Argues that sophomore English students can and will read if offered assistance and literary offerings worth their attention. Suggests a course built around post-World War II American literature, since today's students can relate to the language used and to the contemporary issues raised in these novels but tend to experience difficulties when…

John Gardner, of the National Resource Center for The First Year Experience and Students in Transition, addressed academic librarians at the ACRL meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, in April 2003, urging librarians to become more actively involved in First Year Experience courses. Susan J. C. Bissett responds in this article, citing the…

Moral contradictions and cross purposes in society make formal moral training in the schools difficult, if not impossible. Values clarification and school-wide programs of moral education are of questionable merit. Nevertheless, effective moral education is implicit in teaching the subjects that comprise good basic education. A mathematics…

Suggests that while teachers may wish to guide students in their reading of literature--to give them only "good" literature and to help them see the "right" interpretations of it--such guidance leaves students' understanding to chance, and does not help them choose to think and construct values of their own. (JC)

Presents a policy statement by the National Council of Teachers of English that identifies the ways in which the study of English contributes to the knowledge, understanding, and skills of those who will make up the society of the future. (JL)

Presents a policy statement by the National Council of Teachers of English that identifies the ways in which the study of English contributes to the knowledge, understanding, and skills of those who will make up the society of the future. (JL)

Surveys recent government reports addressing problems of teaching English to the school population of England. States responses to these reports have exposed scholarly community conflicts. Notes the present demand for a return to formal grammar and standard English moving away from the 1970s movement towards the linguistic/vocational model. (NL)

This paper describes classroom activities developed around constructivist learning theories (that is, students are always learning because they are constantly constructing their own personal meanings and reflecting on them) as they are applied to English as a Second Language and remedial English students in a secondary classroom dominated by…

Those who, during the 1960s, predicted a trend toward the increased use of electronic media in English instruction did not foresee the incompatibility of the humanities graduates of publishing houses and the engineers and mathematicians of the electronics industries, or the resistance of teachers and administrators to instructional innovation.…

Viewing the myth of Sisyphus as a metaphor for the vast numbers of high school students and teachers who go through daily school rituals unable to discover personal meaning in their work, this report applies the existential philosophy of Albert Camus and other existentialists to the methodology of Teaching and learning English in high schools. The…

This inquiry into the role of literature in English as a second language is based upon an examination of six basic issues or principles: (1) the position of English as a foreign language within a country; (2) the aims of English instruction within a country; (3) the way in which the native literature is taught in a country; (4) the availability of…

Suggests that removing "junk curriculum," including grammar drills, workbooks, and recitation from the classroom, and instead focusing on writing, reading, listening, and thinking, will improve teacher and student motivation. (JC)

In 1990-91, the Rockville Campus (RC) of Montgomery College (MC) in Maryland, revised its English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) program to make it more responsive to student needs and begin offering ESL courses for institutional credit in fall 1991. Faculty at MC's Takoma Park Campus (TPC), however, objected to RC's proposed changes, particularly to…

An interesting approach to the topic of women and literature is to see if the real working roles of women have been reflected in fiction. As delineated in novels, women are seen engaged in: (l) farm labor; (2) jobs that are extensions of their nurturing roles; (3) factory work--especially in the early textile and clothing mills; and (4) housework…

Focusing on literature and the teaching of literature, this monograph presents and discusses salient issues, inviting the reader to participate in the dialogue. The first section following the introduction presents reasons for teaching literature and discusses the types, quality, and selection of literature, as well as literature and values. The…