Discusses how the use of video media as a mode of language presentation influences the definition, purpose, and research agenda of a second-language listening comprehension instrument. Video media is used as an umbrella phrase to describe the cluster of media in which dynamic visual elements are blended with auditory elements to create a whole…

Two experiments explored factors affecting the influence of visual (lip-read) information on auditory speech perception, the "McGurk effect," in advanced learners of English as a Second Language and native speakers of English. Results demonstrate the influence of first language on the information value of the cues and audiovisual…

Reviews the syntactic priming task, a paradigm involving the presentation of a phrasal or clausal context, followed by the presentation of a target item for lexical decision or naming. Notes that response times are faster for targets syntactically congruent with the preceding context than for incongruent targets. Outlines how to administer this…

Investigated the process of stereotyping in the representation of the content of narrative texts through visual reformulations. Subjects were Argentine college students enrolled in an English course at a university in Argentina. Reveals students' inability to transcend heir cultural biases and points to an urgent need to address stereotypes in the…

Investigated the influence of a talker's face (e.g., articulatory gestures) and voice, vocalic context, and word position in the training of Japanese and Korean English as a Second Language to identify American English /r/ and /l/. Findings revealed significant effects of training type, talker, word position, and vowel. Findings are compatible…

Applied Skehan's (1998) processing perspective on language use to evaluate intermediate to advanced English-as-a-Second-Language learners' competence in telling a story based on visual prompts. The purpose was to find out how the test takers' proficiency profiles vary according to three areas of competence: accuracy, complexity, and fluency across…

This article provides a rationale for using graphic organizers based on the fact that students with language disorders often struggle with traditional instruction that places large demands on language skills. Effective features of graphic organizers are identified and examples of direct instruction in secondary algebra using graphic organizers are…

Focuses on the major cues processed in Hungarian in order to distinguish subjects and objects in transitive clauses: subject-verb and object-verb agreement-marking; case-marking; animacy; and word order. The research reveals that double agreement-marking in Hungarian exists even in week agreement situations, a testimony to the diachronic tenacity…

Shares details about two prewriting strategies (brainstorming and synthesizing information), and discusses some practical issues related to the use of computer-based concept mapping in the classroom. (SR)

A study assessed auditory sequential, short-term memory (SSTM) performance in 24 children (ages 5-11) using cochlear implants (CI). The CI group did not have a sequential memory deficit specific to the auditory modality. Visual spatial memory was the main predictor of variance in the language scores of the CI group. (Contains references.)…

Investigates the additive memory effect of two modes of presenting information to elementary children on the retention of both images and words. Children represented more information in pictorial than in verbal form. The visual-verbal treatment group scored higher on most of both verbal and pictorial responses than the visual treatment group.…

Two experiments studied whether altering an auditory stimulus' rate of change affected infants' fixation of changing visual stimuli. Results demonstrated that infants exposed simultaneously to auditory and visual stimulation showed a reduced tendency to fixate on relatively more visually stimulating events. Heart rates also accelerated during…

Examines the potential contribution of different neural systems to developmental change in the duration of visual fixation, and the individual differences in that variable that are predictive of subsequent cognitive function. Presents hypotheses concerning two specific and independent neural systems and how they might contribute to individual and…

Two experiments investigated perceptual primacy of dimensional and similarity relations in stimulus classification of mentally retarded children. Results support a distinction between separable and integral stimulus structures, but do not support an integral-to-separable shift in perceptual development. Results suggest implications for…

Addresses the nonuse and misuse of sound when designing instruction using educational technology and presents the Structured Sound Functions (SSF) Model to improve sound attribute research and scriptwriting guidelines. The preference for visual interfaces is discussed, including educational television (ETV), and the creation of sound-image…