This study evaluated the feasibility and outcomes of a parent-implemented phonological awareness (PA) intervention for young children with specific language impairment. The intervention was delivered within the context of 40 parent-child shared storybook reading sessions conducted over a 10-week period in the families' homes. Children in an…

The MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (CDI; Dale, 1996; Fenson et al., 1994), parent reports about language skills, are being used increasingly in studies of theoretical and public health importance. This study (N=113) correlated scores on the CDI at ages 2 and 3 years with scores at age 3 years on tests of cognition and…

This study investigated semantic transfer in second language (L2) learning and provided a replication of the author's study (Jiang, 2002) in a different English as a Second Language (ESL) population. Korean ESL speakers were asked to perform a semantic judgment task in which they decided whether or not 2 English words were related in meaning. Two…

We tracked the evolvement of naming-related cortical dynamics with magnetoencephalography when five normal adults successfully learned names and/or meanings of unfamiliar objects. In all subjects, the learning of new names was associated with pronounced cortical effects. The learning effect was of long latency and emerged as a change of activation…

This study investigated whether exposing Kindergarten children to metacognitive language results in a greater conceptual understanding of mental states, and increased production and comprehension of metacognitive vocabulary. Over a 4-week period, parents, teachers and graduate assistants read about 70 picture books to each participant (N=48, mean…

This study aimed at comparing the performance of two bilingual groups of EFL students with that of a monolingual group on a controlled productive ability vocabulary test. Altogether 30 Turkish-Persian bilinguals, 30 Armenian-Persian bilinguals, and 30 Persian monolinguals participated in the study. The subjects in all three groups were homogeneous…

This paper explores "fast mapping", one of several processes that have been proposed to be involved in the rapid vocabulary expansion observed in the preschool years. An adaptation of a receptive word matching task examined how well children retained a just-mapped relation between word and referent when some information was later missing.…

It is essential for students to think clearly about fundamental biological concepts. One of the benefits of writing is that it promotes and enhances thinking. If students can write clearly, they are thinking clearly. Writing helps to connect new knowledge with prior knowledge and promotes the construction of knowledge. Writing-to-learn activities…

The target for the year 2004 is that 70% of all 14-year-olds should achieve Level 5 English. This figure rises to 85% for 2007. "Schools that are beginning to work on literacy across subjects...are asked to prioritise objectives from the "Framework for teaching English: years 7-9"" (Department for Education and Employment,…

The issue of properly identifying and assessing the instructional needs of new- or second-language learners of English suspected of having a learning disability continues to plague educational practitioners. This article discusses the merging of curriculum-based measurement and dynamic assessment as a process to support appropriate prereferral…

The introduction of quilt pattern consisting of many quilt blocks formed by congruent triangles, for writing by the students in the geometry classrooms, is studied. It is found that the students enjoyed this method and writing also helped in understanding the geometric concepts expanding their vocabulary in geometry.

Minority students' English learning is a special and an indispensable component of English education system in China. This article studies students' linguistic knowledge that live in Northwestern China--Gan Nan Autonomy State of Gan Su Province with majority population of Tibetan, mixed with Chinese and some Muslim. An analogous analysis is…

Many factors influence students' reading practices. In the case of international students, home country educational practices and socio-cultural factors may pose a greater influence than for local students. This study reported here, part of a larger study, investigated the intertextual framing practices used in reading by a cohort of Thai…

The action research project report began when the teacher researchers determined that students at Sites A and B struggled with reading achievement. The purpose of the project was to improve students' reading achievement through increased motivation, specific skill instruction, and additional practice time. The project involved 26 students: 17…

This report presents preliminary findings from the Reading First Impact Study, a congressionally mandated evaluation of the federal government initiative to help all children read at or above grade level by the end of third grade. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) established Reading First and mandated its evaluation. This document is…