Metaphor is a tool that helps us perceive the world by expressing more than word art. Metaphors are used in certain areas of education. It appears in different ways in the fields of literature, philosophy, sociology, educational sciences, social studies. Teachers also tell concrete and abstract data through metaphors to make it easier to keep in…

"Focus on form" (FonF) is a central construct in task-based language teaching. The term was first introduced by Michael Long to refer to an approach where learners' attention is attracted to linguistic forms as they engage in the performance of tasks. It contrasts with a structure-based approach--"focus on forms" (FonFs)--where…

The current paper presented theoretical assumptions behind language learning strategies (LLS) and an overview of methods used to identify learners' strategies, first, and then summarized what have been reported from large number of descriptive studies of strategies by language learners. Moreover, the paper tried to present the variety of…

Students with difficulties in specific cognitive processes and academic achievement with otherwise normal levels of intellectual functioning are classified as having a learning disability (LD). In spite of extensive recent research in a number of disciplines, controversial debate continues with regard to several issues. To reconcile some of them…

The author briefly responds to a number of terminological, theoretical, and empirical issues raised in some postscripts. The goal is not to respond to each outstanding point but rather to address some comments that in his view confuse rather than clarify matters. He responds to Plaut and McClelland and Quian Quiroga and Kreiman in turn.

The paper by Rupp and Templin (2008) is an excellent work on the characteristics and features of cognitive diagnostic models (CDM). In this article, the authors comment on some substantial and methodological aspects of this focus paper. They organize their comments by going through issues associated with the terms "cognitive,"…

A precise formulation of both cognitive structure and its related theory is provided through use of the mathematical theory of categories. Weaknesses and imprecision in cognitive theory are identified. Using category theory, cognitive structure and related Piagetian theoretic terms are precisely defined and some interrelationships are discussed.…

Explicates a definition and theory of "aboutness" and aboutness analysis developed by text linguist van Dijk; explores implications of text linguistics for bibliographic classification theory; suggests the elements that a theory of the cognitive process of classifying documents needs to encompass; and delineates how people identify…

Love which focuses on an emotional relationship involving some sense of commitment and either an ongoing sexual relationship or the potential for such a relationship is viewed and defined in a variety of ways. Despite the fact that the major portion of a treatise on love devotes itself to a consideration of tendance in love (i.e. aquisitive,…

Suggests some reasons why the exploration and description of language function is often an untidy exercise but, none-the-less very rewarding and rich in implication for English teaching. (Author/RK)

Performance on a battery of tests of vocabulary words by 72 college students was compared as a function of whether the prior instruction involved presenting material in an organized or scrambled fashion. Organizing vocabulary words during study facilitated performance in categorizing, processing for understanding, or producing a word. (SLD)

The use of the processing component for learning disabilities (LD) definitions is discussed by examining its theoretical basis, large-scale implementation, and researched classroom effectiveness. Results indicate the processing definition of LD does not differentiate students with LD from low achievers, is inconsistently implemented, and does not…

Reviews the methods, technologies, and operating tenets of case studies of reading disabilities completed during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Results suggest that the assumptions of anatomical and functional modularity for cortical processes become guiding principles for diagnosing and correcting reading difficulties. (Author/CR)

After a pilot study identified possible responses that children and adolescents give when defining concrete and abstract nouns, a study investigated the development of concrete noun (specific objects) and abstract noun (concepts) definitions given by 10, 14, and 18-year-olds, as well as whether abstract and concrete nouns are defined in a parallel…

Presents the hierarchical structure of quadrilaterals as an illustration of learning a geometric concept by moving from the levels of visualization and analysis to the level of formal deduction. The development discusses the classification of quadrilaterals, the inheritance of properties within the hierarchy, connections between algebra and…