Purpose: We investigated the role of spoken language in the acquisition of literacy in the context of Arabic diglossia, where the written language, Standard Arabic, deviates substantially from the spoken language, Colloquial Arabic, children acquire naturally from birth. Method: The participants (N = 110; 40 girls) were Saudi Arabic--speaking…

The authors examined teachers' (N = 19) use of different question types during small-group comprehension instruction for 6-11-year-olds (N = 115). The authors tagged the corpus of 40 hours of guided reading sessions to enable computer-based searches for syntactic forms of questions. Teachers frequently asked high-challenge "wh-" word…

The role of the English language, used around the world for international diplomacy, aviation, health, economics, technology, education, and research, cannot be overstated. In places where English is not the first nor an official language, the task for second language teachers in elementary schools through college to perfect students' language…

In this article, writing is reconceptualized as primarily a metacognitive process that can be modeled using contemporary metacognitive theory. This reconceptualization of writing was described in an earlier publication, but in the current article the author provides an update on this metacognitive model of writing with 3 purposes in mind. First,…

Pinyin is a sound-annotating system for Chinese characters using Roman letters. Teaching and learning Pinyin has been an important educational practice in Mainland China for native Chinese children, and it is also typically taught to beginning learners of Chinese as a foreign/second language in tertiary-level classrooms. However, whether it should…

The purpose of this study was to determine if first-grade English Learners made patterns of language related errors when reading, and if so, to identify those patterns and how teachers coded language related errors when analyzing English Learners' running records. Using research from the fields of both literacy and Second Language Acquisition, we…

This article focuses on the initial stage of a longitudinal study whose eventual aim is to produce educators with the capacity, knowledge and cultural competence to engage effectively with Indigenous students in cross-cultural environments. The initial stage of the study involved 24 second-year pre-service teachers working individually with…

An important, yet either often missing or under emphasized realization in both federal and state standards for literacy is that literacy is primarily a language process and culture is a reflection of language. As such, language and culture must be retained as essential components upon which reading instruction is based. Our nation and our states…

Every multicultural society has a language of power--the language spoken by members of the dominant group or groups--as well as languages that lack power because they are spoken by members of the subordinate group or groups. The ascension of one language over another has long been a source of controversy in Hawai'i, as it has in many parts of the…

These are exciting and challenging times for English language curriculum development for school-age learners. The global reach of English has spurred a rethinking of its role in education and, consequently, a rethinking of how to teach it. The accounts in this volume represent differences in educational systems, language teaching traditions,…

Discussing the evolving conception of literacy, this digest provides a current review of material in the ERIC database on the multiplicities of literacies. The digest includes sections on the broadening scope of literacy, acquisition of literacies, defining literacy, and expanding the domain of literacy. (RS)

In Reading Recovery, training participants sit in a circle to discuss lessons that have been communally observed. The rationale for sitting in a circle without a table for discussion can be better understood by considering these two ideas: (1) the role of language in learning; and (2) the way conversation is affected by the physical positioning of…

Presents the results of the first impact evaluation of the Local Language Literacy Project in the Southern Sudan, conducted in late 1980. (EKN)

Demonstrates that literacy practices may be more usefully viewed when situated in the larger contexts within which they exist. Examines the impact of social, cultural, and linguistic factors on oral reading in China's elementary schools. (SR)

Explores the approach to reading which emphasizes reading within a total language context and concludes that teacher training should stress awareness of the child's general language situation and should discourage reliance on word-skill material. (JM)