Describes how a teacher can use a puppet from outer space to help preschool children reinforce their knowledge of facial features, stretch their imaginations and practice using verbal skills. (CM)

This paper describes a combining arrangement in which language learners work in teams and are forced to communicate with each other to obtain correct information to complete certain work. Active participation helps develop language and communication skills. Several variations on the technique are described. (CHK)

This book makes it much easier to implement a staff development, teacher education, or self-help program to improve the six research-based teacher qualities that are most apt to raise student achievement. Use the dozens of assessments, observation guides, planning tools, and other resources to: (1) Strengthen teachers' verbal abilities, content…

Suggests an instructional technique called sentence building as a means of developing the ability to write more complex sentences and to read more complex sentences with understanding. (MKM)

Four steps in facilitating pragmatic language development in young hearing-impaired students are discussed, including identifying communication behaviors, coding a child's conversation, putting the school environment to work, and charting progress. A pragmatic communication skills taxonomy and a grid of age-linked pragmatic communication skills…

Focusing on activities that can be directly taught as "survival language situations," this journal (1) evaluates what school critics mean by "survival English," (2) demonstrates that teachers can easily pay attention to "survival"-oriented language, and (3) argues that a comprehensive English course enables students…

This guide suggests that the responsibility of teachers is to provide rigorous academic instruction that will lead to improved performance on the Scholastic Assessment Test I (SAT I). Content-area literacy is especially important for the verbal section of the SAT I, and it suggested that all teachers should infuse reading and writing instruction…

Eight different activities are suggested for the foreign language conversation class in order to vary the textbook emphasis. Among the suggested situations are a "last people on earth" session, sensitivity sessions, descriptions of paintings or photos, an improvised drama, and a mock trial. (CHK)

The Cooperative Principle posits four general ways in which a speaker is expected to be cooperative: (1) quantity--make a contribution no more and no less informative than is required; (2) quality--say only that which one both believes and has adequate evidence for; (3) relation--be relevant; and (4) manner--make a contribution easy to understand.…

Use of challenge questioning is an approach to stimulating classroom conversation in a foreign language. Students ask questions, based on a reading selection, whose answers are not clearly given in the text. The instructor or other students are challenged to respond, and spontaneous conversation is facilitated. (CHK)

The authors cite reasons for the poor standard of spoken French in British secondary schools and put forward some practical ideas for oral activities. (SJL)

Suggests using analogies to aid in reading instruction. (MKM)

Attention is given to the characteristics, identification, and remediation of language disorders frequently associated with learning-disabled students. Characteristics include off-target responding, inaccurate word selection, neologisms, referent errors, topic closure, and sequencing difficulties. Remediation involves self-concept building,…

Suggests ways teachers can find and encourage gifted minority students. (JL)

Discussed is the importance of engineering students having effective communication skills so they will be able to discuss their work, present their findings, and propose a course of action. Suggestions for organizing and delivering presentations are included. (KR)