bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Will You Still Play with Me If I Stop Making Nice? Conflicting Discourses in Collaborative Feminist Literacy Research
Authors: Evans Karen S.
Published: December 2009

This article explores the complexities that arose as I attempted to engage in feminist literacy research in a 5th-grade classroom where I worked collaboratively with the classroom teacher to implement literature discussion circles into her literacy instruction. I address the contradictions and conflicts that emerged regarding issues of neutrality and comfort. Many of the dilemmas that arose were due to the tension that exists between feminist researchers' simultaneous calls for both disruption and closeness. I wanted to help the teacher disrupt her assumptions regarding literacy instruction but was uncomfortable in doing so because of my need to maintain comfort in our relationship. As we began to explore alternative ways of dealing with the power relations that were circulating in our research relationship, I discovered the need to disrupt my own assumptions regarding power, the expert position, and my need for maintaining comfort. The research described here aims to shed further light on what it means to conduct feminist literacy research in real classrooms and poses questions for continued discussion among researchers attempting to engage in this type of research.
Classroom Influences on First-Grade Students' Oral Narratives
Authors: Abbott Judy A. , McCarthey Sarah J.
Published: December 2009

As a part of a longitudinal project examining first-grade reading instruction in 4 districts across the state of Texas, this study explored the nature of students' oral narratives and the connections between teachers' instructional practices and students'narratives. Using an adaptation of Hudson & Shapiro's (1991) narrative categories, we examined 166 narratives generated by first-grade students, categorizing each as an event-script, a less-developed narrative, a well-developed narrative, or an “other.” An exemplar narrative from each of the 4 categories and 2 other narratives that represented the diversity of student responses and the complexity of the relationships between student performance and teacher practices were selected for further analysis. Six case studies were developed to describe students' school achievement, their oral narratives, and teachers' practices. Our findings suggest that certain classroom practices, which either support or narrow opportunities for engagement with oral and written text, may be an important influence on students' construction of oral narratives. The individual cases provide examples of ways in which students' narrative constructions are embedded in a variety of classroom features such as teacher attitudes and practices.
Participation, Hybridity, and Carnival: A Situated Analysis of a Dynamic Literacy Practice in a Primary-Grade English Immersion Class
Authors: Manyak Patrick C.
Published: December 2009

This article examines native Spanish-speaking students' participation in a dynamic literacy practice in a primary-grade English immersion class established by Proposition 227, the California voters' initiative that mandated English-only instruction for a majority of the state's English-language learners. The article theorizes language and literacy learning as inextricably bound to classroom social structures and to the historical, cultural, and political dynamics that intertwine within them. In particular, the author elaborates three principles based on Lave and Wenger's (1991) notion of legitimate peripheral participation that enable the analysis of literacy acquisition as a process dependent on the commingling of social relations, learning resources, and evolving identities. In addition, the constructs of developmental biliteracy, hybridity, and carnival are employed to conceptualize the literacy learning, language use, confluence of home experience and school literacy, inclusive participation, shifting identity positions, and enthusiastic sociality that characterized the practice of the Daily News.
“What New Things these Words Can Do for You”: A Focus on One Writing-Project Teacher and Writing Instruction
Authors: Frank Carolyn R.
Published: December 2009

This study explores a writing-project teacher's premises about writing and illustrates how those underlying principles drove her instruction, influenced children's work, and created a particular theory of writing in her classroom culture. The sociolinguistic and discourse analysis of the transcripts from one w-minute writing conference revealed 7 assumptions about writing: (a) writers need time to write; (b) writers need to be in charge of their own writing; (c) writers find ideas to write about when they read; (d) writing is social and students learn to become writers and authors by interacting with their peers, their parents, and their teachers; (e) writing includes learning how to spell and proofread work; (f) “writers” write many things but “authors” write books; and (g) Writers speak to audiences that they may never meet. The study found that writing conferences are important instructional conversations for the teaching of writing (Graves, 1983), that learning to write also involves the influence of the social lives of children (Dyson, 1993), and that writing teachers benefit from being writers themselves (Blau, 1988).
Text Leveling and “Little Books” in First-Grade Reading
Authors: Hoffman James V. , Roser Nancy L. , Salas Rachel , Patterson Elizabeth , Pennington Julie
Published: December 2009

In this study, we investigated the reliability of two current approaches for estimating text difficulty at the firstgrade level: the Scale for Text Accessibility and Support (STAS-1) and the Fountas/Pinnell system. We analyzed the performance of 105 first-grade students in texts leveled using these systems in the areas of rate, accuracy, and fluency. Students read these texts under three support conditions: sight reading, read-aloud (modeled), and previewed. The predictive validity of the two rating scales was supported by the performance data. Statistically significant effects were found for the various support conditions. Further, our analysis suggests potential benchmarks for first-grade performance: 95% accuracy; 80 words per minute; and a fluency rating of 3 (on a 1–5 scale).
Critical Issues: Examining Constructions of Race in Literacy Research: Beyond Silence and other Oppressions of White Liberalism
Authors: Lalik Rosary , Hinchman Kathleen A.
Published: December 2009

In this article, we explore our complicity as white liberal literacy researchers in the social and political dynamics that support continued inequities in school-based literacy success. We focus on social constructions of difference, particularly addressing differences related to race and racism. We begin by reviewing what several noted scholars have said about race, racism, and white liberalism. We describe four deleterious patterns within the tradition of white liberalism, showing how these unwittingly undermine the goals for equity that this group espouses. Next, we use our critique of white liberalism as a basis for critiquing our own practice as literacy researchers. We do this by examining two pieces of our own research. In conclusion, we offer suggestions for literacy research that reflect our review and analysis, and we invite others to contribute to the conversation.
Adult Literacy Instruction: Degrees of Authenticity and Collaboration as Described by Practitioners
Authors: Purcell-Gates Victoria , Degener Sophie , Jacobson Erik
Published: December 2009

The degree to which U.S. adult literacy classes use materials and activities reflective of real-life literacy functions and the degree to which the relationships between teachers and students reflect mutuality and shared power were the foci of this exploratory study. Questionnaires were mailed to adult literacy programs across the United States requesting descriptions of these factors. Results were based on the responses from 271 adult literacy programs. Categorical coding of these responses revealed that the majority of the respondents described programs in which students are involved in literacy activities that do not reflect real-life literacy uses and in which the relationships between teachers and students are more teacher-directed than collaborative. These results are discussed in light of theory and implications for practice and research.
“This is Our Freedom Bus Going Home Right Now”: Producing and Hybridizing Space-Time Contexts in Pedagogical Discourse
Authors: Leander Kevin M.
Published: December 2009

Contexts of school-related discourse are not static backgrounds; rather, contexts are produced, negotiated, and hybridized within the flow of dialogue. In this study, an approach to the analysis of discursive intercontextuality is advanced through theories of space-time production. In addition, the management of multiple contexts within school-related discourse is argued to be an important means of discursively producing identity, agency, and power relations. Data are drawn from an ethnographic and discourse-based study of students and sponsors on an extended school field trip. Drawing upon Bakhtin, the first part of the analysis compares the production and hybridization of space-time in two segments of pedagogical discourse. Whereas one segment suggests the imaginative possibilities of discourse to expand identity across hybridized contexts, another segment suggests how school contexts are bracketed and privileged. The analysis turns to work in conceptual integration networks for a method of closely analyzing hybrids, and to consider conceptual dimensions of intercontextuality.
Critical Issues: Sounding like More than Background Noise to Policy Makers: Qualitative Researchers in the Policy Arena
Authors: Roller Cathy M. , Long Richard M.
Published: December 2009

This Critical Issues piece was written at the invitation of the editors of the Journal of Literacy Research. Our charge was to address the relationships of qualitative researchers to the policy-making process. We use the example of the Reading Excellence Act (p.l. 105–277) to demonstrate that qualitative researchers have many points of access to the policy-making process. We argue that qualitative researchers must become more involved with policy making and policy makers if they are going to have the influence that they desire. Qualitative researchers must provide relevant information, communicate in a straightforward manner, understand the conditions of policy making, offer positive solutions, and be prepared to compromise.
Reviews
Authors: Spache George D. , Sakamoto Ichiro K.
Published: December 2009

This is the first of a series of reviews of contemporary foreign materials concerned with reading instruction. Each will be written by an educator familiar with the developments of his country in this area. In this first article, Ichiro K. Sakamoto of the Women Teachers' College of Tokyo reviews a conference report on language education. Readers will be interested, we think, in the effects of the American occupation upon content and methods, the introduction of phonics, and the parallelism of American and Japanese instructional problems such as: dealing with individual differences; the real purpose of reading instruction; and child development and reading.
Effect of Intralist Similarity on Kindergarten Pupils' Rate of Word Acquisition and Transfer
Authors: Otto Wayne , Pizillo Carole
Published: December 2009

Studies of kindergarten pupils have shown that while low intralist similarity results in more rapid acquisition than high intralist similarity there are also more incorrect identifications and false generalizations on transfer tasks. The inference has been that if pupils were taught highly similar words they would make fewer subsequent errors because they would be less prone to fixate on single features of the words. The focus has, however, been on the extremes: high versus low similarity. Data from the present study, designed to extend the earlier results through procedural changes, suggest that moderate similarity may also result in efficient learning. The main implication has to do with the pragmatic matter of preparing beginning reading materials.
Toward Defining Comprehension: A Third Report
Authors: Rystrom Richard
Published: December 2009

Fourth grade students were assigned to conditions in which both the experimental and control groups received special materials written for their Social Studies text. Written in such a way as to interast as little as possible with reading comprehension skills, the special materials received by the control group were used to augment information in the text. The special comprehension materials presented to the experimental group were intended to present basic information which the children learned as a result of having read the text and doing the experimental exercises. Results from the various measurement instruments indicate, however, no significant differences in respect to comprehension between the two groups.
Individual Differences in Reading Comprehension
Authors: Farley Frank H. , Truog Anthony L.
Published: December 2009

Reading comprehension was studied as a function of individual differences in extraversion-introversion, neuroticism and academic and resultant achievement motivation. Seventy-eight college students were categorized into personality or motive groups on the basis of personality test scores, dividing the distribution into top, middle and bottom thirds. Academic achievement motivation was assessed by a recently developed measure previously used with British students; resultant achievement motivation was measured as need for achievement minus fear of failure. Analyses of variance indicated no significant contributions of any of the IDs studied to reading comprehension. Discussion centered on limitations of the study, its relationship to previous work, and future directions.
The Influence of Congenital Deafness on Processes Concerned with Reading: An Initial Investigation
Authors: McIntyre Curtis W. , Odom Richard D. , Byassee Mary
Published: December 2009

The congenitally deaf child learns visual symbols instead of the auditory-vocal symbols learned by normal children. To test whether these visual symbols are learned by a prototypic or distinctive feature perceptual learning process, a match-to-sample perceptual learning and transfer procedure was used with deaf first-grade children. Evidence for distinctive feature learning was found. The implications of this result for reading are discussed.
The Modification of Perceptual Span: An Experimental Study
Authors: Olsen Roger , Amble Bruce
Published: December 2009

The study was designed to assess which of several classroom conditions of learning would affect the perceptual span development of Ss in an experimental training program. Ten classrooms (N = 232) were assigned to five conditions, one control and four experimental: Film-only group, Contingency group, Attention group, and Contingency-plus Attention group. The findings favored the Contingency-plus Attention group for perceptual span training and the Attention group for transfer to a standard reading situation. Related theory and research findings were discussed.
An Analysis of Semantic Products of Disadvantaged and Advantaged Second, Third, and Fourth Grade Good and Poor Readers
Authors: Dinnan James A. , Bickley A. C. , Cowart Harry
Published: December 2009

One hundred-thirty students were analyzed in this study to discern if there is a significant difference between good and poor readers when the subjects are grouped as advantaged or disadvantaged. The P/S Oral Language Inventory was used and responses from subjects were considered as paradigmatic or syntagmatic. When these results were subjected to an Analysis of Variance, measureable differences were noted.

The data are used as background for a proposed frame of reference for both advantaged and disadvantaged learners. In such a frame the individuals would share a common reference base.
Determining the Reading Preferences of Third, Fourth, and Fifth Grade Disadvantaged Pupils
Authors: McNinch George
Published: December 2009

Using third-, fourth- and fifth-grade disadvantaged pupils, the investigator sought to test the null hypotheses that children would not demonstrate uniformity of interest across a three grade span or by selected groups, and that children would not reflect common interests in picture selection of most and least preferred interest categories. In testing the hypotheses an instrument was designed, similar in some respects to the one developed by Koplyay and Ford, in which the subjects expressed their reading preference by ranking stimuli pictures in order of preferences. A free choice selection does seem to be an indicator of interest; however, the procedure does not appear to possess the reliability necessary to warrant its use as a broad research tool. Synthesizing the findings of this study and others concerning reading preferences, the conclusion was drawn that childrens' reading preferences have not been definitively established, nor have reliable instruments been developed.
Vertical and Horizontal Constraints in the Context Reading of Sentences
Authors: Weaver Wendell W. , Kingston Albert J. , Dinnan James A.
Published: December 2009

Horizontal constraints such as the word class of a word deleted from a passage and vertical constraints, which operate over the distribution of words that can occur at a particular word class deletion, affect the word a subject will supply from his repertoire.

Forty upper division college women were administered ten sentences; in each sentence a lexical word was deleted. The subjects were asked to supply all the words they could think of that made sense in each deletion.

The study seems to indicate that a skilled reader does receive information from the constraints of the sentences that he reads and that the responses are in some way constrained by the responses he makes while reading. Probably horizontal and vertical constraints are important in the comprehension of competent readers.
The Removal of Information Procedure (RIP): A First Analysis
Authors: Tuinman J. Jaap
Published: December 2009

This investigation utilizing 530 junior high students and 100 adults, graduates and undergraduates enrolled in language arts methods courses as subjects was designed to study a reversed cloze procedure. It was found that the removal of information constitutes a performance which is both reliable and unique.
When Static Becomes Theory
Authors: Geyer John J.
Published: December 2009

An article entitled “When Theory Becomes Static,” written by Robert Geeslin, appeared in this journal, Summer, 1970 and was a critique of the HEW's Targeted Research and Development Program on Reading. The article below is a critique of Robert Geeslin's article and describes this project as a design to furnish a broad base for further research and as a flexible structure capable of modification through experience.
Word Associations from Preschool Children Collected by the Continued Sentence Associations Method
Authors: Newman Murray A.
Published: December 2009

In the first of two studies a new method of collecting word associations, Continued Sentence Associations (CSA), was compared with Continued Associations (CA), a representative of more conventional methods. Using young children as Ss, the CSA method has 3 advantages over conventional association methods: (a) CSA seem more natural for children than CA; (b) CSA permit associative measures from young children for parts of speech other than nouns and adjectives; (c) CSA allow analyses of sequential dependencies, grammatical structure, optimum positioning of specific words in a sentence, and frequencies of regularly occurring phrases. In the second study CSA were collected from 27 young children for 157 frequently occurring words. The data in this study may be of practical value to persons who design beginning reading materials.
How Flexibly Do We Read?
Authors: Rankin Earl F.
Published: December 2009

Two-hundred fifty-five college students enrolled in developmental reading classes were tested to determine the extent of internal (intra-article) reading flexibility. This investigation entailed careful observations of the relationship between rate and difficulty as these students worked their way through passages from beginning to end.
Research in Homework as the Motivating Factor in Reading Achievement
Authors: Singh Jane M.
Published: December 2009

Using approximately 400 fourth, fifth and sixth grade students with varying socio-economic background, this study was designed to investigate individualized enrichment homework upon the academic achievement of these children as it relates to total reading development.
Factors Related to Poor Readers' Achievement Test Performance
Authors: Otto Wayne , Canman Mary Jane , Jensen Delores
Published: December 2009

The influence of reading demands on the achievement test performance of sixth grade readers was examined. Ninety subjects took the Stanford Achievement Test in November under standard conditions: (a) test read to subjects, untimed, (b) test read to subjects, timed, (c) test read by subjects, untimed. Analyses of gain scores showed that subjects who had the test read to them made the greatest gains. Time limits, sex and ability did not differentially affect gains.
Developmental Patterns in Elemental Reading Skills: Visual Discrimination of Primary-Type Upper-Case and Lower-Case Letters
Authors: Smythe P. C. , Stennett R. G. , Hardy Madeline , Wilson H. R.
Published: December 2009

Two hundred children in grades K-3 were administered visual, matching-to-sample tasks involving, (a) upper-case primary type and (b) lower-case primary type. Each upper- or lower-case letter was embedded in a display along with the three letters that had been rated as maximally similar to it in form. Performance was analyzed by calculating the percentage of students in each of four age groups correctly discriminating each item. This analysis revealed clear developmental trends and also showed performance to be higher on upper-than on lower-case letters. An ancillary, factor analytic solution was also computed and is discussed. Implications both for future research and concerning the style of type used in beginning readers are presented.
An Experimental Study in Perceptual Modality Training
Authors: Segal Marilyn
Published: December 2009

In this study the differential effects of four different types of perceptual skill training programs on a population of disadvantaged kindergarten children were investigated. One program stressed general auditory and visual perceptual skills, a second auditory skills specific to decoding, a third visual skills specific to decoding, and a fourth auditory and visual skills specific to decoding. Each treatment group was taught by the same teachers. Post-tests included IQ, auditory and visual measures of reading readiness, and two learning rate tests.

Two questions were investigated: (1) optimal sequence of perceptual training, and (2) the relative value of the four approaches. Results support the position that proficiency in lower level skills involving non-letter shapes and sounds is not a necessary prerequisite for success with letters shapes and sounds. On the question of the relative value of the four programs, differential performance of the four groups on individual post-tests suggests that the optimum perceptual program for a particular group could depend on the perceptual strength requirements of the projected reading program.
The Dolch Basic Word List—Then and Now
Authors: Johns Jerry L.
Published: December 2009

After exploring the origin and development of the Dolch basic word list, a study was undertaken to compare the vocabularies of five recently published basic reading series with the Dolch list. The percentage of Dolch words found in each book of the five reading series was compared to the percentages reported by Dolch in an earlier study. The results of the present investigation agreed remarkably with the various percentages found by Dolch. It was concluded that the Dolch list continues to account for more than fifty per cent of the running words in currently published basic reading series. Since the Dolch list is still up-to-date, teachers should continue to help students master the list by the end of the third grade.
A Second Report on Word Confusion: Sequence and Duration of Instruction in the Mislearning of Words
Authors: Mason George E.
Published: December 2009

The first report on this subject which appeared in the Fall 1970 issue presented evidence that a large proportion of substitution errors in reading were of a single type. This second report includes a description of research which demonstrates that the sequence of introduction of words has been shown to be an important variable to be considered in studying the mislearning of words. It suggests that this phenomenon has important implications for instruction in word recognition.
Linguistics and the Teaching of Reading
Authors: Rystrom Richard
Published: December 2009

There can be little doubt many children have trouble learning to read because they do not receive adequate nourishment and because they are deprived of the educational advantages of middle class values and perceptions. While applications of linguistics can not make up for all of these inequities, such factors should be considered when examining various approaches to reading instruction. There is some evidence, for example, indicating that the reading “mistakes” of black children are often dialectal features misunderstood by white teachers. The role of syntax in the reading process has yet to be fully explored. Little is understood about how children perceive clusters of sounds. In short, it is too soon to advocate specific applications of linguistics to the teaching of reading.
Factor Analysis of the Ability to Comprehend Time-Compressed Speech
Authors: Carver Ronald P. , Johnson Raymond L. , Friedman Herbert L.
Published: December 2009

Sources of individual differences in the listening comprehension of speech presented at different rates were investigated by factor analyzing 11 variables, including measures of comprehension and field-independence. Twenty-two different tests, two for each variable, were administered to 50 college students. It was concluded that: (a) the cloze type of test includes a large component of variance unrelated to comprehension and quite specific to the technique itself, and (b) the comprehension of highly speeded speech probably involves a perceptual ability to be field-independent in addition to a separate ability involved in comprehending speech at normal rates.
Sequences for Teaching Consonant Clusters
Authors: Groff Patrick
Published: December 2009

This article presents new sequences in which to teach children to read consonant clusters at the beginnings and endings of words. So far, much disagreement has ensued as to the order in which these clusters should be taught. The varying beliefs about this reflect the previous lack of any generally accepted process for determining such a sequencing. The present article presents such a rationale and defends its validity. It presents its new rank order sequences, basing the rank order in which clusters should be taught on a combination of four facts about the words in which the clusters are found: (1) the spelling difficulty of these words, (2) the reading difficulty of these words, (3) the frequency of use of these words, and (4) the total number of different words in which the clusters are found.
A Critical Review of Mathemagenic Behaviors and the Effect of Questions upon the Retention of Prose Materials
Authors: Carver Ronald P.
Published: December 2009

The recent research on the effect of questions upon the retention of prose materials was critically reviewed with respect to four important determining variables—material difficulty, individual ability, learning time, and learning strategy. A detailed analysis of the literature suggested the following: (a) a failure to adequately control for the learning time and strategy variables has rendered the recent research ungeneralizable to important theoretical and applied situations, and (b) the concept of mathemagenic behavior is a barbarism that contributes more to confusion of thinking than to clarity of thinking. It was concluded that behavior should be relegated to a secondary role in future research on learning from prose, and that the investigation of learning strategies should be elevated to a primary role.
Auditory Perceptual Testing of Young Children
Authors: McNinch George , Palmatier Robert , Richmond Mark
Published: December 2009

The study sought to determine the existence of several auditory perceptual skills (auditory discrimination, auditory memory, auditory blending, auditory-visual integration) as possible developmental tasks and to establish the reliability and subskill independence of an experimental readiness test battery measuring the same skills. Kindergarten, beginning first grade, and ending first grade pupils were used as the subjects to make cross group comparisons on mean scores and coefficients. Correlation coefficients indicated subskill uniqueness, and K-R 20 techniques produced substantial reliability coefficients. ANOVA comparisons followed by Scheffe tests highlighted group differences possibly indicating that the selected auditory perceptual skills could possibly be labeled as developmental tasks.
Reply to “Engineering Reading Succes Failure”
Authors: Coleman Edmund B.
Published: December 2009

This journal has published two articles by Geeslin that criticize HEW's Targeted R&D Program on Reading. The first was answered by Geyer. Geeslin's second article was based entirely upon a critique of a monograph he mistakenly assumed to be a cornerstone in TRDPR; actually the monograph had only the remotest connection with the program. Geeslin made other mistakes of equal magnitude in the critique.
Readers' Dialogue: Evidence for the Invalidity of the Miller-Coleman Readability Scale
Authors: Carter Ronald P.
Published: December 2009

It was hypothesized that readability as indicated by the Miller-Coleman scaled paragraphs would be related to the reading rate for the paragraphs. An almost linear relationship was found between reading rate and readability for the paragraphs. However, when reading rates for each of the 150 word paragraphs were controlled for the physical length of the words, all paragraphs were read at approximately the same rate except for the most difficult paragraph. These results were interpreted as suggesting that the paragraphs can be validly represented as a scale of difficulty but not as a scale of readability.
Reviews
Authors: Spache George D. , Singer Harry
Published: December 2009

A Research Investigation of a Literacy Teaching Model: Project DELTA: Developing Excellence in Literacy Teaching Abilities (Kindergarten Through Grade 3). U.S. Office of Education, EPDA Project No. 005262 by Robert B. Ruddell and Arthur C. Williams, University of California, Berkeley.
Johnson's Basic Vocabulary for Beginning Reading and Current Basal Readers: Are They Compatible?
Authors: Johnson Dale D. , Barrett Thomas C.
Published: December 2009

The authors report a student comparing the 306 words on the Basic Vocabulary for Beginning Reading with their occurrences in first- and/or second-grade reading materials in ten basic series currently in use. All 306 words were found in at least one of the series, and nearly 90 percent of the words occur in over half of the series. Even though the basic vocabulary was derived from sources other than basal readers (a computer-aided analysis of printed English and a study of the spontaneous vocabulary of young children), it is apparent that the majority of the words are common to a number of basic-reading series.
Appalachian: People, Dialect and Communication Problems
Authors: Qazilbash Husain
Published: December 2009

There were three major purposes of this research: (1) to determine the linguistic structure of the Appalachian region in terms of functional vocabulary, misused words, colloquial terms and corrected functional vocabulary; an overall list of misused words, their corrected forms, colloquial terms and their explanations were developed; (2) to determine the relationship between education, urban contact and media contact and functional vocabulary, misused words, colloquial terms and corrected functional vocabulary; and (3) to determine the relationship of age, sex and income to functional vocabulary, misused words, colloquial terms and corrected functional vocabulary.

An analysis of 117 hours of spoken discourse, or 471,656 words, revealed that rustic speakers have a smaller functional vocabulary than modern and cultured speakers, and modern speakers have a smaller vocabulary than cultured speakers in six states. The variations in average functional vocabulary were greatest among rustic and least for cultured speakers.

The data supports the hypothesis that rustic speakers misuse more words than modem speakers and modern speakers misuse more words than cultured speakers.

The corrected functional vocabulary increases with an increase in the degree of an individual's linguistic sophistication. An overall variation of 19.4 percent of Appalachian English from the “standard English” leads us to believe that there is a distinct pattern or linguistic structure throughout the Appalachian region.
An Evaluative Summary of Models of Reading Comprehension
Authors: Harker W. John
Published: December 2009

Models of reading comprehension are evaluated as to their utility in facilitating research in comprehension. The criteria employed are: Articulation, Differentiation, Prediction, Creativity, and Flexibility. The models are evaluated as models in the abstract since many models of “comprehension” in fact attempt to explain different phenomena, thereby preventing direct comparisons. Models of comprehension vary considerably in the extent to which they meet each of the criteria. The value of models in the investigation of comprehension lies in their capacity to provide testable hypotheses which can lead to scientific prediction and understanding. However, models of comprehension remain untested and therefore limited in the degree to which they have facilitated the scientific understanding of comprehension.
The Construction of Two Types of Cloze Reading Tests for College Students
Authors: Cranney A. Garr
Published: December 2009

A machine-scorable multiple-choice cloze test based on college textbooks was administered to 100 sophomores who also took the Cooperative Reading Test, C-2, Form R. Validity coefficients of a long and a short form of the cloze test indicated about 26% of common variance with the comprehension section of the Cooperative Reading Test. Kuder-Richardson-20 reliability coefficients were .88 and .86 on the cloze test.

A similar cloze test, but without the multiple-choice format, was constructed and shortened from 300 to 135 items. Elimination of the less effective items diminished both the reliability coefficient from .93 to .83 and the validity coefficient from .52 to .51. Further study of item selection procedures and cross validation was recommended.
The Effect of Reading Method on Composition i.t. a. vs. T.O.
Authors: Shapiro Bernard J. , Shapiro Phyllis P.
Published: December 2009

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of two methods of reading instruction on children's ability to write original compositions. Six hundred eighty-four first and second graders (i. t. a. and T. O. pupils) wrote two compositions which were evaluated on length, vocabulary level, content, and originality. At both the grade one and the grade two level, the essays of the i. t. a. sample were longer and at a somewhat higher vocabulary level. Further, in terms of both the Content and Communication scales, there were at both grade levels statistically significant differences in favor of the. i. t. a. group.
Multi-Ethnic Reading Texts: The Role of Inferred Story-Character Identification and Reading Comprehension
Authors: Messmore Peter B.
Published: December 2009

This study attempted to investigate the relationship between inferred identification and two types of reading comprehension, molar and specific, at the third grade level. Subjects for this study were selected from six schools located in four midwestern urban centers. The 121 Negro and Caucasian children who participated in the study attended schools designated as Title I schools.

Findings suggested that children who identified at high and moderate identification levels achieved significantly higher molar reading comprehension scores than low identifying children of both races. Initial interpretation of these results seems to offer some justification for recent efforts to include diverse ethnic characters in elementary reading texts. A more thoughtful examination of this relationship, however, may indicate the possible presence of a third and as yet unknown factor which acted in conjunction with the identification process and to which the gain witnessed in molar reading comprehension may be attributed.
Another Look at the Dolch List
Authors: Johns Jerry L. , Higdon Jean E.
Published: December 2009

It was concluded in a recent investigation that the Dolch list of basic sight words has outlived its usefulness. The 220 most frequent words on the Kucera-Francis Corpus were offered as a substitute-for the Dolch list. It was assumed that young children's oral vocabularies included a higher number of Corpus words than Dolch words.

This study focused on the above assumption by investigating whether the Dolch list or Corpus list was more common to the oral vocabularies of beginning readers (ages five, six, and seven). Both word lists were compared to the Wepman-Hass spoken word count. The results indicated that young children's spoken vocabularies contained significantly more Dolch words than Kucera-Francis words.
The Effect of “Organizers” on Reading Comprehension of Community College Freshmen
Authors: Schnell Thomas R.
Published: December 2009

This article describes research on the use of focus-type materials (organizers) to improve reading comprehension of junior college freshmen. The use and placement of the organizer with unfamiliar reading materials were examined, with attention also given to possible interactions between the experiment and the variables of intelligence and prior reading ability of subjects. Data presented indicated that use of the organizer significantly increased comprehension test scores, and that placement of the organizer after the reading materials produced the greatest gain. No interaction was found with other variables. Implications of the results for facilitating reading comprehension are included.
The Behavior Analysis Approach to Reading: Phonics Discriminations
Authors: Lahey Benjamin B. , Weller Dennis R. , Brown William R.
Published: December 2009

Several investigators have successfully applied behavior modification techniques to educational problems. These investigators have followed a simple set of rules: (1) Analyze the problem area into its component parts. For example, reading is a global term for a wide range of component skills. (2) The objectives of instruction should be set in terms of these components and an instructional sequence of components should be designed in which the acquisition of each component is dependent upon the acquisition of the prior components. The acquisition of each component skill is produced through the systematic manipulation of aspects of the environment, most frequently operant response consequences. An example of this approach is provided in which subjects acquire a single phonics discrimination.
Phonic Blending and Transfer of Letter Training to Word Reading in Children
Authors: Muller Douglas
Published: December 2009

This study uses pre-readers to examine transfer of letter-naming skills to a word-naming task in a variety of paradigms. It was found that transfer phenomena observed in adults do not universally generalize to the pre-reader and that training in phonic blending is necessary in order for phonic-letter training to yield positive transfer to a word-reading task.
Generalization Variables and Restricted Hypotheses
Authors: Coleman Edmund B.
Published: December 2009

The first half of the paper, Generalization Variables, points out a serious flaw in the statistical foundations of much research in reading, namely, some researchers have neglected to consider whether their findings could be replicated using a different sample of materials. Since materials frequently interact with treatments, this neglect is responsible for many of the conflicting findings in the field. Several examples are given and used to illustrate appropriate significance tests. The second half, Restricted Hypotheses, shows that many topics in reading research do not quite fit the model for the null hypothesis. That is, the hypothesis can be neither rejected nor accepted in all or none fashion; instead, it is restricted, true under some conditions, false under others. The most effective strategy is not to risk all resources on a single experiment that tests a null hypothesis, but to home in on these restrictions with a systematic series of converging experiments.
The Controlled Instrument Procedure for Studying the Effect of Syntactic Sophistication on Reading: A Second Study
Authors: Smith William L.
Published: December 2009

Presents results from an experiment designed to extend the study of the relationship between the syntactic sophistication of the student and the material being read. A previous experiment had studied this relationship using passages based on actual students' writing. From the analysis of this writing, conversion tables were constructed to allow the preparation of new passages representing the same levels of writing (4th grade, 8th grade, 12th grade, and Skilled Adult), but without primary composition data. Vocabulary and content were the same in all passages. These new passages were read by students from grade four through twelve. When the results were compared with the previous experiment, a high correlation was found. The same trends were also observed: the intermediate grade students read the 4th grade writing best while students in grades eight through twelve read the 8th grade writing best but the 4th grade writing with much less comprehension.
Minimal Contrast, Spelling Patterns, and Initial Reading
Authors: Mcmullen David W.
Published: December 2009

This study tests the effect of minimal contrast among word forms commonly found in initial reading instruction, using audio-equipped computer terminals to provide study tasks and a retention test. No significant differences occurred between minimal and maximum contrast conditions, suggesting that the variable is weak or depends on the development of a strategy.
Revolution in Teacher Education for Reading Instruction
Authors: Ramsey Wallace
Published: December 2009

Teacher education for reading instruction is undergoing rapid change in response to several professional pressures. The focus is fast shifting to competency attainment. Programs are becoming individualized through the use of self-contained modules utilizing educational technology. Professional organizations, like I.R.A., are facilitating the changes.

Useful modules provide objectives and background information, the latter through audio and videotapes and readings. Examination of teaching materials, observation of classroom practices, simulation, and microteaching are also used. Mastery tests of a performance nature evaluate student progress.

The new programs are changing the facilities and equipment needed, as well as the task of the reading methods professor. They demand that he bring to his duties a new set of background experiences and expectations for his students.
A New Sequence for Teaching Lower-Case Letters
Authors: Groff Patrick
Published: December 2009

Comments from experts in reading agree that a knowledge of letters is important to the child learning to read. In spite of this consensus few experts in reading have set forth sequences in which the letters should be taught. Those that are offered are based on a single criterion, e.g., the contrasts in the sounds the letters represent, the order in which the child learns to speak these sounds, letters that “appeal” to children, and the order letters appear in the alphabet.

A new and preferred sequence for teaching letters is presented here. It is based on a combination of factors in this order of importance: the differing graphic features of letters, the frequency with which letters appear at the beginnings of words and syllables, the order in which children learn to pronounce sounds when shown letters, the ease with which children can learn to copy, write and name letters, and the phonological differences among sounds letters represent.
Alpha Factor Analyses of Reading Measures at the Elementary, Secondary, and College Levels
Authors: Sassenrath J. M.
Published: December 2009

Correlation matrices consisting largely of variables related to reading were corrected for attentuation or errors of measurement, and were factor analyzed separately for fourth graders, senior high school, and college undergraduate students. There were 283 students and 28 variables at the elementary level, 400 students and 46 variables at the high school level, and 126 students and 19 variables at the college level. The major results indicated that speed and comprehension in reading were separate factors at the college level but were combined into one factor of general reading ability at the two younger age levels. A separate factor of word analysis or word attack skills appeared for the two older age groups but was incorporated into the general reading ability factor at the elementary level. The reading comprehension or general reading ability factor at all age levels consisted of a large number of variables or skills that need to be learned in order to read well.
Barbarism and Mathemagenic Activities: Comments on Criticism by Carver
Authors: Rothkopf Ernst Z.
Published: December 2009

Carver's recent objections to the concept of mathemagenic activities are analyzed and rejected. Flaws in Carver's arguments, both logical and empirical, are pointed out. The author focuses his comments on Carver's remarks about the relationship between mathemagenic activities and reading time, Carver's conception of current theoretical possibilities and his aesthetic of language.
An Instructional Decision-Making Model for Individual Differences in Reading
Authors: Ingersoll Gary M.
Published: December 2009

While reading educators repeatedly call for individualized instruction, little thought seems to have been directed at questions of how one determines which instructional treatment is best for whom. The author argues that the Trait by Treatment Interaction model, now primarily used as a research design, offers an effective scheme through which instructional decision makers can collect and evaluate data on the relative effectiveness of alternative forms of reading instruction for individuals of differing predispositions. Further, an example of the types of questions that might be asked is provided.
Investigation of Reading Strategies: II. A Replication of Payoff Condition Effects
Authors: McConkie G. W. , Meyer Bonnie J. F.
Published: December 2009

An earlier study by McConkie and Rayner (1974) was replicated in which reading strategies of college students were manipulated through the use of payoff conditions. The influence of four variables on reading speed and test performance was investigated: existence of a payoff structure, the form of the payoff structure, type of payoff, and presence or absence of feedback. Essential characteristics of the earlier study were replicated. The existence of a payoff structure had little effect by itself, but the form of the structure produced significant changes in reading rate. Feedback on performance appears critical in producing substantial reading strategy changes in readers.