Some children experience more difficulty than others becoming literate, often at great emotional, intellectual, social, and economic cost to themselves, but also to those who love and care for them, and for society at large. The causes of those difficulties and what to do about them have been the source of much research and sometimes heated…

Technology can play an important role in the development of reading fluency. Taking notes, recording brainstorm sessions, peer-reviewing, and publishing are all skills that support students in becoming academically literate for advanced schooling. This descriptive case study explored the use of the iBook application and features that come…

This article describes the efforts of a U.S. History teacher to directly teach word meanings using the "robust vocabulary instruction" (RVI) approach, because research supports this method as a way to improve vocabulary knowledge for a range of students, including adolescents reading below grade level (i.e., struggling readers) and…

Knowing the meaning of academic vocabulary words helps adolescents understand content-area text and improves their academic achievement. To demonstrate deep understanding of words, students reading below grade level and students with learning disabilities must be explicitly taught word meanings, encounter target words in illustrative contexts, and…

The idea of this book arose out of an awareness that students with language learning disabilities are completely ignored in the Egyptian school system and there are no special programs that cater to these students. They are placed in normal schools that are not prepared to deal with their unique difficulties. This book, therefore, is an attempt to…

When working as a teacher of deaf students, Melissa Herzig's school was a magnet high school just five minutes from the border of Mexico, where 95 percent of the students were Latinos. The deaf students' experiences with languages may involve using American Sign Language (ASL), a sign language they may have learned in their home country, English,…

The issue of identifying reading difficulties and disabilities in English language learners (ELLs) is a complex one. It is an area that draws on the diverse disciplines of first- and second-language acquisition, literacy, English language learning, and reading, including differences and disabilities research. This literature review aims to…

Discusses the problems of teaching critical reading and the lack of progress toward the solutions to the problems. Suggests a definition of critical reading and methodologies for its teaching. Presents a classroom observation checklist to evaluate students' critical reading processes. (MG)

Background and historical information on dyslexia are presented, including use of the term dyslexia, definitions of brain disorders affecting language ability, various schools of thought on remediation, guidelines for evaluating individuals with language-processing problems, and recommendations for treating common problems. (SW)