Keyword mnemonics compares favorably to other devices for learning words in a foreign language. The keyword approach provides both an acoustic link between a native-language word and the second-language word and an image of the keyword interacting with the native-language word or phrase. (LMO)

The goals of the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania school district's fourth- through sixth-grade Latin program are to extend the English verbal capabilities of children, broaden their cultural horizons, enable students to understand and speak Latin within an appropriate cultural context, and stimulate interest in the study of modern and classical foreign…

Answers of undergraduate Brazilian English as a foreign language students (N=40) to an open-ended and a multiple-choice reading comprehension test revealed that three prereading activities (pictorial context, vocabulary preteaching, and prequestioning) resulted in higher reading comprehension. (Author/CB)

When parents of learning-disabled nine- to eleven-year-olds (N=12) used a teacher-made game for a home program designed to provide additional practice on reading vocabulary lists, a clear and positive relationship was found between the number of minutes spent playing the game and the number of words learned. (CB)

Suggests that those who evaluate textbooks for adoption in schools use a framework such as the one included, which examines writing style, tone, analogies and illustrations, sentence and paragraph coherence, headings and subheadings, and location of charts, graphs, and figures. (JC)

The relationship between the source language (Spanish) and the target language (French) in the construction of lexis during target language acquisition was examined in two case studies, leading to the hypothesis that there are both systematic and nonsystematic approaches to the construction of lexis used by Hispanophones learning French.…

A study compared the vocabulary learning/use and social and communication growth of eight severely handicapped (six with Downs Syndrome) nonoral toddlers under two conditions; (1) a microcomputer-based approach; and (2) traditional language intervention techniques. Results indicated no differential effect for either treatment condition. (Author/CB)

Presents a detailed case study of an English as a second language linked-skills course in child care piloted in the West Midlands area of England. Background information to the course is followed by details of recruitment, the syllabus, classroom practice, assessment, and some of the outcomes. (Author/SED)

The study sought to ascertain whether four structurally different instructional strategies would have statistically significant differential effects on the science and reading-language skills of seventh-grade students. The findings indicated that the three experimental strategies and one control method did have differential effects on the…

Suggests using the Hispanic literature of the American Southwest to teach Spanish in elementary school. Describes specific classroom practices using, as an example, a specific short story as well as games and activities that can be used in conjunction with the story. (SED)

Justifies the teaching of vocabulary recognition strategies from vocabulary development exercises and reviews five such strategies. These strategies are: (1) inferring from context, (2) identifying lexical familiarization, (3) unchaining nominal compounds, (4) synonym search, and (5) word analysis. (Author/SED)

Assesses the performance of bilingual children on two language tasks in both the children's languages in order to determine whether the profile of skills in the first language was replicated in the second language. (HOD)

Results suggest that there are no pervasive Catholic-school effects. Public schools had a small advantage in science and civics; Catholic schools had an advantage in reading, vocabulary, mathematics, and writing. All of the effects were very small. On average, the Catholic-school advantage was only about five percent of a standard deviation.…

Advocates the use of incidental vocabulary learning to assist students in vocabulary expansion and reading comprehension. Addresses the issues of the number of words students would have to know to make substantial gains and what type of word knowledge is necessary to facilitate reading comprehension. (ML)

Provides suggestions for teaching multisyllable words to remedial readers, incorporating romantic fiction into a reading program, and using content writing activities in a biology class. (HOD)