Describes the history, curriculum, and methodology of elementary school foreign-language (FL) learning within Waldorf schools, using information from Waldorf FL teachers, class observations, and research readings. Waldorf students study two FLs. An oral/choral method is used in the early years. Reading, writing, and formal grammar are introduced…

Demonstrates the ways in which dialog journal communication can benefit both teachers and students. The trauma of migration and resettlement related in the dialog journal is discussed briefly, the methods of the study are outlined, and the journal communication with one student is analyzed. (22 references) (CK)

Focuses on the similarities and differences between the rhetorical structure of some Slavonic and English scientific texts. The study tests the assumption that scientific discourse has universal features that are language-independent. Results point to differences between the two types of rhetorical patterns resulting from cultural and academic…

Investigates the contribution of markedness and learning principles to second language (L2)acquisition. Korean language learners of English completed a written sentence-combining task and a written grammaticality judgment task. Results show subjects acquire English relative clauses in the same order and suggests that L2 learners have dual access…

A study examined specific word- and sentence-level features most frequently used in the expository writing of 87 college students with learning disabilities, 50 with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, 58 with both disabilities, and 92 controls. Very high correlations were found between verbosity, quality, and lexical complexity. (Contains…

Presents results of an exploratory study on advanced-level French second language (L2) learners' metalinguistic awareness. Specifically, learner performance was examined carrying out three steps of a written and oral grammaticality judgment test. Subjects' ability to identify and correct an error, and to provide the rule, were examined, and…

Discusses computer-mediated communication (CMC) and computer-assisted language learning and explains how second language learners become communicatively fluent through a text-based CMC setting. Highlights include how asynchronous and synchronous CMC can support learners' cognitive processes; and models for combining text-based CMC with spoken…

A cross-sectional study with Dutch first language learners from Grades 2,4, and 6 was conducted to investigate their ability to derive word meaning from written context. Used a multicomponential measure that involved the percentage of correct attributes, inclusion of false attributes, and contextualization. (Author/VWL)

Two hundred and four 5- and 6-year-olds who were monolingual English-, bilingual English-Chinese-, or Chinese-speaking children beginning to learn English (2nd-language learners) were compared on phonological awareness and word decoding tasks in English and Chinese. Phonological awareness developed in response to language exposure and instruction…

High/Scope's approach to education is a blend of Jean Piaget's constructivist theory of child development and the best of traditional teacher experience. The High/Scope approach is about helping students gain knowledge and skills in important content areas, such as language and literacy, initiative and social relations, movement, music, and…

The historical development of written Japanese has resulted in an extremely complex system. Modern Japanese is usually written in logosyllabic script consisting of a combination of "kanji," the Chinese characters, and "kana," the Japanese syllables originally formed from them. There are two types of "kana," the…

One of the difficulties secondary non-Chinese-speaking background (NCSB) learners are facing is to remember the characters learned in order to recall them when necessary. The traditional way of teaching secondary NCSB learners to remember Chinese characters is through mere repetition, e.g. writing out each single character by following its stroke…

This paper focuses on an information gap task that was part of a larger critical action research project that sought to expand talk opportunities for children in multilingual classrooms. Little of the previous research on tasks and language learning has focused on children learning English as an additional language in the context of diverse,…

This report summarizes the results of three studies concerning the Reading Recovery or Descubriendo la Lectura program with first-grade California students. Studies were conducted using state-wide data obtained during 1993-94 programs to determine if the program was an effective intervention for children with difficulty in learning to read. The…

Four areas of consideration are crucial to the development of an effective English-as-a-Second-Language writing program: the nature of basic writers; acquisition of written language; approaches to teaching basic writing; and classroom strategies. Basic writers are students who have studied writing for years but are still unable to produce…