This document contains all six issues of the journal for 1999. Article titles include the following: "A Tribute to ESL Pioneers"; "Current Perspectives on Improving Aural Comprehension"; "TESOL '99 Preview"; "South Africa: A Place for English Teaching Pioneers"; "Challenging Questions About E-Mail for…

A report on how individual students respond to a course in plant anatomy using self-instruction and group interaction is presented. Learning profiles are described. Assessment tests measured performance in four capacities: recall of knowledge, comprehension, application and short-chain problem solving. (Author/MLW)

Discusses an intermediate-level learner's progress in listening comprehension during a pre-sessional English for Academic Purposes course in the United Kingdom. Highlights the difference in progress in one-way and two-way listening and the discrepancy between performance within the sheltered setting of the language classroom and success in real…

Maintains that fundamental historical concepts can be imparted to high school students through the use of photography, painting, film, literature, and other forms of popular culture. Provides many examples of students utilizing popular culture to understand conceptions of historical time, locate meaning, and empathize with historical people. (MJP)

Presents four reading activities, including "The Winter Tradition Project" (B. E. Sargent); "Using Children's Choice Books to Enhance Math and Health Instruction" (E. C. Webre); "Science Learning Centers: Seatwork Alternatives" (P. Piech); and "Checkered Word Fun" (L. R. Gauthier). (MG)

Examines the usefulness of the interdisciplinary research approach in the study of Arabic linguistics, using native Arabic speakers' written translations of English text into Arabic. The analysis method adapted models of discourse analysis to reflect micro-level and macro-level mistranslations in students' papers. (25 references) (Author/OD)

The importance of cognitive internal state words in skilled reading comprehension was studied with 31 5th graders, 32 7th graders, and 10th graders. Positive correlations with cognitive word knowledge were significantly higher for verbal than quantitative achievement percentiles. The order of cognitive word acquisition depends on complex factors.…

An age-dependent answer-selection sequence of answers on multiple-choice tests suggested by previous studies was supported using statistical rather than clinical means. Results with 2,810 students aged 88 months through 241 months given a reading comprehension test twice during a 5-month interval support the systematically connected age-dependent…

Examines the interrelationships among accentedness, perceived comprehensibility, and intelligibility in the speech of second-language (L2) learners. The findings suggest that although strength of foreign accent is correlated with perceived comprehensibility and intelligibility, a strong foreign accent does not necessarily reduce the…

Formal cooperative learning strategies and simple peer support structures provide a potential means of accommodating diversity in ability through use of collaboration principles like group interdependence. The effectiveness of various peer tutoring and peer support strategies for students with comorbid learning and behavior problems has been well…

In the author's experience, Colombia is among the most misunderstood Spanish-speaking countries. Most of the news about Columbia involves drug trafficking or guerilla warfare, due to the many social and political problems that face the country. It is rare that the public is informed about the culture and people of this beautiful South American…

This document describes the content and format of the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) measurements for reading comprehension of students in grades 4, 8, and 12. According to the framework, NAEP assesses three contexts for reading: reading for literary experience, reading for information, and reading to perform a task). In addition…

In order to improve students' opportunities to learn, educators need tools that can assist them to reflect on and analyze their own and others' teaching practice. Many available observation tools and protocols for studying student work are inadequate because they do not directly engage educators in core issues about rigorous content and pedagogy.…

Purpose: A pilot study of the "Language, Literacy, & Vocabulary!" program was conducted by Learning Gauger, Inc., for National Geographic School Publishing, in spring 2006. The program evaluation examined the classroom adoption approaches used by participating teachers and the subsequent impact of the "Language, Literacy, &…

The materials included in this manual are organized according to the Indiana's Kindergarten Academic Standards for English/Language Arts. In each section teachers will find: (1) Indiana's Kindergarten Academic Standards for English/Language Arts Assessments: Black Line Masters of diagnostic/practice pages for skill areas, checklists, and rubrics;…