The Effects of Text Manipulation and Multiple Reading Strategies on the Reading Performance of Good and Poor Readers

Abstract

THE SINGULAR and combined effectiveness of phrasing and repeated readings (practice) on the recall of idea units and narrative categories was explored in this study. Forty-five fifthgrade good and poor readers read short passages under one of four conditions: phrased-practice, phrased-nonpractice, nonphrased-practice, and nonphrased-nonpractice. Two recall scores were obtained, free recall and cumulative recall which included probes and direct questions following the subject's free recall. Practice rather than phrasing proved to have the most facilitating effect on poor readers' recall of idea units in both the free recall and cumulative recall situations. This effect was not maintained, however, when recall was examined at the level of narrative categories.