A widespread theoretical assumption is that many processes involved in text comprehension are automatic, with automaticity typically defined in terms of properties (e.g., speed, effort). In contrast, the authors advocate for conceptualization of automaticity in terms of underlying cognitive mechanisms and evaluate one prominent account, the…

This article highlights a project that encourages students to connect reading and mathematics instruction by using a data analysis approach. Students analyze sonnets from statistical, literary, and historical points of view in an effort to uncover the true identity of William Shakespeare. (Contains 10 figures.)

The goal of this study is to examine the characteristics of scholarly communication, with particular emphasis on the usage of the monograph, in the field of Spanish and Latin American literature over a 30-year period. In addition, this study examines the age of materials referenced in an effort to gain insight into the shelf-life of these…

Based on more than twenty years' experience working to get boys interested in reading, the author now offers his first readers' advisory volume. With an emphasis on nonfiction and the boy-friendly categories of genre fiction, the work offers a wealth of material including: (1) Suggestions for how to booktalk one-on-one as well as in large groups;…

This paper explores ways in which student-teachers in the Lifelong Learning sector are able to draw on fictionalised accounts of their own teaching practice experiences in order to gain a clearer understanding of their models and expectations of professionalism, and of how they, as individuals, locate their current position within the profession…

This article illustrates the serious challenge of engaging boys in reading and writing which has become more complex and even influences the lives of gifted adolescent males. This article attempts to address this concern. In order to do so, the authors examine the scholarly literature on boys' reading preferences and report findings from that…

Research examined the effects of additional input, audio recordings and video recordings, on second-language readers' comprehension of a short story. Participants were 37 English-language learners enrolled in three college ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes. Each group read Shirley Jackson's short story, "The Lottery," and…

The author responds to the essays in this special issue by noting that they emphasize the importance of careful, complex comparisons between Western and Chinese rhetorical traditions.

This essay argues that Moraga's recent play, "The Hungry Woman," is a meditation on the failure of the "Queer Aztlan" project articulated in 1993 as part of her collection "The Last Generation." It views the play through the lens of Mexican dramatic structures and historiography, explicating how Moraga interrogates the possibilities of indigenismo…

This paper considers the educational and theoretical implications of an analysis into the artistic movement of poetry slam. Slam is a successful and growing global phenomenon, which both directly and indirectly sets itself against the dominant literary world. As such, it could be viewed as presenting a challenge to dominant literary conventions…

The WWC practice guide "Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade" presents a set of evidence-based practices that teachers and other educators can use to successfully teach reading comprehension to young readers. The guide, developed by a panel of experts, presents a set of evidence-based practices that teachers…

Nowadays we are experiencing profound economic and social changes, which cause new and different migratory fluxes in the search for better living conditions. In this manner, the human tissue that composes societies is getting diverse. Therefore we can now find new minorities originating from immigration, whose members possess ethnic, religious,…

The Professional Development School (PDS) literature is filled with the stuff of good storytelling--archetypes of an ancient profession, struggles of marginalized individuals against powerful structures, personal triumphs, and devotion to a quest. However, much of the writing about PDS experiences that could be considered storytelling tends to…

The formulaic styles of dissertation writing inherited from the sciences continue to influence dissertation writers in social sciences, and in particular TESOL and applied linguistics. Some scholars both within and outside the U.S. recommend that we expand the options for dissertation writers beyond these narrow conventions ([Eisner, 1997];…

In this article, the author shares how she envisioned and created a writing assignment for a ninth-grade English course. The writing project is a class novel comprised of short stories, one written by each student. In the writing assignment, seniors compile their favorite writings from any class in any year of high school and write reflections…