This book is a response to the recognition that the achievement of the threshold level of second language proficiency is for many adults an overly ambitious objective. The degree of communicative competence that will be imparted by the waystage approach will be about halfway between zero and the threshold level. This degree of competence will…

Since the mastery of any subject matter depends on learning its key concepts--its language--content area teachers should use innovative vocabulary development exercises to help their students master the language of the subject area. Teachers should try to coordinate vocabulary study with other learning tasks instead of depending on dull,…

These materials consist of 25 lessons covering all the structures commonly encountered in written Malayalam. Each lesson contains the following elements: (1) a vocabulary list, ordered according to the sequence of occurrence in the lesson's text; (2) a reading practice exercise designed to train the student to recognize visual patterns; (3) the…

Commonality analysis is a statistical technique used within the context of a study to examine school effects among disadvantaged students. The research investigated the unique and common contributions of background, mental ability, program and parental involvement variable sets to the reading vocabulary and comprehension of students participating…

A 64-item analogy test was developed and administered to 55 college students enrolled in a noncredit reading improvement course to assess the effects of an instructional unit in taking analogy tests. The instructional unit was a 35-page self-instructional booklet that described the most common formats of analogy testing, defined eight types of…

Twenty-four children each at the age levels of 6, 9, 12, and 15 years were tested on four types of experimentally determined conceptual clues in a study of concept identification and, therefore, language comprehension. Superordinates, similars, parts, and locations were selected as clue words, and the four clues were combined into all possible…

The meaning of a word often cannot be formulated by conscious rules, because it is unconscious. Evidence on the verb "break" demonstrates this. The consequence for teaching is that teachers cannot supply meanings in words, but should present a wide range of uses of a word, so that students can intuit the unconscious generalization. (Author)

The "right to read" as a world and United States goal necessitates the maximum development of each student's reading ability, and this requires individual diagnosis and an eclectic approach to individual instruction. Among the skills which must continue to be developed beyond the primary grades are word-attack skills, vocabulary and concept…

Whether vocabulary and comprehension skills as measured by a content reading test were more related to achievement than the same skills as measured by general tests was investigated. The subjects were 140 high-school juniors. Also, whether or not there was a significant difference between high and low achievers in the skills measured was assessed…

This study evaluated effects of a year-long intensive vocabulary program on the reading achievement of 12th-grade college-preparatory English students. A control class followed the regular course of study, and an experimental class supplemented it with completion of the "Harbrace Vocabulary Workshop" workbook, study of the use of footnotes and the…

To aid teachers of slow learners, this document, prepared under an ESEA Title 3 grant, reviews characteristics of low ability students, gives general recommendations for handling them, and suggests the establishment of a class newspaper to stimulate their study of the language arts. Twenty-seven specific teaching problems frequently encountered in…

A committee of Oklahoma educators prepared this reading activity guide as an aid for elementary school teachers to improve their students' reading skills. Described for each activity are the objective, necessary materials, and the procedure. For many activities, a variation or variations also are suggested. The activities are arranged in the…

Hartford's "Intensive Reading Instructional Team" Program has been a demonstration model for teachers, school systems, and college faculties, nationwide. The general objectives of the program were as follows: (1) to raise the level of achievement of pupils who are deficient in the basic skills of language and reading; (2) to improve the…

The objectives of this investigation were to study the effects of instruction in the development of qualitative vocabulary on overt, latent, and written qualitative vocabulary performance of urban students of lower socioeconomic background, and to study the effects of such instruction on pupil performance in reading comprehension. Data used to…

This handbook provides the guidelines, procedures, and techniques for teaching basic reading to adults. The chapters outline the scope and sequence of an adult Basic Education course, characteristics of the adult learner, terminology, an ABE assessment instrument, vocabulary, comprehension, study skills, materials and a bibliography. Included in…