Discourse comprehension involves readers or listeners in constructing mental models using local text information, global text structures, and their general knowledge of the world. An analysis of the literature on children's understanding of spoken discourse reveals that young children are capable of forming mental models from texts, but that their…

The primary goal of early reading instruction, according to this paper, should be to teach children to comprehend written discourse in a manner similar to that for oral discourse because both types of discourse require decoding ability--graphic or acoustic. The paper asserts that to simply design reading instruction to achieve the subgoal of…

Many writers have suggested that comprehension occurs at several levels (e.g., literal, inference, and conclusion). However, many teachers spend as much as two-thirds of their time on lower-level skills such as phonics and literal-level comprehension skills. Some authors have suggested ways of assisting readers in achieving comprehension at more…

AN ADDRESS FOR CLASSROOM TEACHERS IS PRESENTED WHICH CONSIDERS THE NATURE OF COMPREHENSION AND THE PROCESSES INVOLVED IN TEACHING CHILDREN TO COMPREHEND WHAT THEY READ. A REVIEW OF THE RESEARCH ON COMPREHENSION SINCE 1960 IS GIVEN. THE FOLLOWING TOPICS ARE DISCUSSED--THE PROCESS OF COMPREHENDING, THE KINDS OF COMPREHENSION, THE RELATIONSHIP…

Researchers examined student listening and reading performance to determine weaknesses in listening and reading comprehension, questioning whether performances of students with such problems suggest differences in processing strategies. Results showed significant between-group listening and reading differences. Using listening to measure optimal…

Reviews research into listening skills and processes, focusing on speech recognition, memory in processing, discourse comprehension, the challenge of accessing the listening process, the role of context and other factors influencing listening, and the relationship between listening and other language skills. Future directions in research are…

The present study employs event related potentials (ERPs) to verify the utility of using electrophysiological measures to study developmental questions within the field of language comprehension. Established ERP components (N400 and P600) that reflect semantic and syntactic processing were examined. Fifteen adults and 14 children (ages 8-13)…

Describes the development of explanation in children's story telling which is compared with the level of comprehension revealed in responses to questions about events in the story. (JOW)

Knowledge integration is the incorporation of related facts into comprehensive memory structures. This article examines the research on knowledge integration, particularly in relation to text comprehension. The paper contrasts knowledge integration theories as well as factors affecting the probability of integrating information from text.…

Discusses changes that are needed in the perceptual, cognitive, and aesthetic principles governing the medium of television to compensate for the high-quality, filmlike picture produced by high definition television (HDTV), or improved definition television (IDTV). Topics discussed include changes in visual perception, cognitive processes and…

Two studies examined age-related declines in the functioning of working memory. Negative correlations between age and measures of working memory were found. These relations were attenuated by measures of storage capacity, processing efficiency, coordination effectiveness, and simple comparison speed. The greatest attenuation occurred with simple…

Discussion of macrostructural processing of multiple text passages focuses on three experiments with college students that examined the effects of various textual and situational factors on macrostructural construction and organization. Concludes that the comprehension of hypertext involves higher levels of cognitive processing which ensure the…

Sentences convey relationships between the meanings of words, such as who is accomplishing an action or receiving it. Functional neuroimaging based on positron-emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging has been used to identify areas of the brain involved in structuring sentences and determining aspects of meaning associated…