With the increasing ranks of cell phone ownership is an increase in text messaging, or texting. During 2008, more than 2.5 trillion text messages were sent worldwide--that's an average of more than 400 messages for every person on the planet. Although many of the messages teenagers text each day are perhaps nothing more than "how r u?" or "c u…

The extant literature on oral and written language has shown several interesting differences in terms of production and style. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the content of word definitions provided by children in both the oral and written modes. A total of 30 typically developing children (mean age: 9 years; 2 months) defined…

The interaction between length and lexical status is one of the key findings used in support of models of reading aloud that postulate a serial process in the orthography-to-phonology translation (B. S. Weekes, 1997). However, proponents of parallel models argue that this effect arises in peripheral visual or articulatory processes. The authors…

Purpose: Natural reading experiences provide an opportunity for the development of orthographic word knowledge as well as other forms of partial word knowledge. The purpose of this study was to compare the orthographic word knowledge growth of school-age children with relatively low language skills (LL group) to that of age- and gender-matched…

The purpose of this study was twofold. First, this study was conducted to compare English communicative competency achievement between two different models of instruction. Adult English language learners (AELLs) participated in either the communicative task-based (CTB) or in a more traditional (MT) language instructional approach. The goal of the…

This study investigated the impact of Fast ForWord[R] products, specifically Fast ForWord[R] Literacy (FFL) and Fast ForWord[R] Reading Level 2 (FFR2), on sixth grade students' use of Standard Edited American English (SEAE). Fast ForWord[R] is a computer-based program that focuses on phonological awareness and makes use of modeled…

The dissertation begins by exploring specific issues in the history of Western philosophy, in particular the theory of language that underlies speculation about the possibility of ideographic writing. Starting with the "China Illustrata" of Athanasius Kircher, the first chapter proceeds to archaeo-historically excavate Kircher's…

This article examines the role of written and spoken English vis-a-vis written Chinese, Cantonese and Putonghua in the four key service industries that have driven Hong Kong's economy in the past decade. The study forms part of a long-standing and continuing investigation into the impact of Hong Kong's transition from British colony to Chinese…

Second language development could be achieved through various teaching or learning processes; however, employing multimedia has recently intruded the process in easing or complicating manners. This study has focused on the effectiveness of English subtitles on the EFL learner's vocabulary learning. The participants were 92 Iranian degree…

A substantial number of studies have examined the effects of grammar correction on second language (L2) written errors. However, most of the existing research has involved unidirectional written feedback. This classroom-based study examined the effects of oral negotiation in addressing L2 written errors. Data were collected in two intermediate…

To address the need for reform in undergraduate science education a new instructional model called "Argument-Driven Inquiry" (ADI) was developed and then implemented in a undergraduate chemistry course at a community college in the southeastern United States (Sampson, Walker, & Grooms, 2009; Walker, Sampson, & Zimmerman, in press). The ADI…

This longitudinal qualitative study investigates how cultural experiences of staying in Japan may affect attitudes and self-directed learning of kanji among learners of Japanese as a foreign language. Six beginner learners pursued semester-long weekly kanji learning sessions and their diachronic behaviours were observed and recorded for attitudes…

This study examined academic and social impairments of 6- to 11-year-old children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; n = 101) versus other referred children without ADHD (n = 53) and controls (n = 24). Parent and teacher ratings showed significantly lower academic performance and lower social functioning for children with ADHD…

This study of time use and entertainment choices of college students used a triangulated approach to discover how college students use and manage their time. From the data we gathered through time diaries, students indicated that the greatest amount of personal time is spent in some form of communication (talking face to face, texting, talking on…

Programmatic, multidisciplinary research provided converging brain, genetic, and developmental support for evidence-based diagnoses of three specific learning disabilities based on hallmark phenotypes (behavioral expression of underlying genotypes) with treatment relevance: dysgraphia (impaired legible automatic letter writing, orthographic…