We evaluate the impact of gestures during the teaching of vocabulary in a foreign language (FL). Spanish speakers learned words in a FL in four gesture conditions according to the relationship between the meaning of the words and the gestures (congruent gestures, incongruent gestures, gestures without meaning, and no gestures). The participants…

It is beneficial for students to experience situational learning, especially for English as a foreign language (EFL) learning. Providing more listening and speaking opportunities could help EFL students with English learning. Our research proposes a listening and speaking practice system employing personal digital assistants (PDAs) for situated…

This article reports on the design and use of a profiler for lexical sophistication (i.e., use of advanced vocabulary), which was created to assess the lexical richness of intermediate and advanced Swedish second language (L2) learners' French and Italian. It discusses how teachers' judgments (TJs) of word difficulty can contribute to the…

Struggling readers at the middle level need help using reading strategies effectively in order to become strategic readers. Middle level teachers need both to model and to teach how to use a variety of reading strategies that will help struggling readers become independent. This article deals with the development of the KWHHL strategy. The KWHHL…

For all educators who are working to improve reading achievement, this handbook provides clear instructional approaches for successfully building students' vocabulary knowledge--knowledge essential for strong reading comprehension. With teacher-friendly sample lesson models, this book can be used to boost vocabulary instruction in any reading…