The Labour Adjustment Initiative was developed in Ontario to provide the ever-increasing number of laid-off workers with remedial basic skills training in order to prepare them for other jobs or further training. The model developed by the Literacy Branch of the Ontario government emphasized a collaborative approach that drew together all of the…

This practicum was designed to increase the awareness and HIV/AIDS literacy of child and youth professionals in a school, agency or ministerial setting. Children and youth were not being provided with factually correct information because the adults had no formal instruction and/or HIV literacy training. Workshops were designed and materials…

This theme issue for people working in the field of adult literacy focuses on the impact of learning disabilities (LD) on an adult's social skills. It explores various social, emotional, and daily living concerns which adults with learning disabilities may face. The following articles are included: (1) "Social Skills and Adults with Learning…

This paper describes how comic books are used as instructional materials in an intensive English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) course and discusses the rationale for using them. The students in the course have low-intermediate English language skills with limited discourse and interactive competence. Comic books are used because they are authentic,…

This vocational English-as-a-Second-Language program stresses interactive language use in the context of communicating with customers. Intended for intermediate-level adult learners, the manual will assist students in developing the communication and interaction skills they need for a variety of public contact positions, including retail sales…

In the manufacturing industry, many complex tasks are taught through an apprenticeship program; the experience and expertise gained through years of practice is invaluable to the industry and can be lost if not properly captured and transferred. This paper reports on the design of a training system that combines the use of computer-based…

When one instructor teaches a course called "Communication and Critical Thinking," he uses Josina Makau's book "Reasoning and Communication: Thinking Critically about Arguments" (1990), which maintains that critical thinking requires training. Case methodology can be used for training, not exclusively but as an alternative to…

An oral activity designed to help prepare college students of English as a second language for assignments and rhetorical strategies for essay writing is described. The activity, which comprises several tasks and can require up to two class periods, requires students to compare and contrast a painting and a poem that have a common theme or aspect.…

Reported here is a two-year study of the use of a speech-output communication device, coupled with naturalistic language intervention, to facilitate language development of school-age children with severe mental retardation. Subjects were 13 children. The first section (chapters 1-4) outlines a conceptual framework for the project, gives an…

Data from the Youth79 cohort of the National Longitudinal Surveys were used to examine the acquisition of skills by young adults at the start of a job and as a response to changes in the workplace. The analysis was based primarily on a set of questions posed in 1993 to a group of workers between the ages of 28 and 36. It was discovered that…

This book provides parents with more than 70 original, entertaining, and educational ways to help their children master crucial learning skills--each game takes just 10 minutes or less from start to finish. The games presented in the book cover all the important areas of the primary school curriculum: reading, writing, spelling, mathematics,…

This document consists of three separately published fact sheets (for parents and teachers of children who are deaf-blind) combined here because of the close relationship of their subject matter: (1) "Communication Interactions: It Takes Two," by Kathleen Stremel; (2) "Expressive Communication: How Children Send Their Messages to You," by Kathleen…

The guide provides information about a series of instructional materials for teaching Indonesian as a second language. The materials consist of audio recordings from Sanggar Prathivi, a Christian educational radio station in Jakarta (Indonesia), and scripts from the programs contained on diskettes (recordings and diskettes not included here). Two…

Parental opinion is an important indicator of educational effectiveness. Parent attitudes toward school effectiveness were measured in this survey to determine one school district's strategic plan concerning community involvement. A random sample of 650 households, representing prekindergarten through twelfth grade, were asked about their…

Children develop investigative skills, a spirit of inquiry, and an understanding of science within an educational context of first-hand experience and purposeful play. This article explores the issue of quality in science instruction for young children, placing it within the larger framework of quality in early childhood education. The article…