Intended for students taking the English 33 Grade 12 Diploma Examinations in Alberta, Canada, this test booklet contains the composition component of the June 1988 tests. During 2.5 hours, students are required to perform the following writing tasks: (1) a personal response to an excerpt from Ursula K. Le Guin's "Very Far Away from Anywhere…

Community college students who experience academic difficulty as measured by grade point average were compared to students not in academic difficulty on five constructs: reading ability, career decisiveness, learning styles, study habits and attitudes, and motivational factors. The 19 students in academic difficulty and 31 students not in academic…

This paper discusses a systematic strategy for developing oral skills from situational readings in a first year foreign language course. Aspects considered are: sequencing readings into the course, grammar component, vocabulary component, student preparation, outline of two day instructional treatments, the role of the teacher, and student…

A questionnaire was designed to give content area teachers an opportunity to review 35 reading/learning skills that are necessary for vocabulary development, the comprehension of written materials, and the efficient use of study time. Over 400 secondary school teachers in seven content areas (English/language arts, social studies, science,…

In the first study of this series, it was found that children who have difficulty in primary French immersion are distinct from children having a primary reading disability, minimal brain dysfunction, hyperactivity or primary emotional disturbance. The present study was undertaken in order to cross-validate the findings of the first study, to…

The 33 articles published in this conference report represent the wide range of topics covered at the conference. Entries are organized under the following six headings: Comprehension: the reason for reading; the role of reading in personal development; language and cultural variables and reading; instructional programs and procedures; reading in…

This is a description of an introductory Spanish and Spanish American literature course at the University of Akron. Its major feature is the grouping of 100 plays, novels, and collections of short stories by the students into a 7-point difficulty-interest scale. Inclass procedure is explained and suggested methods for assigning reading materials…

This is a collection of comments and research on the problems of students studying at the tertiary level through the medium of a second language. It includes sections on vacabulary, reading skills, syntax, and speech. It also contains several studies of actual students and conditions at the University of Papua and New Guinea. (HW)

Results from research with eye movement photography (EMP) are discussed with a view to defining differences between native-speaker and non-native reading processes. The greatest contrast is in terms of the duration of eye fixations; non-native speakers at the college level require about as much time for a fixation as an average native-speaker at…

"Recipe for Reading," a highly structured phonetic approach to reading, helped remediate Navajo students having reading difficulties and equip younger students with essential decoding skills. The program could serve as supplementary material or program basis in developmental or remedial settings. Recommendations for teaching reading to…

Introduces ways to assess students' reading ability and improve reading of social studies textbooks. Combines reading scores from Iowa Tests of Basic Skills and individual sessions to understand students' reading ability levels. Uses cooperative reading groups, reading labs, and whole-class oral reading to improve skills. Suggests pre- and…

This chapter argues that a detailed, grounded understanding of classroom literacy practices as well as of learners' writing is crucial to begin to change the ongoing and patently unequal educational outcomes that schools often produce. It is impossible to intervene realistically and effectively in an evidential vacuum. The 1955 "Brown v.…

The 2007 meeting of the English Think Tank published here represents a sample of the English Think Tank V presentations. In reading these papers one is struck by the imagination and expertise possessed by so many members in the field. The paper topics fall roughly into four categories--assessment, diversity, literacy, and technology. This…

A study investigated the use of varied reading materials to improve French second-language reading skills, found to be unacceptably low at the second-year level. Subjects were 30 high school students of second-year French. A pretest of reading skills and a language and reading attitude survey were administered to the students. Subsequently, a…

Intermediate level students of English as a second language reach a critical stage in their language learning after which motivation wanes if no specific attainable goals are offered as encouragement to progress. The ability to enjoy recreational reading can provide those goals, but students must make the transition from dependence on the teacher…