Focuses on the need to provide English-as-a-Second-Language learners with preparatory training to ensure more effective communicative interaction during group work conducted in the classroom. Findings indicate that Israeli students exposed to training in the skilled use of interaction strategies used significantly more modified-interaction and…

Argues that one method of successfully raising learners' awareness of the sociocultural rules of speaking a foreign language is to invite them to become researchers of that language. Concludes that while the acquisition of pragmatic competence is a slow process, appropriate activities enhance the learners' chances for academic, professional, and…

Examines design and evaluation of computer-based role-playing. University students (n=41) were divided into two groups to use instructional programs with and without computer-based role-playing. Findings indicated that computer-based role-playing enhanced interpersonal skills development by employing a conversational model, offering opportunities…

Studied adolescent personal and interpersonal characteristics, including social competence and thoughts on friendship and romantic interests during a camp reunion. Found that concurrent interest in relationships is a stronger predictor of social competence for participants with anxious histories, although participants with secure histories were…

Simply placing young people in workplaces does not guarantee they will learn. This article discusses seven effectiveness principles (governing technical competence, breadth, personal/social competence, expectations and feedback, teaching roles, academic achievement, and career paths) and recommendations derived from a youth apprenticeship program…

Presents a conceptual framework from Cleveland's (Ohio) George Gund Foundation youth violence prevention initiative to assist planners and funders effectively and creatively address youth violence in their communities. It presents an overview of current approaches to youth violence and treatment and a means for identifying, categorizing, and…

This article discusses the interaction of infant social and cognitive development, and presents preliminary findings from a longitudinal study of infants with and without Down syndrome. Evidence suggests that the development of triadic (person-person-world) social interactions may be affected by limited information processing capacities in infants…

Describes a study that developed formative, self-regulated multimedia self-assessment via the Internet of social-communicative competencies for social work students. Discusses a pilot study that was used to design guidelines for the development of the assessment instrument to incorporate students' perceptions, instructional preferences, and…

Examined stability and change from middle childhood to middle adolescence in participants' perceptions of their friendship-making ability and their friends' deviant behavior. Although perceptions were not highly stable over 5 years, participants perceived their friendship-making ability as greater during childhood than during adolescence;…

Three focus groups examined stress and conflict among 30 older African American women in Boston. Stress stemmed from worries about functional disability, accessing transportation, conflicts with family and peers, and grandchildren's lack of respect. Participants tended to use avoidant strategies to deal with stress and conflict. A training program…

This study examined a model of emotional, cognitive, and behavior predictors of peer acceptance in 201 early elementary school students. Findings indicated that social skills mediated the effect of emotion knowledge on same- and opposite-sex social preference. However, social skills and verbal ability were more strongly related to opposite-sex…

The First Step to Success program was implemented with 22 kindergartners who showed early signs of developing antisocial behaviors. All 16 who completed the program showed significantly increased levels of academic engaged time, with follow-up levels generally maintained at acceptable levels. Overall behavioral improvement was significant but…

Describes the High/Scope Preschool Curriculum, an approach that supports young children's learning and enables children, particularly those at risk, to achieve greater school success and adult socioeconomic status. Discusses the central principles of curriculum: active learning, positive adult-child interactions, child-centered learning…

A case study of an academically gifted college student who committed suicide resulted in three sets of findings: those that reflected exclusively on the subject's life, those that compared his life with 3 previous psychological autopsies conducted, and those that reflected the parents' observations and experiences of his life. (Contains…

This article reviews the extent and quality of empirical literature on social interaction for young children with autism, reviews existing descriptive and experimental research on relations between autism and characteristics that support social development, highlights possible directions for future research, and summarizes recommendations for…