Describes a book award for which only children vote and claims that the children's participation in the award has promoted discriminating reading. (SRT)

A variety of approaches to the teaching of reading have been applied in primary classrooms. While much information is available on the teaching of reading in the early years, little is forthcoming to guide teachers of older students. This qualitative research served to identify the beliefs and pedagogies of two experienced year seven teachers in…

This paper explores some ongoing dilemmas facing literacy educators, employing a combination of fictional accounts and summaries of actual instances during literacy lessons. Noting that the Commonwealth of Australia's recent policy/monograph is entitled "Literacy for All: The Challenge for Australian Schools," the paper points out that…

Describes the largely unsuccessful government and religious efforts to promote literacy among Australian convicts before 1850. (MM)

Describes the work of the Literacy Centre at the Adult Migrant Education Service in Sydney, Australia. Discusses briefly the kinds of students taught at the Literacy Centre, as well as diagnostic assessment and teaching approaches. (JM)

The aim of this study was to examine what year-six reading instruction pupils were being given and what year-seven pupils needed and to explore the varying dimensions of the intervening expanse. (HOD)

This article discusses grammar and its place in elementary English teaching. The article's eight sections are as follows: (1) Some People Expect a Lot of Grammar; (2) Standard and Non-Standard; (3) How Do Children Learn Grammar? (4) What Can the Teacher Do? (5) What Should We Tell the Children? (6) Grammar and the Organization of Meaning in Text;…

The Queensland Board of Teacher Education instituted a small grants scheme to encourage research into teacher education. This document contains summaries of four projects. The first, "Admission of Student Teachers Using Both Academic and Non-Academic Criteria" (Phil Meade and David Smith), investigated the performance of teacher…

Guidelines for parents involved in teaching their children to read are provided in this Australian early childhood resource booklet. Suggestions are offered for introducing words to children, talking to children, and reading to children. Material focused on the topic of learning to read at home is divided into two sections: (1) reading games, and…

This book offers 19 articles, published between 1992 and 2002 by the Australian Literacy Educators' Association, that present diverse viewpoints related to literacy assessment and reporting practices. Following an Introduction, articles in the book are: "Understanding the Influences on Teachers' Judgments in the Process of Assessing and…

Research has indicated that teachers' beliefs and their value systems guide the implementation of specific instructional strategies in their classrooms. Moreover, the ways in which they structure their instructional environments are also influenced by their belief systems. In areas where there are contestable views about the most effective ways of…

This paper discusses some of the issues in literacy that arose in Fiji in the 70s and the 80s, the social and contextual variables that shaped them, and the ways in which those issues were tackled. The paper also discusses some current developments that have occurred--some of these developments will have a positive benefit upon the literacy levels…

Several conditions, identified by Cambourne (1988) as contributing to children becoming successful language users, have been simulated in Australian schools in order for children to feel self-assured in mastering writing and reading just as these conditions have promoted the developmental process of talking in the home. The conditions are:…

Intended for elementary school teachers, this short pamphlet describes the processes involved in executing a readers' theater. Much easier to implement than dramatic performances, reader's theater is seen as part theater and part oral interpretation. As outlined in the pamphlet, the procedures for implementing readers' theater in the classroom…

This paper constructs a taxonomy for non-oral reading based on Kenneth and Yetta Goodman's reading research. Cloze type deletions reveal how proficient readers and low ability readers from 6 to 14 years of age use graphophonic, syntactic, and semantic cues. It compares performance of Australian children on oral reading and outline strategies with…