The authors evaluated the effectiveness of explicit reading comprehension strategies instruction, followed by practice in teacher-led whole-class activities (STRAT), reciprocal same-age (STRAT + SA) peer-tutoring activities, or cross-age peer-tutoring activities (STRAT + CA) on 2nd and 5th graders' reading comprehension and self-efficacy…

The participatory rural appraisal (PRA) technique was used with 1,550 women and 420 men in more than 100 villages in Uganda, El Salvador, and Bangladesh over a 2-year period to develop and pilot test an approach to literacy education called REFLECT (Regenerated Freirean Literacy through Empowering Community Techniques). The REFLECT approach, which…

The guide is designed to assist teachers in postsecondary education, particularly vocational education, with some students from language backgrounds other than English. It both offers suggestions for classroom organization and interaction and poses questions to stimulate teachers' examination of the processes at work in the learning situation.…

The study reported here had three major objectives: (1) assessment of average vocabulary and comprehension levels of Japanese college students studying English as a second language (ESL) and comparison of the effectiveness of several formats for teaching vocabulary, reading comprehension, and listening comprehension; (2) comparison of three media…

A study was conducted at the Cumberland Campus of Nova Scotia Community College to determine the effect of a computer-based learning system on the academic and personal growth of adolescents with learning disabilities. Eleven learning disabled students, with an average age of 16.1 years, and one observer were chosen to participate in an 8-week…

It is suggested that Chinese students in China and Chinese Americans have difficulty learning to read in English due to native language interference and to cultural traits and thinking patterns. Reading in English requires overcoming some psychological barriers. A chart outlines the different ways in which a Chinese student would read the same…

This volume examines learning, teaching, and reflective practice. It is a personal account of a summer institute held in 1989 during which 21 teachers engaged in an exploration of writing and reading. Among metaphors discussed at the institute, one of the most powerful was the notion of teaching/learning being created from a fabric of interwoven…

Two key parallels exist between reading and writing, each with profound implications for the teaching of these skills, and which can be adapted for the situation in Japanese high schools, where reading and writing classes are separate. First, on a theoretical level, writing and reading are cognitively similar in that they are both active and…

Kiswahili was declared the national language of Kenya in 1968 and since then has also been established as the language of parliamentary debate. There are, however, inadequate instructional materials in this language, particularly at the primary level of schooling. Since there are almost 20 different languages, or dialects, in Kenya, Kiswahili must…

Focusing on the effects of three interventions on students' reading and writing of persuasive discourse, a study investigated (1) whether the writing of persuasive discourse can be improved by instruction, and (2) the effect of reading on writing and of writing on reading within the persuasive mode. Subjects, 100 Canadian sixth graders stratified…

The Language Awareness Working Party is a task force of Great Britain's National Congress on Languages in Education (NCLE) concerned with individual and societal sensitivity to and conscious awareness of the nature of language and its role in human life. Its principal overall objective is the promotion of language awareness in a variety of forms…

Two groups of teachers of English as a second language (ESL), a California group of 133 and a Venezuelan group of 55, were surveyed about their perceived areas of instructional need. The three top needs of the California group were ESL instruction in the content areas, program design for preliterate students, and materials development. The needs…

Two common problems with advanced reading courses in English as a second language (ESL) for students of science and technology are the lack of authenticity in the reading tasks and the fact that the choice of reading material is often limited by what the language teacher can understand. These two constraints often diminish student motivation. An…

A collection of papers concerning the application of language studies to the instruction and promotion of English literature appreciation in foreign countries includes an introduction by Neil Gilroy-Scott and these essays: "The Deviant Language of Poetry" (H. G. Widdowson); "Approaches to the Study of Literature: A Practitioner's View" (H. L. B.…

The results of an APEID (Asia and the Pacific Programme of Educational Innovation for Development) workshop on producing textbooks and other teaching and learning materials, especially in reading, for the first level of education are provided in this book. An initial overview presents the objectives and the organization of the workshop. The second…