This book discusses semantic feature analysis, a strategy that helps teachers focus students' attention on vocabulary and increase their sensitivity to language. The first half of the book deals with the theoretical foundation, reviews the research, and describes the basic teaching strategy of semantic feature analysis. The book's second half is…

How can classroom spelling programs be structured and organized to fit current approaches to language? Ten major considerations can be identified: (1) spelling is a skill of writing; (2) spelling is best learned as a component of writing, and not as a result of studying isolated skills; (3) not all children will pick up spelling as a result of…

Analyzes first grade children's perception of written word boundaries after a year of reading instruction, concluding that children have little idea what words are after their first year of instruction. (RB)

Tests syllabication rules on social studies tests and basals and compares findings with other research. (TO)

Proposes a study of the various ways in which words and groups of words can be matched with single non-coded pictures as an aid to foreign language instruction, particularly French. (AM)

A recent study of neologisms has restated the prominent position of the lexicon from a linguistic point of view. From the perspective of language teachers, it is evident that an adequate vocabulary plays a crucial role in the ability to communicate in a foreign language. The fact that the lexicon is a major component of a language has caused the…

This guide to teaching reading skills in the science classroom incorporates methods primarily associated with teaching reading as an isolated subject. Recommendations include determining the students' reading instructional level, matching text materials to that level, developing vocabulary through context clues and Latin and Greek roots, and…

Vocabulary words frequently used in the media and popular literature can be taught by using a modified foreign language laboratory method whereby the students are introduced to the words aurally. First the students are read a concocted paragraph that incorporates the new vocabulary. This is followed by repetition in which the paragraph or dialogue…

Taking a psycholinguistic approach, this paper presents an overview of vocabulary and word identification instruction. Sources for instructional procedures are discussed rather than detailed suggestions for teaching procedures. Five approaches to word identification are examined: sight vocabulary development, phonic analysis, structural analysis,…

One of the responsibilities of language teachers is to instruct their students on the use of the dictionary. Teachers should familiarize their students with the various kinds of dictionaries and their uses. Perhaps most important is encouraging the student to read the preface to the dictionary, which provides a description of the type of…

Most college vocabulary books lack the sophistication of a complex. Rather, they reflect the characteristics of congeries or disparate objects grouped together without any logical basis. Vocabulary study in college should focus on the process of concept formation in all its complexity, with emphasis on the relationship between the specific and…

The teaching of literature and reading is explored in the four articles in this issue. Titles and authors of these articles are as follows: "Utopia and the Social Relevance of Reading Literature" by Patrick Brantlinger; "Free Reading in the High School English Class" by R. Baird Shuman; "Word Finds as a Reading 'Find'" by Barbara S. Ballirano; and…

In order to instill in children the skills which will be basic to their school experience, words implying a process (such as "hemp,""parasite," and "vanilla") may be "researched" by third and fourth graders through the use of a dictionary, an encyclopedia, a supplementary book on the subject, and an interview with an adult. The child makes a…

This handbook was planned to help teachers initiate better writing experiences. It provides ideas to give pupils satisfying and challenging activities. Samples of creative writing introduce each new section. The document has 11 sections; these are: (1) Introduction, (2) Guiding Creative Writing, (3) Areas for Creative Writing, (4) Motivating the…

The effects of phonic blend training on word decoding were compared in two groups of 4-year-old children, one that was proficient at segmenting syllables into individual phonemes in terms of the Fox-Routh test and another group that did not have this proficiency. (BJG)