Recent governments in the United Kingdom have introduced a number of initiatives aimed at improving the literacy levels of children. Policy and practice should be informed by rigorous evidence, and this evidence should be subjected to critical scrutiny. In the present paper the results of a "tertiary" review of systematic reviews in literacy…

While it is well known that reading is highly heritable, less has been understood about the bases of these genetic influences. In this paper, we review the research that we have been conducting in recent years to examine genetic and environmental influences on the particular reading processes specified in the "dual-route" cognitive model of…

The first paper published in the Journal of Research in Reading on the topic of phonological awareness ( Schreuder & van Bon, 1989) appeared some fifteen years after the seminal paper by Liberman, Shankweiler, Fischer and Carter (1974), which had demonstrated that there was a relationship between spoken word segmentation ability and reading…

In this paper we review the literature on visual constraints in written word processing. We notice that not all letters are equally visible to the reader. The letter that is most visible is the letter that is fixated. The visibility of the other letters depends on the distance between the letters and the fixation location, whether the letters are…

Presents three research claims that may have influenced the adoption of rhyme and analogy as part of the National Literacy Strategy. Notes that the three claims are: rhyme awareness is related to reading ability; rhyme awareness affects reading achievement; and rhyme awareness leads to the development of phoneme awareness. Concludes that not one…

Considers Goswami's (1999) review of available evidence for and against the role of phonological rime awareness and analogy theory, concluding much of the evidence fits an alternative (non-rime) interpretation. Explores implications from this evidence for teaching and the role of rime analogy should play in the British National Curriculum. (SG)

Concludes that there is no adequate support for recommending that teachers attempt to increase the incidence of a child's self-corrections when reading. (FL)

Reviews more than 60 German studies on dyslexia and summarizes their findings and their implications for remedial instruction and future research. (FL)

Reviews experiments designed to determine whether pictures have an effect upon the derivation of meaning from the text printed in children's reading materials and notes ways that pictures support and possibly interfere with meaning. (MKM)

Analyzes a shift in the view of the reading process and suggests a modified view of the learning-to-read process as a constructive process. (MKM)

Suggests that reciprocal teaching (interaction of novices and experts in explicit, overt demonstrations of strategy use) is a successful way of increasing comprehension scores of students. Outlines the theoretical underpinnings of reciprocal teaching and reviews research examining its effects on comprehension disabled subjects. (MM)

Reviews research suggesting that visual dyslexia may be treated by wearing tinted glasses. Discusses studies seeking to determine whether dyslexia is due to a visual deficit or a linguistic deficit, and maintains that more research needs to be done in this area. (MM)

Reports a number of modifications to the computer readability program STAR (Simple Tests Approach to Readability) designed to make it more useful. (FL)

Examines the evidence for and against three major approaches to the teaching of specific reading disabled children: the process approaches, the specialist methods, and the modality/treatment interaction methods. Concludes that all differ in terms of their assumptions and consequent remediation, and all have a number of associated difficulties.…

Notes that most recent reading research conducted in Hungary has focused on the formation of readers' attitudes and value judgments. Discusses studies conducted in the areas of reading psychology, children's reading, reading habits, reading motivation, and readers' responses. (FL)