Discusses the results of presenting an animated movie conveying the theme of preserving the natural environment to non-English-speaking Mexican children in English-as-a-Second-Language classes as a stimulus for concentrating on English comprehension. Findings indicate that 42% of the students reviewed showed English comprehension and 30% described…

Notes that beginning foreign language learner-readers lack linguistic and cultural knowledge assumed in foreign language literary texts, gaps often resulting in possible "mismatches" between the readers' actual cognizance of linguistic and cultural norms and the level of understanding assumed in the foreign text. (40 references) (Author/CK)

Presents the results of four versions of an English-as-a-Second-Language listening test: one with questions before, one with questions after, one with questions sandwiched between two hearings and one without questions. Subjects completed questionnaires and wrote a free recall. Results from the recall were inconclusive, but in the tests, the…

Describes five writing activities and assignments designed to help students understand the content of social studies and the process of writing. These include student journals, biographical poems, elaborate word games, and creative writing exercises. Illustrative examples relate these to social studies issues. (MJP)

There is evidence to suggest that mature students learn particularly effectively in a problem-solving environment, and that they appear to be especially responsive to analogies and metaphors. Three examples are given of domains where the student has to convert a formulation into an equivalent diagram. Arguably, the process of performing this…

Separates the effects of prior knowledge and topic interest on second language reading comprehension. English-as-a-Second-Language students in an English for academic purposes program read passages and took multiple-choice comprehension tests on topics for which they had all four possible combinations of high and low topic interest and high and…

This follow-up study of a classroom experiment with university English-as-a-Second-Language students that demonstrated incidental acquisition of new lexical knowledge through the reading of thematically-related texts explores how vocabulary knowledge may be acquired as a by-product of reading for comprehension. Findings are interpreted in terms of…

Describes a staff development effort at a small, predominantly Native American elementary school. Staff developers attempted to improve teachers' ability work on reading comprehension, but their development methods were unsuccessful. They realized that they had to match their work with teachers with the school culture and to listen to the teachers…

Interviews Michelle Winslow, a fourth-grade teacher, and Pat Previte, a sixth-grade teacher in Massachusetts. Explains that the two teachers have a common vision for all students: one of engaged, strategic readers who can apply reading skills across all areas of the curriculum. Notes that the pair has transformed their reading instruction by…

Presents findings from a 9-month ethnographic study of cross-cultural learning for the purpose of helping teachers better understand classroom conditions and behaviors that support and hinder students' comprehension of teachers' spoken language. Follows an 8-year-old native English speaker in an Icelandic classroom. Suggests that…

Presents a qualitative analysis of a transcript of a critical-thinking reading lesson designed for sixth grade students. The analysis illustrates the relationship between critical thinking and reading comprehension and demonstrates that critical thinking can be promoted in everyday classroom instruction using regular classroom materials. (JD)

Reports the impact of metadiscourse on sixth grade students' learning and attitudes. Finds that low-comfort students learn more when informational metadiscourse is presented in interpersonal voice and high-comfort students learn less. Finds that students' attitudes are more tolerant of opinions if they read just one type of metadiscourse. (KEH)

Examines how cultural schemata influence American and Palauan students' reported strategies and their reading comprehension. Finds that students predominantly use processing strategies categorized under awareness development and intrasentential ties establishment for culturally unfamiliar passages. Finds that students use intersentential ties and…

This study analyzed storybook reading sessions involving a mother and her three-year-old twin daughters, one of whom was deaf. The mother asked the hearing twin almost twice as many questions as she asked of the deaf twin, and asked the hearing twin primarily conventional test questions, but she asked the deaf twin more gestural questions.…

Four language classroom activities are described, including a geography unit focusing on the Paris/province contrast and use of maps as authentic documents; a reading exercise teaching comprehension of an article on French family economics; an oral communication activity about European countries; and a year-long project on business administration…