This study examined whether decoding and linguistic comprehension abilities, broadly defined by the Simple View of Reading, in grade 1 each uniquely predicted the grade 6 writing performance of English-speaking children (n = 76) who were educated bilingually in both English their first language and French, a second language. Prediction was made…

Background: A significant number of pupils in UK schools learn English as an additional language (EAL). Relative differences between the educational attainment of this group and monolingual, English-speaking pupils call for an exploration of the literacy needs of EAL learners. Aims: This study explores the developmental progression of reading and…

Twenty-four studies were included in this systematic review of vocabulary research literature. The review corroborates the findings of past studies that several strategies have emerged that increase students' vocabulary knowledge. Findings further reinforce the National Reading Panel's recommendations regarding the context and magnitude of studies…

English reading comprehension skill development was examined in a group of 87 native Spanish-speakers developing English literacy skills, followed from fourth through fifth grade. Specifically, the effects of Spanish (L1) and English (L2) oral language and word reading skills on reading comprehension were investigated. The participants showed…

The purpose of this research was to ascertain if the reading comprehension skills of English-speaking fifth grade students improve when they study a second language. The research was done in an inner-city elementary school in Rochester, New York. The researcher provided a weekly after-school workshop in foreign languages for a group of children…

A group of studies of children's understanding of narratives, the degree to which knowledge available in the child's first language is used in understanding second-language input, and the relationship between knowledge use in two languages as children become bilingual and acquire age-appropriate literacy skills are discussed. The subjects were…

Explores novel ways of using the media for education, especially second language instruction. Compares various combinations of visual and auditory presentations of messages, for example, both written script and spoken language in subject's first language, or script and/or dialog in a second language. Subjects are elementary pupils with advanced…

This report describes highlights of the first National Assessment of Literature, a project of the Education Commission of the States. This assessment surveyed four major questions: How well do people understand literature? What and how often do they read? In what ways and how well do people understand imaginative literature? How familiar are they…

This essay discusses why the theme approach to the teaching of literature to elementary school students is an effective way to focus attention on concepts related to pupils' lives. The author argues that this approach is better than organizing children's literature according to either subject or type because the teacher can more easily guide his…

A mismatch between the intended purpose of a curriculum strategy and the discourse understandings of students that enable them to engage in the activity is a common occurrence when the purposes of the curriculum strategy are not apparent to the students. This is more likely to happen in schools in multicultural societies. Experiences in a…

Summarizes in chronological order the main issues that have been considered in defining primary English (elementary school English) in the United Kingdom as a subject. Discusses the English subject knowledge considered necessary, over time, for teachers to know. Concludes that primary English, when compared with other subjects, is a special case:…

A two-year study is reported of the transfer of two literacy skills, narrative comprehension and learning from text, from elementary school children's first language (Spanish) to their second (English). For each skill, the primary research question was the degree to which the students' first language (L1) performance was predictive of their second…

Children's understanding of fables and the degree to which knowledge used by the child to understand first language input is also used to understand second language input were studied. In addition, the way that such a relationship changes as the second language is acquired was examined. Students in Spanish-English bilingual programs in…

This guide suggests a number of activities for the development of listening and speaking skills. It contains learning activities for kindergarten through grade 12 in aural comprehension, listening participation, auditory discrimination, speaking participation, delivery in speaking, and content in speaking. The guide is one of several planned for a…

In a study of children's reading processes in English, 261 pupils from a Hong Kong Anglo-Chinese school and from an urban comprehensive school in England were given different versions of a text in English and asked to read it silently in preparation for a memory test sometime in the future. Three weeks later, they were tested on story recall.…