The purpose of the study was to examine the use of a prediction technique during the reading of short stories with surprise endings. Investigated were the effects of instructional setting and content familiarity upon interest, overall reading comprehension, literal comprehension, and inferential comprehension. Verbal predictions and supportive evidence generated at the midpoint and prior the story climax was also examined. The subjects, 54 Chapter I remedial readers in a metropolitan school district in Tucson, Arizona, were randomly assigned to experimental or control groups. The study spanned three days. During this time, the students in the individualized treatment read three stories--one of familiar content, one of neutral content, and one of unfamiliar content. Each subject in this treatment generated hypotheses and support for predictions at both the story midpoint and climax. After each story, individual students completed an interest questionnaire and a comprehension assessment. Those in the group treatment followed the same procedure, with predictions and supportive evidence shared in a small group setting of three. Those in the control group read without predicting. The data analysis yielded these findings: (1) Overall comprehension and literal comprehension were not affected by the prediction treatment or story familiarity. (2) The control group surpassed the interest group on the number of inferential questions answered correctly; both the control group and the group prediction treatment subjects performed better than the individualized prediction treatment subjects on the inferential comprehension items. (3) Both the familiar and the neutral selection were more interesting to the students than the unfamiliar selection. (4) Interest scores for the control, familiar group were substantially higher than those for the group familiar treatment, the group, unfamiliar treatment, and the control, unfamiliar treatment. (5) A relationship did not exist between the interest scores and the total comprehension scores of the three stories. (6) Most predictions at the midpoint and prior to the story climax were inaccurate. (7) Predictions, though diverse, could be categorized into approximately 14 groups at the midpoint and 14 groups at the climax. (8) Most predictions were supported either with textual information or scriptal evidence; seldom were script and text ideas combined.

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This study investigated whether or not the use of specific task motivational instructions, delivered without hypnotic induction, would improve the reading performance of elementary school students reading on a remedial level. The task motivational instructions consisted of two components: fantasy trips and suggestions designed to improve the subject's self-confidence and increase his/her reading performance. Twenty-one students who read on a remedial level, grades two to six, were assigned randomly to one of three experimental groups: Group I (Relaxation plus Task Motivational Instructions), Group II (Task Motivational Instructions only) and Group III (Control). Subjects were seen for one baseline session and six experimental sessions. During baseline and each experimental session, three measures of reading performance (reading comprehension, reading speed, and word recognition) were obtained. A portable EMG system was used to record the forehead muscle tension of each subject. During experimental sessions, Group I received both relaxation training and specific task motivational instructions designed to improve reading performance. Group II received the same specific task motivational instructions, but without the relaxation. Although Group III received neither relaxation training nor task motivational instruction, the subjects in Group III were tested weekly on the three reading measures. The results of the study were as follows: (1) Subjects receiving both relaxation training and task motivational instructions showed (1) a significant increase in reading comprehension scores, (2) a significant increase in the number of words read per second, and (3) no significant increase in word recognition scores. (2) Subjects receiving only task motivational instructions showed (1) a significant increase in reading comprehension scores, (2) a significant increase in the number of words read per second, and (3) no significant increase in word recognition scores. (3) Subjects receiving neither of the experimental treatments showed (1) no significant increase in reading comprehension scores, (2) no significant increase in the number of words read per second, and (3) no significant increase in word recognition scores. (4) Data for all subjects participating in the study showed a significant increase in forehead EMG scores following reading. The results of this study support these conclusions. First, the treatment used resulted in significant increases in reading comprehension and the number of words read per second. Second, children appear to enjoy the treatment activities involving the fantasy trips and the motivational instructions. Third, children do not seem to enjoy the relaxation training method used. Fourth, children who have difficulty reading show greater forehead muscle tension following reading. Fifth, an EMG recording of forehead muscle tension does not appear to be a satisfactory method to measure relaxation in elementary school children. In summary, the results of this study indicate that elementary school children who read on a remedial level appear to increase their reading performance faster when remediation includes task motivational instructions.

No description available.

For years reading improvement programs have been part of the college curriculum. However, with the current trend toward open admissions these programs become even more vital. It is important to discover what methods best serve these students.The purpose of this study was to determine whether providing students with more freedom of choice as to course content would affect their achievement and attitudes in a college reading improvement program. A further purpose was to determine whether there was an interaction between student personality orientation and degree of student control in relationship to reading achievement.A three-group posttest, and in some cases pretest and posttest experimental design was utilized. The treatment groups represented three levels of student control: minimum, moderate and maximum. In the minimum student-controlled situation the instructor assigned all course work. The moderate student-controlled students chose their assignments from the options presented to them by their instructor. Students in the maximum student-controlled group had complete freedom as to type and amount of assignments they would complete. All groups used a weekly contract system for planning their programs. These contracts were assigned and/or chosen during a weekly conference with the instructor. The students worked independently in a laboratory-type setting.There were four major hypotheses tested. Hypotheses I and all its sub-hypotheses proposed there would be no differences in aspects of reading achievement among the three treatment groups. To measure these aspects of reading achievement the Diagnostic Reading Tests: Survey Section edited by Triggs was administered as a pretest and posttest.Hypothesis II stated there would be no differences among the treatment groups in attitude toward reading. To measure attitude toward reading a revised version of Este's Scale to Measure Attitudes Toward Reading was used. This Likert scale was administered as a pretest and posttest.Hypothesis III stated that there would be no differences among the treatment groups in attitude toward the reading improvement course. To test H othesis III a semantic differential developed by Poppen and Thompson was used. This instrument was administered as a posttest.Hypothesis IV proposed there would be no relationship between student personality orientation and reading achievement in the three treatment conditions. Students were classified as having either internal or external loci of reinforcement control based upon their Rotter I-E Scale scores.To test these hypotheses variations of the analysis of variance test were used. When an analysis of covariance was used the pretest score served as the covariate and the posttest score was the criterion measure. For Hypothesis I, total reading achievement was tested using an analysis of covariance. For the components of the total test score and the types of comprehension, two multivariate analyses of covariance were computed. For Hypothesis II two analyses of variance were computed for the pretest and posttest attitude toward reading scores. The attitude toward the course scores used to test Hypothesis III were also examined with an analysis of variance. For Hypothesis IV a two-way analysis of covariance was computed, using treatment by personality orientation, to analyze total reading achievement scores.In all cases the null hypotheses were not rejected. There were no significant differences in reading achievement, attitude toward reading or attitude toward the course among the treatment groups. There was also no relationship between student personality orientation and reading achievement in any of the treatment groups.Although all groups did improve in reading and displayed relatively positive attitudes toward reading and toward the course, the degree of student control experienced throughout the course did not result in any significant differences. Suggestions for further research include more control for the teacher effect and greater differences in treatment groups.

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

No description available.

It was the purpose of this study to develop and examine a pilot program relating reading instruction specifically to course content and to collect data for seeking answers to the following questions: Can the general reading ability of disabled readers who are considered slow learners be significantly improved by a program emphasizing the development of reading skills in relation to content in two required courses in the ninth grade? What areas of general reading ability, if any, can be improved by such a program? Can specific reading skills be improved by such a program? Which students, if any, benefit more from such a program? What modifications in (1) staff utilization, (2) classroom procedures, (3) teaching techniques, and (4) texts and other materials are necessary to develop such a program?

This study was designed to discover if results from the summer remedial reading program carry over into the following school year. The design intended (1) to show whether skills taught in the summer classes are retained, and (2) to measure the amounts and some of the kinds of retention throughout the following school year.

For twenty-six years the writer has been teaching in the elementary and secondary schools. Here she found one of the most important, as well as one of the most perplexing, problems to be that of teaching the slow-learning child to read to the best of his ability. The problem is serious at all levels, but it is at the secondary level that it becomes more apparent and more serious, particularly so in many secondary schools whose curriculums have not been adjusted to meet the needs and abilities of this slow-learning individual. It is because of experience with this problem and the importance attached to it by authorities in the field of education that the writer has made this study. / Typescript. / "August, 1952." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." / Advisor: Robert C. Moon, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 48-50).