Eight studies that explored the effects of vocabulary instruction on subsequent reading comprehension found an increase in work knowledge but only a few studies reported any reading comprehension improvement. Methodological and instructional differences across studies are examined in an attempt to account for the different results. (Author/PN)

After examining how Dolch developed his list of 220 basic sight words and identifying major criticisms of this list, the author reports two studies undertaken to revise the Dolch list. Five advantages of the revised Dolch list over the original are identified and discussed. The revised list is included. (Editor/SJL)

In a corpus of the most frequent French words, phonetic rules relating the end of a noun to gender are simplified, and morphological rules governing the gender of suffixed nouns are illustrated. The stratified presentation is offered to teachers for classroom use. (Author/MSE)

Basic words have been defined as those from which other words can be derived semantically. The assumption underlying the instructional utility of a list of basic words is that a knowledge of them would provide a key to the understanding of a much larger set of related words. Although it has been shown that there are far too many basic words in the…

Examines the original validity of the 220-word Dolch Basic Sight Vocabulary, compiled in 1936, and considers whether it accounts for a large percentage of words in current reading usage. (BF)

Claims students' use of the cliche is unavoidable and relative to culture, place, and time, and that the cliche can, and often does, communicate efficiently. Suggests six techniques such as extending, inverting, punning, and combining, that combined with some imagination, can turn cliches into small teasures. (NH)

The verbs in Gougenheim's Basic Dictionary are regrouped according to three classifications (synonyms, antonyms, and association) and organized according to semantic fields. Exercises designed to emphasize these relationships are suggested. (MSE)

Describes company's development of a Fundamental English'' of 800 words for use in service manuals, and the training given to non-English speaking employees in the use of the manuals. (SP)

Describes a strategy, useful in content area classes as well as English classes, which concentrates on using writing as a means of developing students' automatic ability to use basic sight vocabulary. (SR)

Systematic vocabulary instruction accelerates reading progress; improves one's thought processes; and provides progress in originality, organization, and choice of words. Some school districts have experimented, with some success, with teaching Latin as a way of improving vocabulary. In addition, several studies have indicated the value of a…

Developed to improve the educational testing program and to reflect the content of the state curriculum for students in Texas, this paper lists words selected from all state-adopted basal reading series, plus several other appropriate sources, which may be included in test items on the Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) tests.…

A BASIC COURSE IN BULGARIAN HAS BEEN PREPARED IN TWO VOLUMES. THIS VOLUME, VOLUME 1, IS DIVIDED INTO THREE PARTS--BASIC SENTENCES, NOTES, AND DRILLS. AN ADDITIONAL PART INCLUDES READING PASSAGES. THE BASIC SENTENCES ARE NORMAL DIALOG MATERIAL, MEANT TO BE MEMORIZED. THE NOTES EXPLAIN THE GRAMMATICAL STRUCTURE OF THE LANGUAGE AND ARE DIVIDED INTO…

The Instructional Concepts Program of the Southwest Regional Laboratory (SWRL) is designed to help kindergarten children learn the labels of concepts which are important to success in school. Since vocabulary differences are characteristic of dialect differences, it is possible that some items taught in the Instructional Concepts Program are…

The depth and range of the corpus of written Chinese symbols used by 9-year-old Hong Kong children were studied in order to compile a minimum written Chinese vocabulary list. Error patterns of children were also analyzed. After presenting some characteristics of the language and reviewing previous studies, the methodology was described. The sample…