This guide outlines a model that adult educators can use to construct a test for their adult students, regardless of subject area, that is written at the students' reading level. The problems that written tests pose for trade and technical students in further education (FE) who have poor reading skills and the drawbacks of using commercially…

Designed to appeal to students who want a short but up-to-date overview, researchers who are interested in a critical appraisal, and consumers who would like to know what leaders in the field think, this collection of articles highlights the changes that have occurred in readability research from the past to the present and makes predictions about…

Finding the right fit between students' reading ability and textbooks is very important for comprehension. Readability studies aim to analyse texts to find the right fit between students and texts. In this literature review, readability studies are classified under quantitative, qualitative and combined quantitative-qualitative readability…

To develop a new model of the reading process, a longitudinal study investigated the importance of the concepts of cohesion and register (fiction or nonfiction) in the assessment of text readability. Subjects, 436 8-year-olds (Cohort A), 474 10-year-olds (Cohort B), and 445 13-year-olds (Cohort C) from 23 urban and rural British schools--most of…

A study investigating the influence of certain features of cohesion and coherence on Israeli college students' difficulty in reading English expository texts examined the reader's ability to understand sequences of propositions and familiarity with markers of cohesion. Three methods were used to investigate the problem: application of a…

The multicultural pattern in recent Australian immigration poses a pressing issue for reading instruction. Students coming from homes where only English is spoken, or English and a Northern European language are spoken, perform better on reading tests than do students from homes where other languages are spoken. There is also little reflection…

A study was conducted to identify the literacy requirements of 10 college vocational training programs and their corresponding occupations. Following a review of 5 years of student records at an eastern Ontario community college, the 10 major vocational programs studied were categorized as follows: motor vehicle mechanic, engineering technician,…

The constituting elements of distance education are the course and the interaction between students and supporting organizations. Compared with students at traditional universities, distance students are generally older, have jobs, and often have families. In distance education, learners are usually isolated and want to broaden their education,…

Seven papers on experimental research topics in education, written by educators of various nationalities, are compiled in this volume. The first paper, written in French with an English summary, explores the ability of the teacher to exercise an indirect influence over student behavior and the systematic training of certain teacher behaviors to…

This book examines the basic principles of the cognitive psychology of literacy and explains how insights gained from that theory can inform and improve reading, spelling, and writing instruction aimed at adults. The following are among the topics discussed in the book's eight chapters: the principles of cognitive psychology (the nervous system,…