The role of the media in our daily lives is discussed and its potential applications in the second language classroom are examined. Evidence of the power of the mass media is noted in the impact of news coverage on the news itself, and in the immediacy of news coverage. Video is also seen as stimulating and appealing to many, and able to reflect…

A study investigated how American learners acquire the pragmatics of Kiswahili greetings in a foreign language context. Subjects were 16 beginning, 12 intermediate, and 4 advanced students. After an initial month-long observation period, the following hypotheses were formed: (1) learners do not readily initiate greetings; and (2) most learners may…

Superhero play among preschool children appears to be quite different from socio-dramatic play. While exhibiting characteristics of socio-dramatic play, superhero play does not facilitate the development of social or verbal skills. Observations of television programs indicated that superhero play provides little opportunity for verbal reasoning,…

This paper addresses the use of one technique, role play, in the resolution of conflictual situations at various levels in the school system. While a variety of options for dealing with conflict are discussed, primary emphasis is given to that method which resolves the conflict and leaves the relationship intact. The method of role play and its…

The simulation-gaming approach to college introductory economics courses benefits students who possess a certain combination of cognitive learning styles. The Cognitive Style Questionnaire, administered to 120 freshmen, identified those students who obtain meaning from spoken words, numerals, or mathematical symbols; have the ability to place…

Nontraditional Hispanic students, though often pedagogically problematic in other ways, possess language resources that should not be overlooked and that ought to provide a model for other language learners. The paper illustrates: (1) the resources needed for foreign language capacity that exist in non-English-speaking sectors of U.S. society; (2)…

Research results are presented of a two-year experimental field study investigating the effectiveness of the Suggestive-Accelerative Lozanov Teaching (SALT) method applied to varying levels of socio-economic level, grade level, and subject matter. This teaching method uses components of preliminary physical and mind calming exercises, although…

This study examines the influence of a role-taking training program on role-taking, altruism and competition in children. During a 12-week period (30 minutes a day, four days a week) 96 3- to 9-year-old children were enrolled in a social perspective-taking training program at school. A control group of 96 subjects attended a regular school…

Research has shown that although university instructors of English as a Second Language are aware of the benefits that active learning can bring the student, teacher-centered, traditional lecture method classes are still the norm. Resistance to change is due in part to large class sizes, limited instruction hours, and the perception that proactive…

This study assessed the effects of social interaction with nondisabled peers on the motor and social responses of two preschool children with severe disabilities in separate inclusive child care settings. A multiple baseline design across motor response was used to assess the effects of the peer training intervention. Peer training included…

Previous research suggests that observers of spouse abuse are likely to arrive at overly dispositional causal explanations for the abusive behavior, and reject both the abusing spouse and his victim. As part of a study examining observers' perceptions of a spouse abuse incident under varying conditions, 160 college students read a vignette about…

The skills of physicians in treating patient cases that involve medical-moral problems were studied with a total sample of 19 fourth-year medical students and residents. The focus was the manner in which residents become aware of the patient's moral concerns, talk about them, and communicate with the patient in order to reach some mutually…

Two scenarios dealing with the themes of schedule conflict and mistaken identity were performed by a class of beginning students of English as a second language at the University of Delaware. The class was divided into groups of five or six students; each group was assigned either Role A or Role B of one of the two scenarios. As in standard…

The effects of assuming a disability in changing attitudes towards persons with disabilities were assessed in 18 undergraduate students who were enrolled in an introductory rehabilitation counseling course. The subjects were instructed to engage in two levels of assumed disability (one-hand bound and two-hands bound) in three settings (private…

The world energy crisis, contrived or real, has resulted in a dizzying pace of energy resource development, and while no area is completely spared, the brunt of exploitation takes place in rural locales, especially the sparsely-populated, resource-rich American and Canadian West. The most striking manifestation of this exploitation is the boom…