A study investigated the validity of a second-language student's actual speed of delivery of a passage read aloud as an indicator of second-language fluency. The study, conducted in Hong Kong with 83 secondary school students, used the oral dialogue test in a standardized secondary school-leaving examination. The dialogues were timed and the rate…

This guide is part of a package developed for people with disabilities and professionals wishing to conduct advocacy courses by Skills for People, a British advocacy group. The guide contains 13 sections: (1) why this guide was written; (2) how to use this guide; (3) how to have good meetings; (4) checklist for genuine involvement; (5) checklist…

The basic special education curriculum of the Department of Public Instruction of Puerto Rico is designed so that the skills defined can be used to attend to the needs of children with disabilities. This teacher's guide, in Spanish, presents a basic language curriculum to help the child develop the ability to communicate effectively. It includes…

The Refugee Women's Alliance, a nonprofit organization helping refugee and immigrant women achieve self-sufficiency in the United States, has developed a class integrating English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction and discussion of family issues, child-rearing, and related problems in a new cultural context. The project focuses on developing…

The principles of design of instructional materials for English for Specific Purposes (ESP) to be taught in a non-English-speaking country are outlined, and the development of materials for an Indonesian program is described. ESP materials design is tied closely to the specific subject areas of language use and the types of learners addressed.…

This guide is intended for use in a level 2 course in English as a second language that was developed as a component of a workplace literacy program for persons employed in the manufacturing and service industries. The course is structured so that, upon its completion, students will be able to accomplish the following: ask grammatically correct…

This paper investigates the role of cohesion in oral proficiency testing. This study analyzed the cohesion of oral reports given by 16 Cypriot high school students studying English as a foreign language (EFL) using a modification of M. A. K. Halliday and R. Hasan's rating scale. It then compared the objective cohesion ratings with impressionistic…

A guide to learning strategies for English as a second language (ESL) college students outlines a variety of classroom and study skills, information about American academic practices, and common cultural misconceptions. Sections are included on listening with comprehension, understanding lecture format and style, taking lecture notes, speaking for…

To determine how bilingual children display a sense of story in an oral reading activity at home, researchers video- and audio-taped samples of four bilingual Chicano second grade chidren engaged in matched narrative tasks. While the two male and two female children read aloud storybooks in English and Spanish in the home setting, reseachers…

This instructional unit is intended for use in helping secondary and postsecondary business students develop their communications skills. The course is designed to be taught in six weeks in conjunction with the sixth edition of "Business English and Communication," a textbook published by McGraw-Hill. Chapters addressing listening, speaking,…

Second language classroom techniques and activities promoting oral proficency are suggested and discussed. The suggestions are based on a course organization that focuses on basic communicative goals and uses frequent conversation between paired students. The activities include retelling partner responses and situational role-playing. Approaches…

This study, part of a 4-year longitudinal project, examined the possible relationship between persistent otitis media (middle ear disease) in early childhood and speech and language functioning. Subjects were 38 black preschool children between 3 and 7 years of age who, although normal in intellectual and verbal functioning, were identified as at…

Drawing from recent research, this paper focuses on communication games and activities that can be used to teach speaking and listening skills ("referential communication skills"). Following a brief review of the research, the paper offers a set of eight criteria for evaluating curriculum materials intended to teach speaking and listening, and…

Prepared to assist administrators and other developers of curriculum at district and building levels, this syllabus outlines general criteria for an effective integrated curriculum in English language arts, suggests the instructional objectives that need to be addressed, and provides direction for the evaluation of student progress and program…

By emphasizing the similarities between writing and speaking, writing instructors can help students generate coherent, natural sounding prose. Instructors can point out the connections between speaking and writing by (1) reading good student writing aloud, (2) having students read their work aloud in class, (3) encouraging students to develop…