An examination of ERIC documents pertinent to this topic; a preprint from a forthcoming publication of the National Conference on Research in English. (Editor/RD)

Open-space school architecture has no necessary connection with an open-education philosophy. (JH)

To determine the opinions of parents concerning the relative merits of manuscript and cursive handwriting, an 11-question survey was made of 336 parents in a suburban California community. Results indicated that the majority of the 328 respondents preferred the use of manuscript writing in grades 1 and 2 but objected to its continued use through…

A linguistic analysis of five children's books, randomly selected from the "Modern Masters Books for Children" series, described the features of language found in books for beginning readers and demonstrated the value of structural analysis in reading research. Four linguistic measures were applied to each book: 1) the average number of words in a…

This study involved the development of exercises for teaching the use of context clues in word recognition. Although authorities believe that context clues are best used in combination with other methods of word identification, such as phonetic analysis and word form, no hierarchy of difficulty among the many exercises for teaching context clues…

A study was made of fictional works in children's literature of the past century to establish the possible relationships between themes of children's stories and the political, social, and cultural events in American society from 1850 to 1964. The six themes which consistently appeared concerned the problems of growing up, the search for values,…

Many English language arts teachers consider the nonstandard English of their students as being "slovenly or nonverbal or inexact or lazy." These same teachers often have been trained in the "false assumptions of a single universally accepted norm of English." These positions, the author states, are both fallacious and…

Every child entering elementary school has acquired an adequate control of the basic structures of some language system. The English teacher must tailor his goals and methods to exploit this competence. The basic linguistic system which has been internalized by children who speak non-standard English is different enough from standard English to…

To determine the effect of proofreading on spelling, a study was conducted with middle- and upper-middle-class students in four sixth-grade classes in two schools in Austin, Texas. Two classes were used as control groups, and two as experimental groups. Teachers of both groups participated in the planning sessions to prepare 14 lessons with…

The techniques used to collect data on the dominant speech patterns and verbal expressions of elementary school children are described as a means of systematizing oral language instruction. Specific recurring errors discovered in children's communication are discussed: the failure to focus on a major point, to support ideas, and to clarify…

Over 150 teachers from five western-central states completed questionnaires on their experiences with individualized reading (IR). Most of the respondents were familiar with IR and had used it at least limitedly in their classrooms. They praised IR's advantages as generating greater student interest, allowing for self-paced progress, and…

Educational experiences which facilitate the development of original thinking and learning are (1) the "open system" of education which stresses freedom at home and at school; (2) the emphasis on sensory awareness of the environment; (3) the development of curiosity and sense of wonder; (4) the growth of imaginative powers and original thinking…

Two problems which the language arts teacher encounters are the effect of science on language teaching and the nation's commitment to "excellence for all" as measured by objective examination. Scientists, who value exactness, objectivity, and control, have imposed their values on language and have attempted to construct machines that will use and…

This study investigated the relationship between the syntactical language development of first grade children and their socio-ethnic status. From a random selection of 160 first grade children, 19 Caucasians with highly developed language abilities were selected from a high socioeconomic stratum to be compared with 19 Negroes with low language…