Aphasia causes significant disability and handicap among stroke survivors. Language therapy is recommended for aphasic patients, but not always available. Piracetam, an old drug with novel properties, has been shown to have mild beneficial effects on post-stroke aphasia. In the current study, we investigated the effects of 6 months treatment with…

Purpose: Speaking, which naturally occurs in different modes or "tasks" such as conversation and repetition, relies on intact basal ganglia nuclei. Recent studies suggest that voice and fluency parameters are differentially affected by speech task. In this study, the authors examine the effects of subcortical functionality on voice and fluency,…

Sequence learning is essential in cognition and underpins activities such as language and skill acquisition. One classical demonstration of sequence learning is that of the Hebb repetition effect, whereby serial recall improves over repetitions on a repeated list relative to random lists. When addressing the question of which mechanism underlies…

This study aims to investigate the relation of syntactic and discourse skills to morphological skills, rapid naming, and working memory in Chinese adolescent readers with dyslexia and to examine their cognitive-linguistic profiles. Fifty-two dyslexic readers (mean age, 13;42) from grade 7 to 9 in Hong Kong high schools were compared with 52…

The present study examines from the contingency opportunities perspective the influence of contextual factors on principals' learning-centered leadership using HLM. Participants were 18,641 school principals from 73 jurisdictions who participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009. Results showed that principals were…

Background: The development of intelligent, thinking performers as a central theme in physical education curriculum documents worldwide has highlighted the need for an evolution of teaching styles from the dominant reproductive approach. This has prompted an Australian university to change the content and delivery of a games unit within their…

This quantitative study investigated a summer school alternative to early grade retention. Prior existing second grade student achievement data was collected for students who were initially retained at the end of their first grade year over a two year period. All students were offered the opportunity to attend a promotional summer school program.…

Why are some words harder to learn than others? In a long-term CASLR (computer-assisted second language research) study, a vocabulary flashcard program that employs spaced repetition for explicit vocabulary training was used in order to arrive at data on the difficulty of individual words. The vocabulary content of a beginner's Welsh course was…

The study reported in this article investigated the use of input-based tasks with young, beginner learners of English as a second language by examining both learning outcomes (i.e. acquisition) and the interactions that resulted from implementing the tasks. The participants were 15 learners, aged six, with no experience of second language (L2)…

This article will describe two activities in which students conduct experiments with random numbers so they can see that having at least one repeated birthday in a group of 40 is not unusual. The first empirical approach was conducted by author Cauto in a secondary school methods course. The second empirical approach was used by author Flores with…

Retention is a frequently used strategy to support children who are struggling academically. However, the strategy is costly, and research findings with regard to positive outcomes are mixed. This study examined whether efficacious reading instruction might reduce rates of retention in first grade. We also evaluated the reading instruction the…

Humans are fragile beings easily influenced by the verbal behaviors of others. Spoken words can have a multitude of effects on an individual, and the phrases and statements teachers use in their classrooms on a daily basis have the potential to be either detrimental or inspirational. As increasing numbers of students arrive at schools from broken…

Numerous research studies have demonstrated the economic value of investing in effective early education programs that cognitively, socially, and emotionally prepare low-income children at risk of school failure for success in school. School readiness prevents or reduces needless public spending, starting with K-12 special education and lasting…

Sentence repetition (SR) tasks have been used to measure children's expressive language skills in normal and abnormal language development, and to examine the development of the speaking skills in second language acquisition, as well as to survey the proficiency of bilingual language development. Recently, SR tasks have been recognized as a…

Repeating an item in a brief or rapid display usually produces faster or more accurate identification of the item (repetition priming), but sometimes produces the opposite effect (repetition blindness). We present a theory of short-term repetition effects, the "competition hypothesis," which explains these paradoxical outcomes. The central tenet…