This article describes a cognitive strategy, PEP (Person, Event, Place), designed to enhance middle school students' comprehension of social studies texts. The PEP strategy is intended to help teachers scaffold the reading and writing experiences of at-risk students. Evaluation indicated a significant increase in reading comprehension for all…

Review of research on trends in teaching second-language listening focuses primarily on strategy instruction and a strategy-based approach but also refers to developments in terms of listening and "high-tech contexts," interactive listening, and academic listening. Classroom listening textbooks are discussed, with attention to the mismatch between…

Describes an innovative supplemental curriculum program that generates positive self-concept growth while reinforcing fundamental reading processes, improving reading comprehension, and fostering reading enjoyment. How to implement this program by networking with the Telephone Pioneers of America and local school and business partners is…

Discusses convergent tests and divergent students, examining why there are so many divergencies in students' interpretation of tests of reading comprehension used in college English-as-a-Second-Language classes. After discussing factors affecting divergency, the paper concludes that portfolios, compiled and graded after discussing errors with…

Novice to expert teachers were tested for ability to judge student comprehension from nonverbal cues. Participants observed classroom videotapes, completed discussions with and without feedback, and made judgments. Experts made more accurate judgments, especially with feedback; were more confident of judgments following feedback; and had holistic…

Examined individual differences in young children's understanding of emotion and potential correlates in the domain of family experiences. Found that individual differences in children's understanding of negative emotions were related to specific aspects of family experiences. Findings suggest complex influences of family functioning on children's…

Investigates the effects of problem re-wording, language format, students' grade level, and academic achievement on understanding and solving word problems among Filipino-English bilingual students. Reveals that better understanding and solution performance occurred when problems were (1) re-worded, (2) in the students' first language, and (3) for…

This article suggests that students with emotional/behavioral disorders may use disruptive behaviors to escape and avoid teacher instructional language for which they do not have comprehension skills and thus find aversive. Teacher instructional language thus maintains aberrant behavior through a negative reinforcement paradigm. Recommendations…

Describes a study of seventh graders learning to make and share meaning about literature through "sketch-to-stretch," an interpretive strategy involving the creation of symbols and pictures and other nonlinguistic signs to signify ideas generated through reading. Supports teaching that provides such shared opportunities for students. (TB)

It is observed that courses in French diction for singers generally do not, but should, include instruction in reading comprehension for knowledgeable interpretation of French lyrics. A course syllabus designed to meet singers' needs is presented, and related issues are discussed. (Contains eight references.) (MSE)

Ten socially/emotionally maladjusted adolescents with language impairments (SEM/LI) and 10 nonimpaired adolescents received 4 treatment sessions in the use of a "context clues strategy" for improving comprehension in 4 sentence types. Results indicated that SEM/LI adolescents benefit from direct instruction involving three of the…

Tested the hypothesis that individual differences in reading ability increase over time, by assessing children, at seven occasions between kindergarten and third grade, on various measures of reading ability, reading behavior, and attitudes toward reading. Found that individual differences among children in word recognition, but not reading…

Investigates effects of two advance organizers--question previewing and vocabulary preteaching--on Taiwanese college students' listening comprehension of English language videotapes. Results suggest the group exposed to a combined treatment of vocabulary preteaching and question viewing between two video viewings outperformed the groups who…

Four approaches to the investigation of connections between language by hand and language by eye are described and illustrated with studies from a decade-long research program. The four approaches support a model in which language by hand and language by eye are separate systems that interact in predictable ways. (Contains references.) (CR)

Related maternal depressive symptoms obtained when infants were 1, 6, 15, 24, and 36 months old to child functioning at 36 months. Found that women with chronic symptoms were least sensitive during mother/child play from infancy through 36 months. Maternal sensitivity accounted for group differences in school readiness and verbal comprehension and…