Challenges the use of authentic language in the classroom, arguing that it is largely impossible to use authentic language in the classroom because the classroom itself cannot provide the contextual conditions necessary for the text to be authenticated by the learners. (Author/VWL)

Explains how and why the economics concept "value added" came to be used in an educational context, focusing on early usage in the United Kingdom. The term has been developed, used, and defined in various, conflicting ways. Some ambiguities cannot be eliminated. Value-added effectiveness measures involve value judgments. (44 references)…

Two studies examined efficacy of context reinstatement in enhancing 5- to 7-year olds' recall. Results showed that children exposed to a context reminder 24 hours before the six-month interview and children interviewed in the event context did not differ but reported significantly more information than children in standard interview. (Author/KB)

Examines the uses of observations generated during testing through (a) qualitative synthesis of available research literature, (b) a study of a national sample of children, and (c) a study of children referred for psychoeducational evaluations. Results demonstrate that behavioral and temperament qualities evaluated by test observations are related…

Reanalyzed data from Goodman's 1965 study of whether increased reading fluency related to increased dependence on context in the process of word recognition and repeated Goodman's procedure with first-third graders. Results found that reading fluency was not significantly associated with context use, though third graders improved significantly…

Describes contextual factors that exert influence on whether, when, and how people retire. Interview data helped identify important contextual factors, including organizational membership, occupational membership, work peers, and the history of opportunities. Depending on the circumstances, these factors can enhance or limit the range of…

Discusses the new quality movement in East European higher education following the political changes of the last decade. Explores the importance of context in definitions of quality and its absence in the region's discourse on meeting international quality standards. (EV)

Suggests that cognitivism does not imply outright rejection of decomposition and decontextualization in education, critically analyzing two movements based in part on this rejection (situated learning and constructivism). Debunks the assumption that knowledge is better acquired when provided in a context where it can be used. Sets forth a program…

Investigated how 50 preschoolers evaluated the appropriateness of excluding boys and girls from two types of activities and two types of future roles across different exclusion contexts. Found that straightforward gender-based exclusion was judged wrong. Decisions were justified on the basis of moral reasons. However, children used both moral and…

Article discusses various issues of a situated pedagogical practice by examining one teacher's experiences teaching during the U.S.-Iraq war. His course highlighted ways that cultural constructions of oppressive discourses enabled a plunge into war, looking at how and why context-specific interventions against oppression were considered and…

This study investigated whether 9-month-olds used phonotactic cues to segment words from fluent speech. Results suggested that 9-month-olds use probabilistic phonotactics to segment speech into words, and that high- probability between-word clusters are interpreted as both word onsets and word offsets. (Author/KB)

Examined the learning styles of undergraduate athletic trainers to determine their consistency in traditional classroom versus clinical settings. Students completed the Learning Styles Inventory twice, once focusing on learning new information in the classroom and once focusing on learning in the clinical setting. Learning styles shifted depending…

Discusses the cognitive and situative research approaches, identifying several points on which they agree (e.g., individual and social perspectives on activity are fundamental in education; learning can be general, and abstractions can be efficacious, but sometimes they are not; and situative and cognitive approaches can cast light on different…

Examines whether certain contextual conditions influence the effectiveness of HRD (human resource development) programs and activities, based on contingency theory. Discusses results from questionnaires completed by stakeholders of two types of HRD programs from companies in two economic sectors. (Author/LRW)

Presents a comparative study of the term "context" across three major research journals: "Research in the Teaching of English"; "Reading Research Quarterly"; and "Journal of Literacy Research." Shows that the most consistent finding reported across studies is that context makes a difference, but a clear understanding of what is meant by context…