Reflecting an intensified concern for good educational research on instruction, the papers in this collection demonstrate the growing awareness of and sensitivity to the classroom environment by reading researchers. The 51 articles, selected from those presented at the 1981 meeting of the National Reading Conference, are divided into the following…

A study was conducted to investigate incidental learning of word meanings from context during normal reading. Subjects were 129 third grade, 85 fifth grade, and 138 seventh grade students of differing comprehension ability who first completed a vocabulary checklist containing target words and distractors, then read either expository or narrative…

German second language instructional materials contain a short text in German on mountain climbing in the Alps, a vocabulary list with translation, a simple German climbing song, a recipe for goulash soup in English, and a short text in English on mountain climbing. (MSE)

Six captioned illustrations present humorous situations for classroom discussion. A list of appropriate German vocabulary words and phrases (and English translations) accompanies each illustration. (MSE)

A study proposed a sequenced process for inferring word meaning from context in order to investigate experimentally where, within the process, differences between learners of varying skill occur, and to discover the kinds of information students need in order to acquire vocabulary most effectively. Six five-step tasks, each designed around an…

Independent reading can serve as a practical context for linking vocabulary and comprehension and is a feasible strategy that complements other instructional approaches while it expands word knowledge in a naturalistic setting. Teachers should serve as reading models while students engage in silent reading, but teachers should also be cautious…

While interest in second language vocabulary knowledge has increased, vocabulary testing remains largely confined to the quantitative measurement of discrete items. More qualitative measures are needed to assess how well particular words are known. Research has characterized word knowledge in two ways: as a set of components or aspects, and as an…

A lesson is presented that is designed to assist intermediate and advanced students of Spanish in both language proficiency and cultural understanding. Entirely in Spanish, the lesson focuses on the character of Tio Conejo, a well-known figure in Latin American folklore, offering insight into the significant contribution made to Hispanic…

Two experiments examining the "distinctiveness of encoding" hypothesis are reported. The hypothesis suggests that specific forms of processing of events may result in the formation of more exact perceptual descriptions and thus more distinctive records in memory. The two experiments reported address shortcomings in previous research on…

To test the hypothesis that a large proportion of school children's vocabulary growth occurs through incidental learning from written context, a study was conducted using 57 eighth grade students of average and above average reading ability. The subjects read a 1,000 word expository or narrative text. After reading, subjects completed two…

Designed to help the teacher introduce study skills to students in the fifth, sixth, and seventh grades, this teacher's guide describes a series of 14 activity-oriented units, most of which require one period of class time. The units in the guide focus on such topics as (1) learning to listen, (2) tuning into directions, (3) putting ideas…

The 14 activity-oriented units described in this study skills guide for students in the fifth, sixth, and seventh grades are designed to assist in the development of necessary study skills at most levels of competence and to reinforce already existing skills. The units in the guide also attempt to incorporate as much student activity as possible,…

The Grid Systems is a phonetic learning device designed by McGinley (1982) to develop adult vocabulary. The name is derived from the fact that the student workbook is set up on a grid, with the top of the page showing the vowel sounds and the left side the consonant sounds. Words are formed on the grid where these sounds combine (some of the…

A proposal that the English as a second language (ESL) curriculum should initially focus on psycholinguistic reading is discussed. It is claimed that effective reading is difficult to achieve using the present ordering of the ESL curriculum. This is because of the heavy focus on learning active command of grammatical detail during the early,…

This handbook (the last in a series of six) suggests many classroom activities that are interrelated with all the other areas of the language arts, particularly reading and writing, and that encourage the use of the library media center, mass media, textbooks, and audiovisual aids. The activities are designed to help pupils gain new insights into…