R. Scott Baldwin

Protagonist Preferences Among Juvenile and Adolescent Readers.

AbstractThe present study was an investigation of juvenile and adolescent preferences for sex and age of main characters in books. Subjects for the study were male (V = 2,487) and female (A = 2,366) students in grades 4 through 10 from a nationwide population. Students were asked about their preferences about characteristics of story/book protagonists. Statistically significant trends revealed by the data indicated that: 1) the importance of male protagonists to male students decreases as grade level increases; 2) the importance of female protagonists to male readers increases with higher grade levels; and 3) the importance of male main characters to female students increases with increases in grade level. Further, the age of the main character relative to the age of the reader was shown to be a fairly potent characteristic at ail grade levels although reading about younger protagonists becomes less desirable as students grow older.

Direct Instruction in Processing Metaphors

Two experiments were conducted to explore the efficacy of instruction with third-grade subjects in processing metaphors based on the principles of the direct explicit teaching of reading comprehension and current metaphor theory. In Experiment 1, process instruction was validated. In Experiment 2, process instruction was compared to traditional basal instruction in the context of a unit on metaphor. Statistically significant differences were found in favor of process instruction. The psychological processes involved in metaphorical interpretation are discussed and directions for future research suggested.

The Relationship of Cognitive Style and Phonics Instruction.

AbstractThis study examined the reading achievement patterns of impulsives and reflectives under varying phonics approaches in beginning reading instruction. The study used 170 second grade students who were classified as having an impulsive or reflective cognitive style and as receiving phonics instruction via an analytic or synthetic approach. Achievement in vocabulary and comprehension was measured by the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test. As such, the investigation was a post-hoc aptitude-treatment interaction study employing a step- down analysis model. Results supported the existing body of research which indicates that reflectives tend to be better readers than impulsives. However, multivariate analyses indicated reflectives in the synthetic approach performed significantly better than impulsives only in vocabulary. Under an analytic approach, the reverse was true; reflectives were significantly better only on the variable of comprehension. While the limitations of the study should be considered, it wa...

Forty Years of Nrc Publications: 1952–1991

This article synthesizes the history and research trends of the National Reading Conference through a global analysis of 2,139 articles published in the Journal of Reading Behavior and the NRC Yearbooks. All articles published in JRB and the Yearbook through 1991 were classified by topic and method of analysis and stored in a permanent database. Systematic searches of the database yielded summary data for topic popularity, authorship trends, and methodological and philosophical shifts within the organization. The article includes recommended reading lists of NRC “firsts, classics and oddballs.”

Effects of extending administration time on standardized reading achievement tests

Abstract The present study was undertaken to investigate whether the Nelson Denny Reading Tests time restrictions may bias the performances of marginal students. A total of 171 subjects including honors students, international students and students with low SAT scores participated in the study. Subjects were randomly assigned to either the regular time treatment group or the extended time treatment group. The results indicated that the standard Nelson‐Denny scores alone may provide biased measures of reading ability. The authors recommend that test makers develop extended time norms.

CUE SYSTEM USAGE IN ORAL AND SILENT READING

The comparative use of grapho/phonic and syntactic/semantic cues for ongoing word recognition by readers of varying grade levels was examined in both oral and silent reading modes. Twenty-four subjects in each of four grades (2, 4, 6, and 8) read grade-appropriate passages orally and silently. Target passages each had an orthographically altered word embedded in the text. Results included a marked difference in cue system implementation in oral and silent reading modes. A greater number of altered words were identified in the oral reading mode. This difference was statistically significant in three of the four grade levels: Grade 4, F(1, 23) = 19.58, p<.001; in Grade 6, F(1, 23) = 9.38, p<.005; and in Grade 8, F(1, 23) = 6.18, p<.02. These results cast suspicion on diagnostic and instructional practices which assume similar word recognition processing in both reading modes.

Response to Ridgeway, Dunston, and Qian: On Methodological Rigor: Has Rigor Mortis Set In?.

.Wthin the methodological confines of probabilitybased modeling and inference, we have no objection to the criteria Ridgeway, Dunston, and Qian used in the study reported in this issue of RRQ to evaluate the 98 studies cited in Alvermann and Moore (1991). In fact, we are convinced that-all other things being equal--quantitative studies will be more accurate, valid, and relevant if researchers control for threats to validity and do not violate the assumptions of an inferential model. The problem is that all other things are not equal, and criteria which apply to a single study are inaccurate and misleading in the evaluation of a corpus of studies.

Teaching word connotations: An alternative strategy

Abstract Effective communication requires sensitivity to the various connotations contained within broad definitions of words. Knowing the shades of meaning associated with words enables writers and speakers to create more accurate portrayals of characters and events and enables readers and listeners to more easily discern the intention of the communication received. Traditional methods of teaching word connotations typically fall short of demonstrating to students this sensitivity to effective communication. An alternative strategy, feature analysis, is proposed as a means to overcome the limitations of traditional methods as it actively involved students in the learning process, capitalizes on their experiential background, and uses context.