This paper describes the complex issues that block the language teacher's progress towards better teaching and learning. The issues are problematic, for they involve political, financial, organizational, and sociological concerns. All teachers need encouragement in the form of central support, improved career prospects, and value attributed to…

Five current theoretical approaches to second language learning are examined: practice, problem-solving, creative construction, monitoring, and personality development. The points in each approach that are most controversial and those that require further clarifying research are reviewed. It is concluded that in at least three major areas,…

Using W. Brockriede's model of constructs, experience, and argument, this paper shows how teacher-student communication can be enhanced through the application of the principles of rhetoric. Following a brief introduction, the first part of the paper deals with the centrality of rhetoric to the education process, then discusses rhetoric as method.…

A study was conducted to investigate incidental learning of word meanings from context during normal reading. Subjects were 129 third grade, 85 fifth grade, and 138 seventh grade students of differing comprehension ability who first completed a vocabulary checklist containing target words and distractors, then read either expository or narrative…

Comparisons of expert and novice problem solving in physics have helped characterize some of the key features of expert behavior. There is considerable debate, however, as to whether these characteristics are specific to the field of expertise (physics) or exportable to other fields. While the question seems difficult to answer in general, at…

To clarify the perceptions of college freshmen regarding the kind of teaching they experienced in public schools and how those experiences relate to the split-brain theory, a study surveyed 241 first-semester college freshmen from the fall of 1984 to the fall of 1987 at Southwest Missouri State University. Only students who had completed at least…

This study used the sense-making approach of message-q/ing to examine how individuals arrive at an understanding of new technology, in this case, word processing. Subjects were 10 computer naive undergraduate students learning to use word processing as part of a course requirement. Using the WordStar program manual, subjects employed the…

This paper examines research studies that have concluded that elementary school children can learn more difficult and abstract social studies concepts than are taught in the traditional social studies curriculum. Research studies that focus on constraints on cognition, the use of embedded concepts, and understanding knowledge restructuring and…

This review of the literature on the workings of the brain in relation to learning and instructional design reviews recent research on both long- and short-term memory, and discusses findings on lateralized or "split-brain" functions. Problems associated with short-term memory are also considered, and the concept of the Tribune Brain is…

While interest in second language vocabulary knowledge has increased, vocabulary testing remains largely confined to the quantitative measurement of discrete items. More qualitative measures are needed to assess how well particular words are known. Research has characterized word knowledge in two ways: as a set of components or aspects, and as an…

To investigate the reasons that tutoring is effective, a study was conducted of what happened during a series of tutoring sessions, and the effects of these events on students' behaviors and tutoring outcomes were analyzed. A total of 48 tutoring sessions, which included 6 tutors and approximately 25 college student-athletes, were tape-recorded by…

A social learning theory approach to counselor supervision is conceptualized as a teaching-learning situation, in which counseling is viewed as a specific, trainable set of skills. In light of this approach, a four quarter graduate counselor education program, focusing specifically on the training of social learning therapists, is proposed. The…

A secondary school curriculum which includes a significant focus on individual developmental goals is proposed. Emphasis is placed on students' intellectual development, self-management, and interpersonal and small group involvement. The basic content of the developmental curriculum is summarized to include acquisition of the knowledge to: (1)…

To test the hypothesis that a large proportion of school children's vocabulary growth occurs through incidental learning from written context, a study was conducted using 57 eighth grade students of average and above average reading ability. The subjects read a 1,000 word expository or narrative text. After reading, subjects completed two…

This research investigated the value students attached to the laboratory activities while studying physics using the learning cycle curriculum construction and teaching procedures. Among the procedures used to supply students laboratory data were video-taped demonstrations, "live" teacher demonstration, presenting data in written form…