Discusses the process of native language learning and explores the relationship between it and second language learning. It is suggested that in a language curriculum, the initial emphasis should be on receptive skills. Accuracy, appropriateness, and fluency in communication are discussed, as well as instructional modes for training in these…

Elementary school children's understanding was assessed after they read or listened to brief texts that described a scene, explained a sequence of events, or told a story. Results indicated that effectiveness in understanding depends on the fluency with which component processes of perceptual recognition, comprehension, and memory are coordinated.…

Verbal coding and listening comprehension ability differed among skilled and less skilled readers in second, third, and fifth grades. As verbal coding speed increased, comprehension skill became the more important predictor of reading skill. Apparently, verbal coding processes, which are slow, inhibit other reading processes. (Author/CP)

Describes the work of the Speech Communication Association Task Force on Minimal Speaking and Listening Competencies for High School Graduates and provides recommended minimal speaking and listening competencies and implications for further curriculum development and research. (JMF)

The behavior of 32 mothers during an object-retrieval game was analyzed in terms of the hints and clues they used to direct their children's attention; age-related differences were found in the type of information offered. (Author)

Provides guidelines for the selection of audio materials for developing listening comprehension in beginning French. (AM)

Describes techniques used for teaching French language students to recognize, discriminate between, and pronounce the four French nasal vowels. Includes twenty tongue-twisting sentences exemplifying the different vowels. (MSE)

Reports on a classroom-based, longitudinal study of the effect of learner strategy instruction on listening comprehension. The hypothesis that systematic instruction in the use of strategies will result in the improvement of listening comprehension was confirmed. (Author/JL)

The functional architecture of the verbal processing resource system was studied by testing aphasic patients in Canada and Boston for their abilities to use syntactic structure in sentence comprehension in isolation and under dual-task conditions. Results indicate that the processing resource system underlying syntactic processing is separate from…

Investigates the linguistic and metalinguistic transfers that arise when French students learn comprehension and production in English. Analyzes how part of the metalinguistic knowledge they have of French is transferred into their metalinguistic knowledge of English, especially concerning simple preterite vs preterite + "be" +…

In this article, autonomous learning in foreign languages is defined and the steps for introducing it to Year 9 low-ability students and Year 10 high-ability students are described. (six references) (CK)

Examined the effect of cross-cultural awareness training and explicit linguistic instruction on attitudes towards and comprehension of foreign-accented speech in three groups of students. Listening comprehension passages read in Vietnamese-accented speech before and after an 8-week instruction period revealed no cross-group differences. Attitude…

This study investigated use of the Reading Component Model to subgroup poor readers. Poor readers were identified in second grade and subgrouped into four significantly different groups on the basis of relative strengths and weaknesses in word recognition and listening comprehension. Further analysis found poor readers' abilities were foreshadowed…

Emphasizes importance of adults listening to children and youth. Describes benefits of and barriers to active listening. Lists several "typical responses" by adults to youths' attempts at communication. Includes several camp scenarios among hypothetical examples illustrating ways adults might better communicate with children and youth.…

Describes the benefits that storytelling can have on the development of listening and reading comprehension and the enhancement of oral and written expression. Presents an example of how storytelling was used to realize these benefits in a third-grade classroom. (MG)