Describes an exercise designed to introduce basic concepts and techniques for a course in qualitative research methods. Discusses differences in the meaning of phrases on a student evaluation of teaching form. Suggests that the exercise will show how differences in meaning are connected to real social and political problems. (DK)

Describes how teamwork, consistency, and use of sign language helped a child with Down Syndrome and deafness to increase her vocabulary from less than 20 words at the beginning of kindergarten to 228 words by the end of first grade. Six specific teaching strategies are outlined. (DB)

Incorporated motivational procedures to teach question-asking to three children (ages three and five). All children learned to use questions in relation to items they had previously been unable to label and demonstrated generalization of spontaneous question-asking to new items and to their home environments with their mothers, with concomitant…

An instructional prereading using American Sign Language (ASL) was effective in improving the ability of 7 prelingually deaf children (ages 11 and 12) to understand and retell a story after reading it in print. A six-step procedure for using the ASL technique is explained. Other applications of the technique and its appropriateness for public…

Described is the Modified Language Acquisition Program (MLAP) which used trainable mentally retarded trainers to teach basic language skills to severely and profoundly retarded students in a state hospital. Provided are a flow chart and procedural description to guide the use of the MLAP with attendant-supervised retarded trainers and a second…

This dissertation argues that the skill of using language to communicate should be based on the continuous development of the ability to use imagery, metaphor, and the inherently ambiguous nature of language. Since language is a symbolic restructuring of experience, any method designed to teach language arts must reflect the interplay between…

The language behavior of nine educable retarded children (mean age 12 years) was analyzed before and after a 6-week summer-camp-type activity to test the hypothesis that rate of verbal behavior could be increased through a systematic program in which the children would experience an environmental event and concurrently verbalize the experience.…

Discusses the philosophy of publishing high school student writings in "English Journal," and calls for submissions. Prints a student short story, analyzes its merits, suggests ways to use it for teaching, and approaches to revision. (JG)

This paper examines the importance of hands for the person who is deafblind, reviews hand development, and identifies specific teaching skills that facilitate hand development and expressiveness in persons who are deafblind. It notes that the hands of a deafblind individual serve not only as tools but also as sense organs (to compensate for their…

This paper examines the importance of hands for the person who is deafblind, reviews hand development, and identifies specific teaching skills that facilitate hand development and expressiveness in persons who are deafblind. It notes that the hands of a deafblind individual serve not only as tools but also as sense organs (to compensate for their…

The use of the language experience approach to teach readiness and beginning reading and writing skills in preschool programs is explored. The value of this holistic approach is illustrated with a case study of a preschool child with a severe expressive language delay and phonological disorder. (DB)

"Specific Learning Disability" is by far the largest category of conditions served in special education. Unfortunately, few parents (and educators) really understand what learning disabilities are. Many erroneously believe it is a "politically correct" term for "mildly mentally retarded" or "dull normal." Further, while most laypeople have heard…

The reading habits by which students formulate a critical analysis of a literary work should focus attention on the choices that a writer makes when putting words on paper. These choices include sound, diction, language, imagery, organization, metaphors, sentence structure, transitions, allusions, and patterns. Discussing these choices does not…

This pamphlet is the last in a series of ten stemming from the view that language is central to learning, that teachers can gain insights into their work and into learning by examining the language of the classroom, and that current language theory can be the means to such insights. It contains a discussion of some of the theoretical positions…

A technique for teaching dialog is outlined that provides considerable preproduction input and acquisition experiences through which students create dialog lines. The technique uses these steps: prenarrative activities, narrative, contextual expansion of new vocabulary, reading input, dialog construction from visual cues, dialog recreation, and…