A series of studies was performed to explore the possibility of substituting listening for reading requirements, with special reference to marginally literate Category IV personnel. Time-compressed speech was evaluated as a means of producing listening rates comparable to silent reading rates. The results indicated that, for both average and low aptitude men, listening was as effective as reading for gaining factual information from test passages of varying difficulty. Both high and low aptitude men learned more efficiently with moderate (36%) amounts of time compression than with no compression of the listening selections. Additional evaluations of time-compressed speech were made, and educational and training implications were discussed. (The document includes 17 references, reading/listening tests, cloze tests, and a description of speech-compression equipment.) (Author/LY)