Noting that a gap exists between desired and actual literacy levels in the United States, this paper argues that the issue of literacy should be addressed holistically. Proposing that the communication skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking are integrated and support each other, the paper reviews research indicating the…

This review of the research on using the newspaper in the classroom offers suggestions to aid teachers in incorporating the newspaper into their class activities. Ways in which the use of the newspaper improves classroom discussion and reading skills and motivation (in inner-city schools especially) are discussed. Suggestions for specific…

The impact of bilingual/bicultural instruction on English education could be a lessening of low success, undifferentiated teaching. The demand for accommodation of cultural pluralism in the classroom could result in training practices and attitudinal growth that will produce the kind of positive individualization in school practice that will…

The 198 titles in this bibliography were selected as representative of current developments in the teaching of English in England. The selections are arranged in 13 categories: general works, language and linguistics, the primary school, talking and listening, drama, writing English, teaching poetry, reading, the mass media, materials for the…

To encourage reluctant readers, teachers can use a technique called "read a book in an hour." Students are assigned individual chapters of a paperback novel to read silently. After they have finished reading, they retell the significant chapter events, state the conflicts, and identify the characters as the teacher records the…

The report of the Bullock Committee of Enquiry was published in January 1975, under the title "A Language for Life," and presented extensive recommendations concerning all aspects of English teaching, including reading, writing, talking, and listening, the role of initial and inservice training, and monitoring of general levels of…

The study reported in this document reviewed and analyzed data from individual state departments of education concerning reading requirements for elementary teachers, English teachers who teach reading on the secondary level, and reading specialists. A four-question letter used to gather data was answered by 47 states, Puerto Rico, the Virgin…

Thirty-one student teachers participated in a study of the language arts and reading module of a competency-based program at the University of Toledo, to determine the extent to which objectives were implemented during the student teaching experience. Results from an observation schedule and questionnaires completed by student teachers and…

Lists and annotates recent textbooks in the areas of teaching theory and practice, fiction, poetry, drama, and computers and media. Also lists source and course books and reference books. (FL)

Contains representative selections from issues of "Language Arts" from its sixth decade of publication. Includes articles, editorials, and ads reflecting trends in English education that are currently of conern, such as declining test scores, censorship, the "back to basics" trend, and recognition of nonstandard dialects. (HTH)

Provides a case study of one Chinese boy's experience learning to read in Great Britain. Compares the formal didactic approach of the Chinese school with the developmental approach of the English reception school. Shows how many contributory factors influence student learning and argues for fuller appreciation of this fact. (HB)

Looks at how standards in some form predominate the current landscape of education. Argues that standards pose little threat to teacher autonomy, but that teachers should find what is useful in the standards movement and merge that into what works in the classroom. Argues that educators must join the greater debate about education. (SR)

Describes the collaboration between a seventh-grade English class of unmotivated readers and a group of reading methods students at a nearby university. Discusses how both classes read Carolyn Meyer's "Rio Grande Stories," wrote to each other as pen pals, made a quilt together, visited the university class, and enjoyed a visit from Meyer. (SR)

Offers a classroom vignette that describes how the author invites students to collect pearls of wisdom (memorable quotations in books) as a source of inspiration. Offers an example of such a quote that stimulated rich discussion in a sixth-grade classroom. (SR)

K-W-L, a strategy for active reading appropriate for secondary education, models the thinking needed when reading expository texts in all content areas. Using a chart, students recall what they know (K), decide what they want to learn (W), and identify what they have learned (L). Steps in teacher preparation, classroom presentation, and class…