Using Psycholinguistic Data to Develop Reading Competence in Adult Learners

This paper discusses adult reading levels, the differences between adult and child learners, and diagnostic techniques that can be used to develop reading competence in an adult learner. In the example provided of an adult learner, a profile analysis of the adult revealed his motivation for developing reading competence and his perceived reading strengths and needs. After his reading level was determined, the subject orally read a passage at that level and answered factual, vocabulary, inferential, and critical questions pertaining to the passage. From a miscue analysis of the oral reading, the instructor found that the adult learner made errors of substitution and of omission. Therefore, instruction concentrated on identification skills, practice in using context clues, and practice in using factual information. The teaching strategies included making generalizations for pronouncing words, underlining context clues of words in passages, and using cloze procedures on factual literature. The paper concludes that the diagnostic process used in this example can be modified and applied to other adult learners at varying reading levels. (RL)