Describes the use of a satellite TV "reportage" in a post A-level French language laboratory, and outlines follow-up speaking activities in two small-group classes. The "reportage" helped improve students' comprehension levels, provided speaking opportunities in different contexts, introduced French legal terms, and informed…

Discussion of the amount of mental effort children invest in television viewing versus book reading focuses on a Dutch study based on Salomon's model and his studies with children in Israel and the United States. The depth of information processed is discussed, and differences in results are examined. (18 references) (LRW)

Reports on research into the interactive roles played in the verbal comprehension processes by the sequence of textual elements, text-specific prior knowledge, and levels of language proficiency. Four cloze tests were administered to undergraduate and graduate native speakers of English and to undergraduate non-native speakers of English at three…

This article discusses findings from three studies investigating the effect of special instruction in sentence-combining on reading comprehension and writing skills. Results indicate significant gains among younger or still-developing students and focused gains among older students. (IAH)

Describes how the capabilities of the MacLang authoring system allow foreign language teachers to develop computer-assisted instruction that meets the listening skill objectives of foreign language courses. Examples are given of the use of audio and video interfaces that facilitate listening comprehension. (Author/CB)

Presents examples of activities and strategies that integrate different areas of the curriculum with social studies. Includes a method for improving student comprehension of text materials, activities for using textbooks as a teaching tool and for integrating data collection and analysis into social studies, and a technique for problem solving.…

Traces the theoretical sources of self-questioning instructional research. Summarizes such research in three areas: spelling; reading comprehension; and summarization. Considers important caveats on self-questioning instructional research and practice. Mentions nascent curriculum development that is explicitly based on metacognitive theory and…

Discusses ways that teachers may interact with children over texts in order to emphasize the following components of reading comprehension: understanding the meaning-making purpose of reading and writing; viewing reading as a problem-solving process; and learning to share and extend individual comprehension. (RAE)

Through story grammar instruction, low-achieving students are discovering that literature can be fun to read and perhaps have application to their own lives. (Author/TE)

A teaching approach to foreign language literary texts for introductory and intermediate levels consists of a three-phase sequence: 1) the preparatory phase provides linguistic activities and establishes comprehension; 2) the interpretive phase includes expression and exchange of student reactions; and 3) the synthesis phase provides for an…

Demonstrates with concrete examples from the texts of a German class for advanced learners how aspects of East German culture can be realized in vocabulary, in lectures, and in the development of listening comprehension and speaking skills. Texts are appended. (DJD)

This study investigated the effect of using computer-mediated reading supports on the reading comprehension and reading behavior of beginning learners of Arabic as a foreign language. Recommendations for future research are given as well as theoretical and pedagogical implications for second-language instruction. (eight references) (LRW)

Uses preschool tests of general verbal ability, verbal memory span, phonological awareness, lexical access speed and accuracy, and letter knowledge in preschool as independent measures predicting performance on second-grade reading comprehension, word discrimination, and word decoding speed. Finds differential main effects and interactions but a…

Incidental vocabulary learning from context and 2 factors that might influence it, access to a dictionary and verbal ability, were examined among 112 second-year university students. Results indicate that subjects learned more words while reading for meaning, but high verbal ability students and those using a dictionary learn more. (71 references)…

Investigated children's understanding of meaning of the cognitive verb "know" (as defined by an abstractness and conceptual difficulty hierarchy). Found that knowledge increased with development, and low levels of meaning were mastered before high levels, and more rapidly. Understanding in audio-taped stories was more difficult than in video-taped…