Discussions of the barriers to completion in community colleges have largely focused on student success in introductory college-level math and English courses, and rightfully so, since these courses are typically required for degrees. However, there is a much broader range of courses that also serve as "gatekeepers" in the sense that they are…

The Raygor Readability Estimate, described in this article, is much like the widely used Fry Readability Graph, except that it determines vocabulary difficulty by counting words of six or more letters, rather than by counting syllables. An evaluation found that Raygor was faster and easier to use and more objective than the Fry method. (RM)

The learning of a list of 20 Blissymbols and comparable American Sign Language signs by 121 nonhandicapped undergraduate psychology students was compared. Blissymbols were learned significantly faster than manual signs, particularly in early learning trials. Results are discussed in terms of the memory requirements of the two systems. (Author/JDD)

The popular view that children have an advantage in learning a second language has considerable support in research, although it is not uncontested. One approach proposes that the child possesses a unique capacity for language that the adult no longer has. Another view argues that the child's brain is more flexible. A third approach assumes that…

Issues related to the estimation of individuals' vocabulary size are discussed, including the rationale for vocabulary size research and the psychological, pedagogical, and quantitative approaches to vocabulary research and methodological problems associated with them. Some results from a large-scale assessment of Finnish comprehensive school…

A study examined the conversations of eight groups of high school students in a level three Spanish class during a jigsaw speaking task, and compared their language use patterns with those of intermediate-level learners of English as a Second Language. Results suggest both similarities and differences. Choice of language is also considered. (17…

To examine how classroom conditions such as students' mean aptitude, materials used, and instructional time influence the amount of reading material covered, 12 first grade classrooms were each observed for 12 days over a 36-week period. Students' reading readiness and word recognition skills were tested prior to observation while group mean…

A Dutch study of the relationship between different student cognitive styles and foreign language achievement focused on the development and analysis of a grammar test for English as a second language. The test consists of ten subtests requiring the student to manipulate aspects of English syntactic, morphosyntactic, and morphological structure.…

The text and accompanying workbook are designed to help second language teachers explore theories of language teaching and learning, deriving a set of hypothesized principles for classroom teaching based on the concept of proficiency and suggesting classroom techniques using them. The first two chapters outline and expand on both theoretical and…