For years, reading teachers in the schools have emphasized word identification skills and believed that reading is comprised of a set of subskills that a child must master before he or she can learn to read. To teach a child to read, however, instruction must focus on comprehension. Therefore, word attack skills should be taught in conjunction…

Content area teachers should be aware of the five levels of vocabulary with which their students must cope. The five levels include standard words at the least complex level, transitional terms that have different meanings in the content area than in standard usage, technical terms specific to the subject area, changeable terms (similar to…

The word sort is a technique which capitalizes upon a child's natural feature analysis abilities. In a word sort the learner physically arranges words printed on small cards into groups. This technique can be used in many ways to help children draw conclusions about how words are related. There are two types of sorts: in "closed sorts"…

This study explored the nature of dictionary instruction in several basal reading series. Three basal reading series from major academic publishers (Scott Foresman, Ginn, and Holt) with 1989 copyrights, were selected for detailed analysis. Results indicated that even where the professed aim of the basal reading series was to incorporate dictionary…

A twelve-hour spelling class was held over one weekend at California State University, Dominguez Hills. During this course, students were helped to discover their own spelling difficulties and were introduced to a wide variety of materials and strategies, including spelling nonsense words, effective dictionary use, vocabulary building, the study…

Teachers need to be proficient in the application of word analysis skills in order to insure their ability to provide adequate instruction to others. This study reports on the development of a word analysis test which evaluates potential teachers' ability to apply nine structural analysis generalizations before and after instruction in word…

Systematically incorporated into classroom instruction in word analysis, word sorts provide a sensible alternative to phonics or whole-word approaches and are congruent with the meaning-based direction of today's basal reading programs. A word sort is an activity in which the learner arranges words printed on cards into groups. This technique can…

Performance on a battery of tests of vocabulary words by 72 college students was compared as a function of whether the prior instruction involved presenting material in an organized or scrambled fashion. Organizing vocabulary words during study facilitated performance in categorizing, processing for understanding, or producing a word. (SLD)

By using the Developmental Spelling Analysis, based on the spelling inventories developed at the University of Virginia, teachers can screen students for their present stages of word knowledge in an easy-to-administer format. The planning of developmentally appropriate activities for spelling instruction depends upon informed teachers who come to…

This paper explores the patterns and processes used by adult students of English as a second language (ESL) when they guess at the meanings of nonsense words in a reading text. The findings suggest that while word-unit processing is a major component of both first- and second-language reading, a major difference between first- and second-language…

Training tutors to help students with study skills and content-reading strategies, as well as to assist with course work, can broaden the role of tutors. Handouts for tutors have been developed that adapt traditional reading/study strategies for use in specific disciplines, sometimes with specific textbooks in mind. Tutors should also emphasize…

This is a summary of a workshop on teaching second language vocabulary. The following were discussed: (1) the need to teach vocabulary in context; (2) the need for vocabulary selection; (3) active vs. passive vocabulary; (4) the presentation of meaning (including denotation, connotation, idioms, and cognates); (5) the rate of vocabulary…

The process of learning Russian should be no more difficult than the process of learning other languages although it may take somewhat longer. The phonetic system should not present major difficulties with respect to individual sounds, but intonation may be difficult because Russian pitch patterns represent different intentions and emotions than…

With emphasis on the exciting aspects of language learning, this vocabulary improvement mini-course aims at presenting words in ways that are relevant, communicative, and enjoyable for the college freshman. Advocating a multisensory approach to vocabulary that involves a "hear it, say it," then, "read it, write it" sequence, the mini-course offers…

Although the middle class child may come to school with a fairly large and useful vocabulary, teachers must be concerned with the extension of that vocabulary beyond its present limits. While the language of the middle class child is probably not an important concern in the choice of reading methods or the selection of word lists, it does have…