Examines how old age is portrayed in 35 popular plays for children. Suggests ways children's theatre can help children form positive attitudes on aging. (PD)

Basic manual transcription procedure is outlined and three methods of generating transcripts are considered separately: completely manual preparation, manual and computer combined, and online processing and monitoring by computer. Factors such as initial equipment investment, person hours, cost of copying and modifying transcripts, and reduction…

Discusses the results of an examination of the scripts used in eight television programs popular with teenagers that indicate that viewers are exposed to short, simple sentences and largely unsophisticated language structures. (AEA)

Discusses ways that elementary social studies teachers can use television as a teaching tool. Book tie-ins, actual television scripts, the magazine, "Teachers Guide to Television," the use of materials on critical viewing skills, and the production of television shows on videocassettes by students are examined. (RM)

This study focused on whether reading instruction based on popular youth-oriented television programs increases task involvement or reading achievement scores. After one year, reading scores of classes using television scripts, in addition to regular materials, were significantly higher than those of nontreatment classes. (JN)

Presents a sample of college and university screenwriting programs for writers and directors. Includes opinions of faculty and professionals in the field of writing on the specific objectives of screenwriting courses, as well as methods of teaching. (JMF)

Describes the Danish Film School's program in screenwriting. Three faculty members offer insights into their objectives in teaching and the emphasis they each place on various aspects of writing. (JMF)

Explains the development of standardized coding for digital text, especially for multilingual text, that has culminated in the Unicode standard. Topics include the University of Michigan's Humanities Text Initiative (HTI); a history of character sets; transliteration; non-Roman languages; fonts; and barriers to adoption of the Unicode standard. A…

A teacher describes using melodrama as a way to combine the elements of humor and drama to engage the imaginations of young gifted children. Techniques for use with elementary through junior high students are presented along with the script of a play for first or second graders, with the last lines left blank for students to supply their own…

Argues that the construction of a performance script permits the modification of the original text in order to render that original theatrically communicative in the present. Notes that the dominant concerns of script modification are in how to negotiate audience expectations. Describes three types of textual deviation: nonverbal alteration;…

Argues that video technology can provide a motivational tool for learning and practicing language arts skills. Describes the steps in a video production process as analogous to the steps in the writing process. (RS)

Provides a guide for helping students perform melodramas via the intercom. The benefits include motivating students to read and heightening student self-esteem. Suggests five elements for a successful performance: a clearly written script, rehearsals, optimal voice levels and microphone distance, an introduction by the principal, and…

Describes some of the Shakespeare software available to educators. Explains some of its applications in the secondary school language arts classroom. Shows how Shakespeare texts on disc allow students to cut sections of the play to enhance their own performances (for example, a 20-minute version of "Much Ado About Nothing") and how…

Results of an empirical study of the learners' language of a group of Chinese language students show that topic-controlled deletion is a prominent feature in Chinese that is distinctly different from English and that it may result in English speakers' difficulty in forming Chinese topic chains. (nine references) (LB)