Ways to prepare and present lectures that hold college students' attention and involve them in the teaching-learning process are discussed. Attention is focused on linguistic, rhetorical, and psychological aspects of classroom communication; common communication problems in the classroom; and how to overcome and avoid communication problems.…

In support of the premise that a better understanding of the causes of poor student motivation may lead to the development of techniques to stop unmotivated students from dropping out of college, this paper reviews the literature on the nature of motivation among adolescents and factors influencing academic achievement. After introductory comments…

This guide focuses on 14 instructor competencies identified by the International Board of Standards for Training, Performance, and Instruction. It provides examples, job aids, worksheets, case studies, and sample dialogs and contains actual experiences and critical incidents faced by trainers who participated in the survey study. Strategies to…

"Adults Learning Languages" is aimed at those responsible for teaching languages across AE, FE and HE. In the much-changed world of post-19 languages, new funding and inspection regimes with revised needs for quality assurance are challenging practitioners to adapt and review approaches. This book offers teachers of languages to adults tools to…

Describes a fourth grade teacher's interdisciplinary efforts at imparting the joys of archaeology to her students. The students read fiction and non-fiction materials about the physical environments and participated in a series of hands-on learning activities. These involved simulated archaeological digs, personal artifacts, and realia. (MJP)

Discusses the "flashback" method of history instruction that begins with analyzing specific, current conditions and then traces their historical evolution. This method allows students to feel connected to the subject while participating in its historical investigation. Compares the "flashback" and the traditional chronological…

Recent empirical research has identified significant advantages for interactive video instruction over traditional teaching methods in "soft skill" (humanities and social sciences) areas, including cognitive achievement, transfer of learning to performance, learning motivation, student achievement across uncontrolled student characteristics, user…

The purpose of this manual, which accompanies a video program, is to provide general background information for foreign language teachers who are, or soon will be, teaching in total, partial, or two-way immersion classrooms. Part of a series of video programs, this manual highlights current theories, issues, and questions about second language…

A study in Finland investigated the relationship of two general aspects of student motivation for second language learning (preference for challenge and curiosity) and motivation specific to the learning situation. Subjects were 292 sixth-graders and 301 eighth-graders, who performed two open and two closed English vocabulary tasks in two…

Motivation towards English learning in Japanese schools today is analyzed according to John Condry and James Chambers' process-of-learning paradigm. The four stages of learning (initial engagement, process, disengagement, and re-engagement) are shown to emit different processes of learning in students based on whether learning is intrinsically or…

Written from the perspective that the technology available for language study can be better used, a discussion of television use in second language instruction looks at imaginative uses of the medium for a variety of instructional purposes. The first section identifies opportunities for the use of television, including: as a motivator; in teaching…

This monograph for the experienced or novice adult basic education (ABE) instructor reviews some basic concepts in the area of adult learning and provides some ideas for practical application of these concepts in individual settings. It is divided into two parts. The first four chapters are aimed at the trainer who is instructing part-time ABE…

Asserts that the common perception of homeless children is that they are physically and psychologically impaired by their living circumstances and unable to function effectively in schools. Reports on a case study of efforts to educationally motivate homeless children. Discusses the implications for children's motivation. (CFR)

This annual serial volume contains 22 articles offering practical pedagogical ideas from faculty at New Hampshire technical colleges. Section I, "Learners Conversing," includes "'Cheering': A Prelude to a Street Dweller," by Thomas Gorka; "Illusions of Fear: Unleashing My Writing," by Bruce Maville; and "Claremont's Writing Workshop," a transcript…

The classroom practice of promoting glib recitation, on cue, of the surface structures of a foreign language is criticized. This practice has been based on the belief that it equates with, or leads to, communicative performance but the author claims that the attempt to simplify language learning into a sequence of skills beginning with listening…