Interactive drama, a simplified form of drama, is a vehicle through which children can become involved with literature. When preservice teachers are presented with interactive drama in a college setting, it serves as an introduction to the simple, effective learning experiences available through informal drama activities. In an interactive drama,…

In the face of panic and life-threatening situations in a hospital emergency room (ER), doctors must rely on well-defined procedures to assess the situation and respond appropriately. Because decisions to act must not only be timely, but also ingrained and swift, practice and experience in a wide range of situations is essential. This paper…

A study investigated the linguistic behavior of three groups of speakers in reacting to accusatory complaints: (1) native speakers of Italian residing in Italy (SI); (2) native speakers of Canadian English residing in Toronto (CE); and (3) speakers of Italian residing in Toronto, first-generation immigrants, defined as speakers of Italian as a…

This role-play activity is designed for use by teacher educators in a general or content area methods class to help education majors become knowledgeable of role expectations in the student teaching experience and build good interpersonal role relationships. Students conduct library research and interviews concerning role expectations, use the…

This paper reviews the literature on the relevance of learner characteristics and learning styles when planning law school courses, focusing on the instructional delivery methods and teaching techniques applicable to law school courses. It examines the four major learning modalities: kinesthetic, tactual, auditory, and visual; and the four major…

Vitkus and Horowitz (1987) found that lonely people demonstrated adequate social behavior when they were assigned to controlling interpersonal roles. Despite this successful performance, they evaluated themselves and their behavior negatively. Study 1 replicated these findings and extended them to naturalistic interactions. In a hypothetical…

Offering instruction in performance appraisal (PA) skills as well as in selection interviewing contributes to business communication students' potential for finding the most appropriate job and keeping it. Students and faculty can benefit from the recognition that in appraisals of performance effective communication behavior is a key indicator of…

A study was conducted to further understanding of students' perceptions of the teacher's role during guided oral reading. Observations were made of 36 first through sixth grade students reading orally in groups composed of one good reader, one poor reader, and one good or poor reader playing the "teacher." The observations were followed…

A role playing technique designed to promote good mental health in exceptional children is described. It is explained that the life coping skills approach emphasizes that exceptional children are first of all children. A sequence for guiding role playing is provided (building comfort, building involvement, introducing interaction among players,…

Classroom use of role-playing in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction in Japan is described. The purpose is to improve students' verbal and nonverbal communication skills and to link and use previously built schema, in both structured and improvised situations. Units designed around a short listening passage, a short reading passage, and…

Discusses how students can be motivated by clear expectations, feedback, rewards, praise, grading, and the categorization of goals. Highlights Maslow's hierarchy of needs and its application to motivation. Summarizes motivational techniques used at two universities and one business: role playing in teacher training for secondary physical…

Second language tests claiming to assess communicative competence are widespread, despite the vague nature of the construct. Sociolinguistic or intercultural competence is gradually gaining attention in the classroom, but testing has not kept pace, partly because of difficulty in defining the related skills. An opinion is that speech act theory…

A teacher describes the use of closed-caption decoding of television melodramas to teach English as a second language (ESL). The approach uses evening soap operas that afford a range of English usage and accents, realistic dialogue, entertainment, and coverage of current social issues and are closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired. The programs…

The purposes of this study were to investigate the interrelatedness of several measures of social competence and to determine a valid and practical combination of procedures for assessing social competence in school or clinic settings. A total of 51 sixth-grade children (23 boys and 28 girls) were administered the following measures of social…

Students in an ethics class may have their beliefs, attitudes, and values clarified if they have an opportunity to experience leadership through a particular process called the Dewey/Meiswinkel schema. The link between trusting behavior and ethics teaching that must be shown is the relationship between one's understanding of trust as a concept and…