Describes the use of silent film classics as a way to teach reading, vocabulary, and grammar and to stimulate interest in reading books related to the movies shown. (TJ)

Some games for developing children's reading skills are described. (JD)

There is a significant relation between the ability to spell words and an understanding of their meaning. (JD)

Investigated the role of peer language imitation in preschool children's vocabulary acquisition. Study I involved natural observations of children in day care situations. In Study II, children were introduced by naive peers was observed. (Author/SB)

Amateur word users turn professional with an eight-step training technique. (Editor)

Argues that the "interview" is a flexible device for language teaching useful for presenting complicated structures and vocabulary or to allow students to create complex "conversations" on specialized topics. Presents the text of an interview suitable for translation or as a model. (three references) (Author/CK)

Investigated young children's ability to use narrative contexts to infer the meanings of novel vocabulary terms. Two groups of 15 7-and 8-year-olds participated; children with normally developing reading comprehension skills and children with weak reading comprehension skill. Results are discussed. (Author/VWL)

Suggests that teachers should try to use a source-based approach to teaching vocabulary. Explains that a source-based approach starts with basic concepts of human languages and then works with lexical and metaphorical extensions of these basic words. Notes that the purpose of this approach is to find groups of words that can be taught as webs and…

Describes using "magic squares" for vocabulary development and assessment, in combination with various everyday Australian words that differ from American usage. (SR)

This article describes the German word game, Lex-Olympics, which provides students with an entertaining way to learn German vocabulary and grammar. Questions are presented in multiple choice format, and twenty different topics are available for three different levels of difficulty (beginning, intermediate, advanced). (AP)

Discusses techniques English-as-a-Foreign-Language learners can use to learn words in context. Highlights using structural clues, inference clues, and guessing. (Author/VWL)

Examined the rate at which vocabulary was learned from reading the 400 headword graded reader "A Little Princess." To ascertain whether words of different frequency of occurrence were more likely to be learned and retained or forgotten, 25 words within five bands of differing frequency of occurrence were selected. Results show words can be learned…

Considers that the comparison between children's success in learning new names in the Harry Potter books versus the relative failure of adults to learn new names connected to the September 11th attacks provides a real-world situation from which principles can be deduced to help educators succeed in teaching vocabulary lessons. Offers classroom…

Describes how Reading Recovery addresses one part of Michigan's plan--the five essential components of reading--and helps more than 700 Michigan schools address the state's literacy initiatives. Discusses the five essential components of reading: phonemic awareness; phonics; vocabulary development; fluency; and comprehension. (SG)

Compares the spelling development of two novel English phonemes among 35 Cantonese-speaking primary level children learning English as a second language (ESL) and 37 English-speaking (L1) children. Notes that performance of ESL children was very close to that of L1 children by end of grade 2. Suggests an interactive relationship between a general…