Presents descriptions and examples of processes used by French-as-a-Second-Language instructors to teach vocabulary, reporting qualitative analyses of classroom transcripts and pedagogical materials used to teach. Teachers emphasized semantic aspects of lexis; lexical instruction in analytic and experiential classes was characterized by similar…

Investigates children's early lexical development in English and Korean and compares caregivers' linguistic input in the two languages. Results indicate that young Korean children use verbs productively with appropriate inflections and that, unlike in English, both verbs and nouns in Korean are dominant categories from the single-word stage. (39…

Sixty third-grade English learners received one of three treatments: listening to a story in English with no intervention or explanation, listening to the story with concurrent Spanish translation, or listening to the story with preview of background and review of important points in Spanish. Vocabulary development scores were highest among the…

The efficacy of screening two-year-old children for language delay using a parent report questionnaire was investigated in three related studies. Parents' reports of children's expressive vocabulary size was highly correlated with clinical language measures at age two, but somewhat less accurate at predicting developmental status a year later. (DB)

This study compared effects of two variations of the constant-time-delay (CTD) procedure on the observational learning of content area vocabulary by seven primary grade students with learning disabilities in a small group instructional setting. Both conditions (every student writes all words or only target student writes) were equally effective…

Each month, "Curriculum Review" offers teachers mutual support, the sharing of ideas, and words of encouragement to help them face challenges in the classroom. The May 2004 issue of "Curriculum Review" contains the following articles: (1) "Inspiring Words for Educators"; (2) "We Hear from Readers"; (3) "Last Month in Education"; (4) "What They're…

This study examined low-income, Spanish-speaking, immigrant Latina mothers' book sharing behaviors in relation to their children's vocabulary. Participants were 47 3-year-old children and their mothers. We addressed two research questions: (a) What interactive behaviors are evident when low-income immigrant Latina mothers and their 3-year-old…

A significant body of research suggests that wide differences in concept and vocabulary knowledge exacerbate the achievement gap among students, especially in schools with large numbers of children of poverty. Educators sometimes attribute this difference to the Matthew effect: the sad reality that having a well-developed vocabulary allows a…

Although teachers face increasing pressure to focus on academics in kindergarten, research indicates that promoting school success in young children involves integrating skills in multiple domains. For example, by using dialogic reading--a well-researched shared-reading technique--and books with strong social-emotional content, teachers can…

The authors recommend a reading tutoring lesson framework, in a checklist format, to guide volunteer tutors during tutoring sessions for children in elementary grades 1-3. The reading tutor checklist is intended to be used by literacy coaches, reading specialists, and classroom teachers to train literacy volunteers in schools. The checklist…

The authors' objective in this article was to explore the accuracy of mothers' estimates concerning their children's developmental functioning, especially with respect to vocabulary and gross motor development, by comparing the results of diagnostic tests administered to both the children and their mothers. The authors studied 55 children with…

Whilst the communicative approach advocates the use of the target language and implicit/incidental learning in vocabulary teaching, recent literature suggests that there is a need for these methods to be reconsidered. This is motivated by studies which suggest that for effective vocabulary learning process to occur explicit learning should be…

This study investigated growth in reading, vocabulary, and memory in children (ages 5 to 10) learning English as a second language identified at risk for reading disabilities (RD). A growth curve analysis showed that RD children were significantly below children not at risk in English and Spanish reading, Spanish short-term memory (STM), Spanish…

Children arrive in classrooms with varied background knowledge, which means that teachers must select instructional methods, materials, and techniques to meet multiple needs. A carefully planned approach that includes direct and explicit instruction--as well as extensive opportunities for reading, writing, speaking, and listening--can help…

Listening comprehension is a difficult skill for foreign language learners to develop and for their teachers to assess. In designing suitable listening tests, teachers can provide various forms of support to reduce the demands of the task for the test takers. This study investigated the effects of four types of listening support: previewing the…