Working independently helps students develop a series of skills and strategies that will continue to be useful in their future professional careers. Teachers in Higher Education (HE) have a role in facilitating Independent Learning (IL) for their students. When creating opportunities for students to develop autonomy in learning, teachers may wish…

Although the interactive whiteboard (IWB) is becoming increasingly prevalent in classrooms throughout the more efficient parts of the world and research has shown how this tool can increase the effectiveness of teaching and even transform pedagogy (Kennewell & Beauchamp, 2007), research literature overviews (Higgins, Beauchamp, & Miller,…

The present study was undertaken to find ways to help bilingual preservice teachers become more aware of diversity and more questioning of methods for literacy development in order to address issues of critical literacy. Twenty-five bilingual preservice teachers, enrolled in a Spanish Reading Methods at the university tutored 25 kindergarten…

Awareness of a new and altered method of teaching literature, similar to that described by Adrienne Rich, grew from the experience of teaching a small introductory course in twentieth century Hispanic women writers to students with diverse language, cultural, and economic backgrounds. Although about half the students were native Spanish speakers,…

Bilingual education, the objective of which is to render bilingual a group of monolingual or quasi-monolingual speakers, is distinguished from the "education of bilinguals," whose goal it is to teach the content of school subjects through the medium of two rather than one language. The present paper establishes this distinction and justifies the…

A number of model lesson plans that use children's literature to teach content area material are presented. The lessons are designed for instruction in either Spanish or English as a Second Language at the elementary school level; some are in English, and some are in Spanish. Each plan identifies the title and basic bibliographic information about…

Techniques for using children's rhymes, games, tongue twisters, and fables in Spanish to teach bilingual education classes are described. It is argued that these abundant materials serve as natural sources for authentic Spanish from a variety of Hispanic cultures. With the appeal of rhythm, rhyme, and game-like feeling, they can be used to teach…

The use of videotape recordings as a means of providing background information to reading materials in the Spanish foreign language classroom is discussed in two parts. The first part illustrates an activity where television commercials, targeted at specific Hispanic groups, are viewed by students prior to the reading of short articles. This…

The previously validated Employability Skills Series was systematically translated into Spanish, and field tests were conducted, using criterion referenced measures, to establish if the materials were effective with Hispanic students. Data were collected on the achievement of 484 students on thirty-nine knowledge and twenty-five performance…

The Hispanic literature of the American southwest contains valuable materials for the Spanish elementary classroom, leading to positive cultural analysis and enlightening the learners about cultural and historical events of the second language community. The story entitled "El camello que se perdio" ("The Camel Who Got Lost")…

Adults differ from traditional-age college students in that they are self-directed, they have a rich bank of experiences upon which to draw in learning, they are ready to learn, and they value competence. Adults may learn equally well by performing different learning tasks. Second language learning activities and instructional materials can be…

In response to requests from students for information about the role of women in target-language cultures, a curriculum was developed by the Minneapolis public schools for women's studies in the high school foreign language classroom. The focus was on women in French, German, and Spanish-speaking countries. The role of women in these cultures has…

Songs and poems with origins in Hispanic-American cultures are presented for the classroom use of Spanish teachers. Some information about the selections, their characteristics and idiosyncracies, and their specific uses in instruction is provided. (MSE)

Course content and teaching methods are proposed for a general course on Spanish for all professional or community needs. Such a course is offered at University of Idaho to upper level and graduate students of business. The course is comprised of self-contained modules on specific and general interest areas such as travel, communications,…

Bilingual literacy methods and materials used in Mexico for its linguistic minorities can also be used effectively in the United States. A system based on the techniques of Paulo Freire is being used in that country to create beginning reading materials in all the native languages of Mexico. In this method, generative words concerning foods,…