Readers' Identification of Levels of Importance in Expository Texts: An Exploratory Study.

A study was conducted to explore readers' ability to identify information of high and low importance. Specifically, the study explored (1) whether the ability to prioritize or structure information in texts was consonant with proficient reading, (2) whether the ability to prioritize information from texts was dependent upon the memory capacity and/or decoding ability of the reader, and (3) whether the ability to prioritize information that is read follows a developmental sequence. Subjects--75 third-grade and 62 fifth-grade students from two elementary schools identified as high, middle, or low reading achievers--read orally and silently an expository passage from an unfamiliar elementary social studies textbook. They then rated units within the text as of high, middle, or low importance. Analysis of student scoring indicated that in both third and fifth grades the more proficient readers appear to have a greater ability to identify priority information in expository texts. Results suggest a developmental trend, because at every achievement level the performance of fifth graders was greater than that of third graders within the same achievement levels. The major implication of this study points to the need for children to be given aid and instruction in the identification of important pieces of information from texts. (EL)