The question under study was whether context-free word reading skill evolves out of extensive experience with environmental print. Selected for the study were preschoolers aged three to five years who could identify at least 8 out of 10 samples of environmental print, such as a McDonald's sign in a photograph of the restaurant, and hence were environmental print “experts.” Their ability to read various types of print samples was examined. They were shown signs and labels printed either with full context cues or only with logos or without any context cues or logos. These stimuli were printed with and without color cues. Also, letters in the print were altered to assess subjects' awareness of specific graphic cues in the labels and signs (e.g., OcDonald's for McDonald's). Results revealed that subjects' ability to read print declined somewhat when full contexts were removed and only logos remained. Performance dropped dramatically when logos were removed and only stylized print remained. Color cues made no contribution to identification. Letter alterations were not detected, even when subjects were prompted to look for errors. Assessment of word reading ability revealed not a continuous distribution of scores but rather a bimodal distribution indicating two distinct groups of subjects: 96 who could read few if any words, and 6 who could read most of the words. The pattern of failure on the print samples characterized only the prereaders. The readers identified print correctly regardless of context, and they detected letter errors easily. Since most subjects exhibited little awareness of graphic cues and little word reading skill, it is concluded that environmental print experience does not by itself lead subjects into word reading.
Schools in the United States serve a large and increasing number of Spanishspeaking students who are making the transition to English language literacy. This study examines one aspect of the transition to English literacy, namely, how Spanish-speaking students spell English words. Samples of 38 students who speak Spanish at home (Spanish-speaking group) and 34 students who speak English at home (English-speaking group) listened to a list of 40 common English words dictated to them by the teacher and wrote down each word one at a time. Spanish-speaking students produced more errors that were consistent with the correct application of Spanish phonological and orthographical rules (i.e., predicted errors) than did English-speaking students, and the groups generally did not differ in their production of other kinds of spelling errors (i.e., nonpredicted errors). Theoretical and practical implications for bilingual education are discussed.
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These developmental studies explore quantitative and qualitative differences in text processing, reading time and study time, and in learning from text, at immediate and delayed recall. Good and poor readers in fifth, eighth, eleventh, and college grades read and immediately recalled information from two science and two social studies texts used at each grade. Contrary to previous findings, there were no quantitative differences in reading time or amount recalled by grade. All readers also included proportionately more of the high-level information than the less important ideas. Able readers of all ages did recall more text information and better maintained input structure in their protocols. After immediate recall, the passages were returned for study conditions, outlining and thinking, and delayed recall was taken a week later. There was increased retention by both grade and by reading ability. Studying also improved delayed retention, but the older subjects' outlines reflected text structure better than those of younger subjects. The major qualitative changes by age were in the conscious appreciation of text structure while studying and in the maintenance of that structure in recall.
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