The use of student lectures as an integrative language learning approach for university level English as second language students is described. Student lectures pair decoding skills with encoding skills through five steps: selecting an article of interest, reading the article and taking notes on it, using the notes to prepare an oral report,…

A review of the research on study techniques indicates that reading and generating questions from the material is an effective technique for ensuring better comprehension. Familiarity with a model of studying that divides studying into prereading, reading, and postreading provides one explanation for this effectiveness. In prereading, students…

Analyzes an innovative and optional French language proficiency certificate designed to test proficiency in oral and written language on the undergraduate level at the University of London. (AM)

Describes a specialized authoring system known as a template, which usually targets only one subject and one format at a time. A template called DICTATE, which allows teachers to use the dictation format to practice auditory discrimination, aural comprehension, and orthography is discussed in detail. (SED)

Student scores on listening tests increased as a result of a 45-minute class discussion on listening skills and a high-incentive condition: telling students that if they did not score well on the test, a written report on listening would be required. (PD)

The findings from research on written and oral summarization are discussed under three headings: summarizers' strategies, improving summarizers' performance, and the assessment of summary quality. Objective measures of summary quality used by researchers are described, and ways these measures could be adapted for use in higher education assessment…

Investigated a means for improving listening comprehension through the use of visualization. Performance on a listening comprehension test was significantly better among students who had used the visualization strategies. (Author/VWL)

The main purpose of this study was to identify the effects of two major components (ie, video and group discussion) of problem-based video instruction (PBVI) on college students' learning. To achieve this purpose, this study examined whether or not PBVI can improve learner satisfaction, comprehension and retention by comparing the results from…

Describes using imaginary video to improve language skills in a developmental reading class for first-year college students. Discusses the value of imagery in reading instruction. (SR)

Discussion of macrostructural processing of multiple text passages focuses on three experiments with college students that examined the effects of various textual and situational factors on macrostructural construction and organization. Concludes that the comprehension of hypertext involves higher levels of cognitive processing which ensure the…

Studied how understanding arises through interviews with 30 first-year university students. Found three main categories of conceptions: (1) experience; (2) mental construction; and (3) merging with reality. Relates results to constructivist models of learning and other phenomenographic studies of conceptions of understanding. (SLD)

Examines the semantic effect on retrieval of radicals of Japanese kanji script. Highlights a critical role that meaning plays in the activation of orthographic forms of kanji. Discusses some characteristic features of writing in kanji. (SG)

Examines answer selection within the framework of QUEST, a psychological model of question answering that specifies how knowledge structures are searched during question answering. Examines whether both "legal" and "illegal" answers were activated during the search. Finds support for QUEST's arc-search procedures associated…

This is the English-language portion of the special examinations used by the authorities of the People's Republic of China in selecting the initial groups of Chinese coming to the United States under the official exchange agreement. The examination proper is preceded by an introduction which provides background information on the test itself and…

Assesses the influence of religious-specific background knowledge on adult ESL listening comprehension. Sixteen Moslems, 20 Christians, and 28 religion-neutral students listened to two passages, one on prayer rituals of Islam and one on those of Christianity. Students better recalled and understood the passage related to their respective religious…