This volume represents the first collection of empirical studies focusing on peer interaction for L2 learning. These studies aim to unveil the impact of mediating variables such as task type, mode of interaction, and social relationships on learners' interactional behaviors and language development in this unique and pedagogically powerful…

Focuses on a general document navigation strategy called the known/need-to-know strategy. Illustrates the strategy using a variant of this strategy called "locate." (SR)

Describes a guessing game called "Sentencing," which can be played with students from third grade through high school. It develops students' abilities to use semantic, syntactic, and graphophonic cues and also allows teachers to view the metacognitive strategies of their students. (SR)

Inaugurates this column's topic for the year: document strategy procedures and ways to teach them. Argues that knowledge of document structures allows for better knowledge of the cognitive steps and metacognitive strategies in document processing. (SR)

Reviews document strategies called "locate tasks." Discusses "cycle tasks," tasks requiring two or more locate tasks, repeating the known/need-to-know steps, thus cycling to earlier steps in the known/need-to-know procedure. (SR)

Reports on a study to examine the way college students in a reading methods course learned about and demonstrated the strategies they use to construct the main idea of an essay. Concludes that teacher modeling and concrete examples are important to all levels of instruction, kindergarten through university senior. (RS)

Reviews research on metacognition and comprehension in reading. Offers teachers fix-up strategies. (SR)

This article presents theoretical reflections and empirical data on metacognitive aspects of memory and reading problems in children with reading comprehension disabilities. A distinction is made between metacognitive awareness and metacognitive control processes. Experimental results suggest that poor comprehenders present less adequate…

Describes three "generate" strategies for seeking information in text when expected clues are missing. (SR)

Integrating metacognitive skills into classroom instruction can help students to develop into active, independent readers and learners. B. Armbruster, in a summary of research on metacognition, examined reading to learn from a metacognitive perspective as it related to four variables: texts, tasks, strategies, and learner characteristics.…

To examine the comprehension process employed by gifted readers and to identify the various metacognitive strategies they employ, 100 gifted student volunteers in grades 4 through 7 were administered the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS), Reading Subtests 11 and 13. The students also completed a questionnaire to determine metacognitive awareness…

Asserts that teachers should be more aware of including questions and strategies to foster skills in critical thinking and evaluation among students. Presents various metacognitive techniques designed to help students monitor what they know about a reading selection, including the use of semantic mapping, integrating reading and writing…

Discusses how to create a profile of students' abilities to apply document strategies (locate, cycle, and integrate strategies). (SR)

Argues that teachers can determine the instructional frameworks which can empower students to understand more about their own learning. Describes activities (learning logs, directed reading-thinking activities) that develop higher level thinking skills using writing, reading, and reasoning. Concludes that such activities facilitate students'…

This newsletter covers educational issues affecting schools in the Western Regional Educational Laboratory's 4-state region (Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah) and nationwide. The following articles appear in the Volume 4, Number 1 issue: (1) "The Roots of Reading"; (2) "Breaking the Code: Reading Literacy in K-3"; (3)…