We evaluated the effects of student characteristics (sight word reading efficiency, phonological decoding, verbal knowledge, level of reading ability, grade, gender) and text features (passage difficulty, length, genre, and language and discourse attributes) on the oral reading fluency of a sample of middle-school students in Grades 6-8 (N =…

In this article, we articulate the critical differences between memory-based processing and explanation-based processing. We suggest that the most important claim of memory-based text processing is that the automatic processes that function with respect to text processing are all applications of ordinary memory processes. This claim contrasts with…

Outlines three basic views of how readers infer causal connections and how they generate causal inferences. Evaluates these three hypotheses with reference to current research in the field. (HB)

Considers the difference between commonplace inferences versus more elusive inferences in reading processes. Claims that higher level inferences may be restricted in part because they do not operate in response to simple memory symbols but depend on complex compositional representations not always available. (HB)

Suggests that the term "inference" itself has had a negative effect on the study of how information is elaborated and reduced in text processing. Discusses some of the current views of inferencing in text comprehension. Suggests viewing information reduction processes within the same framework as information accretion. (HB)

Studies how readers process text in the absence or presence of a relevant schema. Analyzes the results of a study in which subjects were required to read vague texts. Indicates that schemas affect on-line comprehension and that reading without a schema involves certain key strategies. (HB)

Presents a discourse-based interview with John McPhee focusing attention on particular choices McPhee makes. Notes that probes (statements about McPhee texts by other readers) led to a more general discussion of the writer-reader relationship. Discusses how these two methods together afford an illuminating glimpse of McPhee at work. (MG)

Argues that interaction between reader and writer in academic texts can draw on both interactive and interactional resources: interactive resources help guide the reader through the text, while the interactional resources involve the reader collaboratively in the development of the text. (Author/VWL)

Argues that most pupils need some help as the reading curriculum widens to include books of varied linguistic complexity. Maintains that increasing awareness of the register patterning of different genres is a basis for continued teaching of reading across the curriculum throughout pupils' school careers. (RS)

Examines the reading processes and practices of one female college student through eight semesters of undergraduate education. Traces the student's beliefs about literate activity. Analyzes the student's conceptions of the functions of texts and authors as they grew in complexity. (HB)

This research disproves the hypothesis that less-skilled comprehenders are less able to take advantage of constraints at all levels of structure. Five studies used self-paced reading, meaning probe judgment, recall, and sentence and word recognition tasks to examine the effect of supportive discourse contexts on sentence processing in skilled and…

Explores the application of a process-based methodology in reading of recent fictional text, Ishiguro's "The Remains of the Day," with international undergraduates. Illustrated by practical tasks on narrative voice designed to build awareness of metadiscursive markers and their functions, this article makes a case for a methodology that is…

Prompted by the growing interest in the role of reader-related and text-related variables in reading comprehension, a study compared 30 sixth grade students in regular classrooms to 30 language impaired students. The purpose was to assess the relationship of (1) text structure manipulations for simple and complex sentence structure, (2) discourse…