As an English teacher who has been teaching nearly 10 years in a college of southern Taiwan, the presenter reports his successful experience on a course, titled "Selected Readings from American Literature." In this try-out study, the presenter adapts a multigenre-response model via which he encourages Taiwan college students to bravely…

This article offers a German response to John Hull's recent article on "religious education in Germany and England" (in "BJRE", volume 27, issue 1). The author claims that recent developments have brought religious education in both countries much closer together than in the past and that the differences between the respective…

The traditional treatment of literary texts in Slovene schools took place in the form of a search for the "true message" of the literary work. The new Slovene literary didactics assumes that the teacher no longer explains to the student the meaning of this or that literary work. Rather he/she knows that the literary work can be…

Shows how the reader-response approach can provide interesting and meaningful ways of teaching literature in a second language. Illustrates its use in teaching a short story in an English reading class for engineering students in Malaysia. (SR)

This study examines how teachers' use of affective strategies (voice intonation, dramatization, personal involvement comments) during the reading and discussion of books influence young children's affective reactions (dramatization, personal engagement, language play comments). Twenty kindergarten teachers read four books, two fiction and two…

Spearman's "Law of Diminishing Returns" states that the g saturation of a test is greater for individuals with lower, rather than higher, test scores, and that it decreases with age. A common methodological problem in testing Spearman's "Law of Diminishing Returns" with respect to ability differentiation is how to create the…

Reports on the responses of children in Northern Ireland to "The Twelfth Day of July" by Joan Lingard, a contemporary novel set in their own country. (HOD)

Responds to view expressed by Wittmer in previous article concerning doctoral programs in counselor education seeking accreditation review by Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs rather than by the American Psychological Association. Asserts no single response to affiliation-accreditation issue will suit all…

Discusses the administrative role and the social role of three listserv student moderators as they mediated discussions about literature with Year 12 students in Australia. Suggests student moderators can facilitate discussion by initiating topics, contributing to existing discussions, and modelling effective discussant behavior. (NH)

Describes a writing activity in which children in England wrote letters to various children's authors. Discusses the content of both the children's letters and the author's replies. (MM)

Generalizes about the use of literature in classrooms in South Australia, Victoria, A.C.T., Tasmania, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, and Northern Territory. (DF)

The purpose of the study was to examine: (1) which perspectives of Reader Response Theory were most applicable in this study; (2) which factors influenced reader responses; and (3) how readers' responses changed over time. The four participants for this case study were chosen from a subject pool of 10 initiate adult full-time divinity students in…

Critically examines methodology used by Vincenzi (1987) in study reporting association between childhood depression and reading ability. Asserts that methodology does not support such a conclusion. Extends examination to the general literature on depression and cognitive impairment and argues that a clear association has yet to be demonstrated.…

Describes a study at the Willings Learning Clinic that analyzed the responses of 39 male students, 66 female students, 44 adult males, and 51 adult females to literature. Five styles of responding to literature are discussed: the analyzer, the picture maker, the reflector, the elaborator, and the internalizer. (CR)

In criticisms of children's literature, notions of 'fantasy' and 'realism' are pivotal. In school 'booktalk' conversations pupils referred to what is 'real' in three different ways: (i) by referring to feelings of or semblance to 'real' life, (ii) by invoking shared facts and (iii) by making references to personal experiences. In cases when…