. The methodology involved in the design of the prototype encompassed results of studies from both computer science and education. The actual functioning of the prototype consists of detection, analysis, and selective elimination of redundancy in written materials. While still in the experimental and developmental stages, the performance of RDE indicates the potential applicability of the system.
A Study of the Relationship between Pupils' Aural Vocabulary and Their Ability to Apply Syllabication Rules or to Recognize Phonogram Patterns to Decode Multiple Syllable Words
Authors: Canney George F.
Published: December 2009

Is the presence of a multiple syllable word in a pupil's listening vocabulary a prerequisite condition for the effective utilization of syllabication rules or phonogram patterns to decode the word? Pretest and posttest decoding scores of 105 pupils from an earlier study were compared with their scores on a listening vocabulary test to determine if the apparent ineffectiveness of syllabication instruction and phonogram pattern recognition strategies could be explained by the absence of the stimulus words in the listening vocabularies of the pupils tested. The data indicated that although the pupils defined over half of the thirty stimulus words, they decoded less than twenty percent of those words. Differences among the treatment conditions were negligible, suggesting that knowledge of word meaning was not sufficient to permit successful application of syllabication rules or identification of phonogram patterns to decode multiple syllable words.
The Pronunciation of Familiar, Unfamiliar and Synthetic Words by Good and Poor Adolescent Readers
Authors: Smiley Sandra S. , Pasquale Frank L. , Chandler Cristine L.
Published: December 2009

The word pronunciations of good and poor seventh-grade readers were compared to second-, fifth-, and sixth-grade readers previously tested on similar lists of actual and synthetic words. On the actual word list, poor readers correctly pronounced about the same number of words as a combined group of normal second- and fifth-grade readers, but fewer words than did the seventh-grade good readers. On the synthetic word list, the performance of the poor readers was comparable to good seventh-grade readers except for the long vowels where their performance most closely resembled poor second-grade readers. The implications of this pattern of results are discussed.
Metaphor and Reading Comprehension
Authors: Cunningham James W.
Published: December 2009

In this study the influence of the amount of metaphor in written language upon reading comprehension is analyzed. Subjects in this study, 190 sixth graders, read two passages, relating the same events, but differing in the amount of metaphorical language used. Comprehension was measured by means of a cloze test. Though both passage versions yielded identical readability estimates, cloze comprehension of the metaphorical passage was lower than the comprehension of the non-metaphorical version.
Report on the Development and Validation of a System for Measuring Literal Comprehension in a Multiple-Choice Cloze Format: Preliminary Factor Analytic Results
Authors: O'Reilly Robert P. , Streeter Ronald E.
Published: December 2009

This report summarizes the results of a series of factor analyses of a new test of literal comprehension using a multiple-choice cloze format. These analyses were conducted in the validation of a test designed to measure for the most part a factor of literal comprehension independent of IQ and inferential reading processes, yet marked by certain related types of test items included in standardized and other measures of literal comprehension. In this study, the Multiple-Choice Cloze (MCC) test was administered to a sample of 3,125 students in grades 1–6 in a medium-sized urban school district in conjunction with its annual standardized testing program. Besides the MCC, other measures included in the analyses were an alternate measure of literal comprehension based on Bormuth's wh-item, a measure of passage independence based on wh-items, the Short Form Test of Academic Aptitude, and the California Achievement Test. The factor analytic results support the conclusion that the MCC measures literal comprehension, a trait that is essentially independent of IQ. However, it was also determined that the MCC had minor loadings on a second, and possibly a third, component related to IQ, inferential reading skills, and language mechanics.
Using after Images in the Analysis of Letter and Word Focalization
Authors: Dunn-Rankin Peter
Published: December 2009

This paper presents the results of investigating mature readers' focal points when viewing letters, words, and phrases. The focal points are accurately determined by using the after image created from a spot of light. The after image is then superimposed on the reading material. Several interesting hypotheses are suggested from these experiments which imply subconscious pre-processing for the mature reader.
Instruments for Assessing Reading Attitudes: A Review of Research and Bibliography
Authors: Summers Edward G.
Published: December 2009

This review focuses on recent literature related to development of scales for measuring reading attitudes. The scales are reviewed under the headings of self-report instruments, direct observation, and projective techniques. General criteria for attitude scale construction related to item development, response set contamination, and statistical procedures are discussed. Conclusions relative to the state-of-the-art in attitude measurement as it relates to reading are presented. Also included are supplementary bibliographies listing sources on measurement and the affective domain, inventories and bibliographies of affective measures, attitude toward school, attitude measurement and instrument development, attitude measurement in subject areas and in relation to curriculum innovation, and attitude measurement in reading.
Facilitative Transfer in Prose Learning over an Extended Time Period
Authors: Royer James M. , Perkins Marcy R.
Published: December 2009

Recent studies by Royer and Cable demonstrated that an initial prose passage which established a relevant knowledge structure into which difficult to learn second passage material could be assimilated would enhance the learning of the second passage material. The purpose of the present study was to determine if this facilitative transfer would occur over a time interval. Subjects read a treatment or control passage and then studied and were tested on a second passage immediately, after two days, or one week later. The results indicated that the previously found facilitative transfer effect did not diminish with time.
Perceptual and Linguistic Processing of Letters and Words by Normal and Disabled Readers
Authors: Steinheiser Rick , Guthrie John T.
Published: December 2009

Response latencies were obtained in word matching and sentence completion tasks from disabled readers, age-matched normal readers, and reading-level matched normal readers. The disabled group was significantly slower than the old normal group on both tasks (p < .001) and did not differ from the young normal group. None of the groups required more time for sentence completion than physical matching, indicating that semantic processing of these sentences was highly automatized. The disabled and younger groups were slower on physically confusable words than dissimilar words; whereas, the older were the same on both types of words, indicating that perceptual and decoding processes are learned by normal readers but are a primary source of deficiency in disabled readers.
Factors in Validating Affective Scales: An Applied Study
Authors: Vaughan Joseph , Sabers Darrell
Published: December 2009

In spite of claims to the contrary, affective factors related to teaching and learning can be measured. Recent development of affective scales in reading attest to this, yet caution must be observed that as new-scales are developed, they are adequately validated so that the research emanating from their use can be regarded with a high degree of credibility. In that light, those who construct affective scales must consider more than content validity; they must also investigate construct validity. This includes evidence in four categories: reliability, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and sensitivity to treatment. Specific references are made to investigations of the validity of the Vaughan Attitude Scale which measures teachers' attitudes toward teaching reading in content area classrooms.
Associative Verbal Encoding and Sight Vocabulary Acquisition and Retention
Authors: Brescia Shelagh M. , Braun Carl
Published: December 2009

This investigation focused on the role of meaning in the learning of sight vocabulary for beginning readers. Phase I reported the collection of associative data and reconstruction of a search of meaningfulness for 48 selected nouns. Phase II presented data regarding two sight vocabulary teaching-testing cycles with an intermediate interval inferred for “association verbal encoding” (a/v/e) training. Subjects were 46 first grade children. Results indicate that meaningfulness facilitated rate of acquisition and retention of sight vocabulary and that “process plus content” a/v/e training facilitated sight vocabulary retention when compared to no training in a/v/e.
Variables Influencing Auditory-Visual Integration in Normal and Retarded Readers
Authors: Ward L.O.
Published: December 2009

The present study examined the relationship of auditory-visual integration and reading performance in a sample of British 8 to 9 year olds. The effects of I.Q. and sex differences were examined as possible moderating variables. Significant correlations were obtained between auditory-visual integration and reading ability in the total sample. Although sex was not a significant contributor to the relationship the results suggest that I.Q. did make a significant contribution especially at the lower levels.
The Effect of Altering the Context Cues in Prose on Reading Rate in a Search Task
Authors: Coke Esther U.
Published: December 2009

The possibility was explored that readers can search for lexical information in prose without processing the contextual information that results from the connectedness of prose. To test this hypothesis, the connectedness of prose was eliminated by randomly rearranging the words in short prose passages that varied in readability. The results showed that when searching for specific words, readers read the normal word arrangements of passages faster than their random arrangements, regardless of readability. When searching for synonyms, normal arrangements were read faster than random arrangements only when passages were more readable. Text arrangement, search task and readability also affected recall on a completion test. These results led to the conclusion that readers who searched for lexical information in prose passages processed contextual information even when looking for specific words. The kinds of contextual information that readers processed appeared to depend on whether readers searched for literal or semantic information.
Measuring Reading Comprehension Using the Paraphrase Test and the Reading-Storage Test
Authors: Carver Ronald P.
Published: December 2009

The newly developed reading-storage type of test was compared to the paraphrase type of test to determine the extent to which each test was sensitive to the comprehension of prose passages as opposed to word memorization. Comprehension was manipulated using passages that were difficult to comprehend without the aid of context cues, and memorization was manipulated by administering the tests without the opportunity to read the passages. The average gain from the No Context to Context condition was greater for the reading-storage test, thus suggesting that it was more sensitive to comprehension than the paraphrase test. The average gain from the Non-Reading to No Context condition was greater for the paraphrase test, thus suggesting that the paraphrase test was more sensitive to word memorization than the reading-storage test. These data suggested that the completely objective, reading-storage test deserves further research, and that paraphrase questions may not be as valid as intuition would suggest.
A Reconsideration of Phonic Generalizations
Authors: Caldwell Edward C. , Roth Sandra R. , Turner Ralph R.
Published: December 2009

The most frequently occurring 18,000 words from the Kucera and Francis (1967) corpus were analyzed by a computer program. The output consisted of the frequence of occurrence of bigrams, trigrams, tetragrams, pentagrams, hexagrams and heptagrams (called ngrams), and the words in which each occurred. From this analysis two kinds of frequency for each unit were available: 1) word frequency, the number of words in which the ngram occurred and 2) sheer frequency, the frequency of the ngram in running text. The consistency of 23 commonly taught phonics rules was examined using both kinds of frequencies. While there was general agreement with previous studies, there were notable exceptions. In addition to frequency there is evidence that rule complexity is also a crucial variable in determining utility. When the rules were analyzed in terms of consistency and complexity, only nine appeared to be useful. Rules that are complex but consistent may be efficiently taught with a higher-order unit approach.
Linguistic Awareness, English Orthography and Reading Instruction
Authors: Downing John
Published: December 2009

One common characteristic of reading instruction is the teacher's attempt to describe the “phonic” rules of the writing system. But modern linguists question whether English spelling is related simply to what phonic teachers call “sounds.” The classical linguistic view of English orthography was that it is a graphemic code for the abstract units of speech technically termed “phonemes” but that this code is marred by numerous irregularities of grapheme-phoneme relations. In recent years this has been challenged in two revolutionary proposals. Though their theories are different, both Chomsky and Venezky deny that English orthography is a phonemic system. A third possibility is that neither the classical nor the revolutionary view of English orthography is correct. Albrow, Lefevre, and Vachek have each independently proposed that English orthography is a system of systems. One system is phonemic but, in addition, there are others representing non-phonemic aspects of language. Teachers of reading who believe that their pupils need to understand the underlying system of English orthography must consider these alternative explanations if they are to choose which one should be the basis of their instruction. This article reviews the evidence for these alternative descriptions and discusses their feasibility as a basis for teaching young beginners.
An Approach toward the Development of a Functional Encoding Model of Short Term Memory during Reading
Authors: Herndon Mary Anne
Published: December 2009

In a model of the functioning of short term memory, the encoding of information for subsequent storage in long term memory is simulated. In the encoding process, semantically equivalent paragraphs are detected for recombination into a macro information unit. This recombination process can be used to relieve the limited storage capacity constraint of short term memory and subsequently increase processing efficiency. The results of the simulation give a favorable indication of the success for the use of cluster analysis as a tool to simulate the encoding function in the detection of semantically similar paragraphs.
Effects of Knowledge of Semantic Roles on Recall of Written Prose
Authors: Christopherson Steven L.
Published: December 2009

Readers in an experimental treatment group were taught semantic roles, such as Agent, Object, and Instrument. Delayed recall of prose which was read after learning semantic roles was significantly better than delayed recall by a control group. Immediate recall was not significantly affected. The influence of semantic roles on delayed recall apparently occurred at the time of reading the prose rather than during recall; when the semantic roles were learned after the prose reading and before recall, then the recall of the experimental and control groups did not differ. The results were not related to the attitudes of the two groups toward the respective treatments.
Factor Analyses of Three Correlation Matrices of Readability Variables
Authors: Entin Eileen B. , Klare George R.
Published: December 2009

Three correlation matrices of readability variables were factor analyzed and the results compared to factor analyses of earlier matrices and to each other. The three new analyses, based upon a wide variety of written materials and of readability index variables, produced data highly consistent with the earlier studies. The same two components, word difficulty and sentence difficulty, accounted for more than half the variance in each analysis. In one of the new analyses for which data are reported, however, as well as one of the previous studies, the relative contribution of the two factors was reversed. Also the percentage of total variance accounted for varied over a considerable range. Hypotheses were offered to account for the results and some implications for research were identified.
The Reliability of the Maze Procedure
Authors: Bradley John M. , Ackerson Gary , Ames Wilbur S.
Published: December 2009

Investigated maze test comparability and parallel form reliability; investigated whether different teachers could construct comparable maze tests over the same reading passage when given the same directions. Twenty-two teachers independently prepared two maze tests using two second reader passages. Three of the 22 sets of maze tests were then randomly selected for use with 246 second grade students. Each subject completed two maze forms, one of three possible forms for each of the two reader passages. The findings revealed that the teachers were able to prepare reliable, congruent maze tests of comparable difficulty if they properly followed the directions provided for test construction. With one exception the maze forms showed overall high reliability and congruence as well as comparability. An inspection of the items on the single maze form which was less reliable and which was neither congruent nor comparable revealed that the teacher who prepared the test did not follow directions and failed to compose a number of valid options.
Incidental Prose Learning
Authors: Britton Bruce K.
Published: December 2009

Incidental tasks were used to induce limited cognitive processes during reading in two groups. These groups did not expect a test. A control group was informed in detail about all aspects of the final test. Study time was unlimited for all groups. All groups were given a final test of recall for facts and conclusions from three passages. Recall in the incidental task groups was superior or equivalent to recall in the intentional learning group, indicating that the cognitive processes induced in the incidental groups were sufficient for learning.
Beginning Readers' Analysis of Words and Sentences
Authors: Leong C. K. , Haines C. F.
Published: December 2009

The awareness of phonemes, syllables and sentences was studied with 72 children in three groups of 24 each selected from grade one, two and three classes. Syllable segmentation was easier than phoneme segmentation across grades. The overall poorer performance of the children in phoneme segmentation was accentuated with the addition of a task tapping auditory concepts of the number and order of speech patterns. Children in all grades found high complexity sentences more difficult to repeat accurately than low complexity sentences. For the total sample of 72 children canonical correlation between the linear combination of the set of reading scores and the segmentation tasks and sentence repetition tasks showed the auditory conceptualization task contributing most of the weight. This was followed by high complexity sentences, syllable segmentation, phoneme segmentation then sentences of low complexity. The findings are discussed in relation to temporal order of sounds in words and word order in sentences. Children's reflection on sounds in words, on the grammatical structures of sentences is seen to facilitate their learning to read.