This guide is intended for use in a level 2 course in English as a second language that was developed as a component of a workplace literacy program for persons employed in the manufacturing and service industries. The course is structured so that, upon its completion, students will be able to accomplish the following: ask grammatically correct…

This module provides information on development and use of a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) software program that seeks to link literacy skills education, safety training, and human-centered design. Section 1 discusses the development of the software program that helps workers understand the MSDSs that accompany the chemicals with which they…

This manual is part of a series of materials designed to reinforce essential concepts in physical science through interactive, language-sensitive, problem-solving exercises emphasizing cooperative learning. The materials are intended for limited-English-proficient (LEP) students in beginning physical science classes. The materials are for teams of…

A study analyzed the effects of classwide peer tutoring on science vocabulary spelling achievement for three language groups in one school's sixth grade. The groups consisted of: (1) Spanish-dominant and limited-English-proficient (LEP) students (n=8); (2) students proficient at grade level in both Spanish and English (n=14); and (3) monolingual…

This textbook is not about reading; rather, it is a book about how to teach content by employing reading techniques. It has been designed for preservice and inservice teachers to enhance their ability to teach subject matter. Heavy emphasis is placed on vocabulary development in content areas. Five chapters are devoted to individual directed…

To be successful, a vocabulary improvement program should teach vocabulary directly but in a meaningful context, involve teachers and use vocabulary from all content areas, and represent a long term commitment. Strategies promoting an effective program include the following: (1) teaching word consciousness, (2) using materials at students'…

A study examined the relationship of multiple measures of reading and writing at the second and fifth grade levels. Multiple reading tests (measuring vocabulary, word recognition, sentence comprehension, and passage comprehension) and writing tests (evaluating vocabulary diversity and syntactic complexity, and providing qualitative and…

A study examined the relationship between reading instruction method, sex of learner, word learning proficiency and reading achievement in the first grade. Subjects were 78 males and 88 females chosen from two white, middle class suburban schools, one having a sight vocabulary instruction program, the other a phonic basal program. Students were…

This study documented English acquisition by a group of Hmong adult immigrants over a period of one year, and explored the factors that appeared to be affecting their progress. Based on three measures (a test of listening comprehension, communication, fluency, reading, and writing; a pictured English vocabulary recognition test; and a written…

Intended for use by secondary school teachers in all subject areas, this booklet provides practical information, classroom activities and strategies for the instructor who wants to incorporate reading instruction into a particular content area. Following an introductory chapter that emphasizes the need for reading skills in contemporary society…

Advanced learners of second languages and natural language processing systems both demand much more detailed lexical information than conventional dictionaries provide. Text composition, whether by humans or machines, requires a thorough understanding of relationships between words, such as selectional restrictions, case patterns, factives, and…

Second language classroom techniques and activities promoting oral proficency are suggested and discussed. The suggestions are based on a course organization that focuses on basic communicative goals and uses frequent conversation between paired students. The activities include retelling partner responses and situational role-playing. Approaches…

If a student is to develop reading comprehension, he must possess and activate a number of linguistic and cognitive skills. He comes to the text with certain expectations and uses a cyclical process of sampling, predicting, testing, and confirming to understand it. The overall goal of reading instruction is to produce motivated, independent,…

Miniaturized computer technology can raise both language and education beyond the current capacity to understand. Children's learning is more complex, powerful, and subtle than it is usually given credit for, and language is more elaborate and intricate than is generally realized. Computers must be used carefully, but they offer many…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 5 titles deal with the following topics: (1) the influence of background knowledge on non-native students' memory for reading passages, (2) the development of a reading textbook with a teacher's manual for English as a second…