Somalia has a long and rich oral literacy tradition of poetry, proverbs, and songs, while Somalia's print literacy history has been significantly disrupted by colonization and then the Somali Civil War. Many Somalis have fled the country since the start of the civil war in 1991, and an estimated 10,000 Somalis have made a new home in Maine. When…

A synthesis of 15 empirical studies shows that homework consistently benefits elementary and secondary students' achievement and attitudes, especially if it is commented upon or graded. (MCG)

Discusses the advantages to considering writing an integral part of learning English as a Second Language at all grade levels, offering a day-by-day lesson sequence on the topic of courage that affords ample opportunity for writing and for class discussion to share and evaluate the writing. Suggestions for each day's classwork are followed by a…

The Second International Mathematics Study compared 13-year-old students from 20 countries in five mathematics content areas. Japanese students ranked first in all five areas. This report compares Japan and the United States on three factors potentially related to student performance on mathematics tests. These include: (1) time spent on…

Published to celebrate the United Nations' International Year of the Family, this special issue presents selected articles from "set," a twice yearly journal of research information for teachers. These articles look at the contribution of educational research on the relationships between schools and families, and families and learning in…

Ideas and guidelines for the organization of effective homework assignments, based on the principle that homework should offer opportunities for learning outside the classroom, are offered. The examples given are for English second language instruction as practiced in public secondary schools in Cyprus, but the principles outlined could be applied…

This book is intended for foreign language teachers interested in the approaches used in Rudolf Steiner schools, and also classroom teachers who teach foreign languages. Chapters address these issues: what the language lesson is to achieve; how the language lesson differs from other lessons; lesson design; examples of actual lessons; avoiding the…

"Cross Currents" is subtitled "an International Journal of Language Teaching and Cross-Cultural Communication." This special theme issue is devoted to the topic of "content-based language teaching" and contains nine the ELT Needs of Japanese University Students"; "Exploring Community in a Content-Based…

A variety of ideas and strategies for homework assignments that can be stimulating and useful to second language learners are presented. Underlying principles are that homework can: give control; develop confidence; promote creativity; support differentiation by task and outcome; encourage pupil independence; support parent-school communication;…