This book is based on a series of four lectures, presented at National Taipei University, Taiwan, which reviewed the fundamentals of second language acquisition theory, presented original research supporting the theory, offered counterarguments to criticisms, and explored new areas that appeared to have promise for progress in both theory and…

A two-year ethnographic study of dialogic literary circles in Spain explored the learning experience of adults who participated in them. In a dialogic society, educational projects providing real opportunities for transformation and overcoming inequalities usually had a dialogic orientation and promoted instrumental learning as well as critical…

This paper presents and analyzes two examples of classroom discourse which belong to the genre of "talk about texts." Both are extracts from discussions between a small group of primary school students and their teacher (in England) on the topic of short texts of narrative fiction which they have just read together during the…

This executive summary discusses our current understanding of the difficulties that children with reading/learning disabilities encounter as they start down the road to reading and summarizes research on early identification and intervention. The focus is on children in kindergarten through second grade. Findings from the analysis indicate: (1)…

Part of a series, the purpose of this low-readability/high interest book is to provide instruction and practice in using higher order thinking to develop students' reading comprehension skills. The reading skills addressed in the book are based on state reading standards and assessment tests for grades seven and eight. The goal of this series of…

We examine aspects of flexible mathematical thinking in middle school students and its contribution to the growth of their mathematical understanding. We inductively analyzed data collected from video-episodes of an interactive, problem-solving based after-school mathematics class. Flexibility is essential in such classrooms since students must…

Although traditional indigenous stories are widely recognized for their artistic merits and their role in the linguistic and cultural continuity of indigenous peoples, they are seldom used in schools. This paper discusses the instructional uses of traditional coyote stories, with particular reference to bilingual revitalization programs involving…

The purpose of this study was to determine if students' definitions of reading and self-perceptions/attitudes as readers are related to word recognition and comprehension performances. The study also examined if students' definitions of reading were related to a tendency to exhibit learning difficulties. Subjects were the entire third-grade…

Noting that some children struggle with learning to read, this 15-minute videotape describes the essential components of an Accelerated Reading program (which provides supplemental instruction for struggling readers in Texas) and reports results of a study examining the effectiveness of various Accelerated Reading instructional approaches. It…

This report describes a program that will improve reading comprehension. The targeted population consists of second grade students at a rural northwestern Illinois school. Evidence for the existence of reading problems included daily teacher observations, student reading surveys, and assessments that indicated the level of student reading…

This study evaluated the effects of using the Edmark Reading Program, Level 1, to develop sight-word vocabulary in first graders at risk for reading failure. This program is a highly structured approach based on providing explicit, direct instruction that is intensive, focused, and not of brief duration. The 62 students receiving the intervention…

This book contains hands-on language arts activities for K-3 children. Activities in the book help develop skills in the six language arts while continually reinforcing how much fun learning can be. The book's teacher-friendly format breaks down each activity into the following components: objectives, materials, preparation, procedure, summary,…

The purpose of this document is to help teachers, schools, and districts see clearly the relationship between California's English Language Arts (ELA) and English Language Development (ELD) standards and to design and implement an articulated and integrated system of instruction and assessment for English learners. ELA standards are written by…

This article investigates how 120 teenage bilingual Chinese/English readers comprehended a verb and a noun in a Chinese text. The data are parallel translations made by examination candidates, all in the British educational system. A brief justification of the use of the data is given. This is followed by an overview of approaches to the theory of…

Developed by classroom teachers during the development phase of Minnesota's Graduation Standards, this performance package is made up of locally designed assignments that, taken together, show whether a student has learned and can apply the knowledge and skills related to comprehending, interpreting, and evaluating complex information. It begins…