This companion document to an instructor's guide for a 30-hour course on effective communication begins with a list of course objectives, expected outcomes, and prerequisites. Lessons are organized into the following categories: introductory lessons; reading lessons; writing lessons; listening and speaking lessons; and newsletter production…

A fourth-grade teacher in a Spanish partial immersion program describes her search for and use of Latin American folk tales to enhance the curriculum and student learning. Excerpts from the teacher's journal over a period of a year, and covering the beginnings of two school years, reflect on her experiences and on student comprehension and…

After a review of the historical background, theories, and techniques related to teaching English pronunciation, this study describes the production of a Pronunciation Pictures videotape. The videotape shows animated "Sammy" diagrams presenting the physical movements needed to produce the initial consonants of English. The lessons provide…

A study examined whether the more inviting text structure of informational storybooks (compared to an information book) influences comprehension of scientific information. Ninety-six third-grade subjects were drawn from eight classrooms in four elementary schools in a mid-size metropolitan area in the southern United States. Within each class, six…

A study examined the development of reading, written expression and listening comprehension over 3 years. The participants were 77 students in Brisbane, Australia, who were identified by school staff as having a learning difficulty at the end of grade one and who were matched with the same number of normally achieving children attending the same…

The purpose of this investigation was to determine how well Down Syndrome (DS) adolescents and young adults, relative to other mentally handicapped (MH) individuals, comprehend single words and simple sentences. Samples of 26 DS and 26 MH individuals were matched on intelligence and chronological age and were administered audiological, language,…

This instructional guide for Alberta's (Canada) secondary school program in French second language instruction presents instructional plans and describes specific classroom techniques and activities for listening comprehension and oral production. Section 1 outlines the overall objectives and structure of the program. Section 2 addresses the…

Results of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) battery trials in Australia are reported. The IELTS tests of productive language skills use direct assessment strategies and subjective scoring according to detailed guidelines. The receptive skills tests use indirect assessment strategies and clerical scoring procedures.…

Intended for those who are preparing term papers, working on newspapers or newsletters, taking creative writing courses, composing resumes, submitting journal articles for publication, or giving oral presentations, this bibliography lists a number of resources designed to help improve communication skills. The resources are arranged according to…

Recent literature on individual differences in verbal ability indicates that people demonstrating high verbal comprehension are quicker and more accurate in identifying lexical items, as well as more rapid in parsing sentences. They are not, however, more sensitive to the general gist of a passage, and thus do not respond to priming from context…

Providing insight into how learning assistance practitioners can effect positive change in the ability of their students to speak and to listen, this book presents the experiences of communication professionals who have succeeded in improving students' skills. The first five chapters describe a variety of instructional methods useful in teaching…

In three experiments investigating both the features of cooperative learning in pairs that lead to improved mastery and retention of information and transfer of learning strategies to individual situations and the individual characteristics that contribute to cooperative learning outcomes, 126 college students studied excerpts from expository…

This study gathered information on the acquisition of affixes in Urdu by native children. The research was carried out in the city of Irbid, in northern Jordan, and in the capital city of Amman. Data consist of tape-recorded, naturally occurring and elicited speech of 13 children aged 2.4 to 9 years. The children were native speakers of Urdu,…

The IDEA Oral Language Proficiency Test (IPT II), an individually-administered measure of speaking and listening proficiency in English as a Second Language designed for secondary school students, is described and discussed. The test consists of 91 items and requires 5-25 minutes to administer. Raw scores are converted to one of seven proficiency…