Describes an instructional framework "zooming in and zooming out" that helps teachers scaffold student learning of important vocabulary and concepts in social studies. Describes procedures for implementation, depicting a lesson used by a fifth-grade teacher to discuss readings about Harriet Tubman. (SR)

Focuses on a longitudinal study of young foreign language learners' acquisition of English adjectives. A series of tasks was developed to tap lexical relations between adjectives of emotion in order to study how a particular adjective, such as "thrilled," finds its place among other near-synonomous expressions in the subfield "happy." (Author/VWL)

Describes ways teachers can enhance students' vocabulary development through multiple contexts available in typical middle school classroom settings. Addresses questions about vocabulary learning and offers suggestions for enhancing vocabulary with narrative and expository texts that involve multiple classroom contexts. Considers the Vocab-o-gram…

Studied the average development of word recognition, reading comprehension, vocabulary, and spelling of poor and better readers during the elementary school period and studied whether differences between these readers increased over time. Results for 3 cohorts of about 900 children each contradict the existence of a Matthew effect for word…

Reports three English-as-a-foreign-language experiments that indicate that a lexical organization along metaphoric themes or source domains can facilitate retention of unfamiliar figurative expressions. Proposes classroom activities aimed at enhancing language learners' metaphor awareness and at turning this into an additional channel for…

This study explored effects of training six mothers to use focused stimulation to teach specific target words to their toddlers with Down syndrome. Following treatment, trained mothers used the focused stimulation technique more often than mothers in the control group. Concomitantly, their children used target words more often, as reported by…

A "shop-around" activity for German classroom communicative practice is described. The exercise is a reasoning-gap activity in which the students seek out specific items or use a shopping list to search for and/or acquire using play money. Preparatory exercises, follow-up activities, and variations of the activity for different…

Explores the use of teacher-facilitated peer dialogues as a tool for supporting independent word learning strategies of struggling middle school learners. Hopes to create a context in which students would not only grapple with word meanings but also develop a stronger metacognitive awareness of their own efforts. (SG)

This study assessed the influence of a 10-week parent-child intervention group on the vocabulary development of 10 late-talking toddlers. Results demonstrated the efficacy of the focused stimulation approach in increasing overall and target vocabulary acquisition. Parents reported satisfaction with the program in terms of the child's vocabulary…

Examines code switching in bilingual infants from a developmental perspective, using micro-focus of conversation analysis. Early switching data from two bilingual children is analyzed in terms of pragmatic choices and constraints. Some adult-like socially-determined switching was observed at an early age, but most early switches were explained by…

Selectively reviews influences on young children's word learning. Analyzes difficulties with the "constraint" concept in examining word learning. Concludes that the effect of so-called constraints cannot be separated from a wide range of cognitive and contextual influences on children's inferences about novel word meanings. Offers…

Discusses how defining key terms in context helps students understand and retain concepts. Considers how implementing small-group discussion dramatically changed the classroom dynamics and involved more students in the discovery process. Finds that in small peer groups, students are more inclined to ask questions and help each other clarify their…

Describes using the book "The Professor and the Madman" (which tells the story of how the "Oxford English Dictionary" came into being) in a college or developmental reading class. Notes it motivates students to take greater interest in language and work on expanding their vocabularies, thus promoting vocabulary development and…

Discusses materials that foster engagement in the learning process for students, teachers, and parents. Looks at three sets of materials helpful for vocabulary and comprehension strategy development: (1) guiding teachers and students through the think-along process for developing reading comprehension; (2) building vocabulary and comprehension at…

Describes an instructional framework for teaching and learning new words for new and difficult concepts. Presents current knowledge of preferred practices for vocabulary instruction, outlines the procedures for using this instructional framework, and concludes by providing examples across different content areas. (SD)