A basic principle of second language learning is the need to negotiate meaning in any language-learning situation. Once meaning is established, comprehension follows. Clusters of meaning result in schemata, which serve as the basis for sustained communication and ultimately, permanence of language learning. The comprehension approach to second…

This study determined if the use of visual imagery and verbal rehearsal would benefit readers who had third or fourth grade reading level ability. Readily available trade materials were used each totalling approximately 400 to 600 words in length and containing novel content to eliminate the possibility of prior knowledge. The study used the…

This report presents an external summative evaluation plan for the Self-Directed Workplace Distance Learning for Developmental Disabilities Workers Project, a partnership between the Center for Advanced Study of Education and the Civil Service Employees Association, Inc., with the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental…

An external summative evaluation was conducted for the Self-Directed Workplace Distance Learning for Developmental Disabilities Workers Project, a partnership between the Center for Advanced Study of Education and the Civil Service Employees Association, Inc., with the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities. Its…

This compilation of evaluation materials for a distance learning program for mental retardation/developmental disabilities workers is divided into pretests and posttests. Section 1, Pretests, provides instructions for participants and the job-related reading, writing, and problem solving inventory. The inventory, Communication Skills for Office of…

This paper explores the ways diverse elementary school students may be taught to understand and respond constructively to social and interpersonal conflict, by studying the implemented curriculum in one public elementary classroom. In this urban Canadian classroom, well over half of the 33 students were recent immigrants with diverse language and…

Scaffolding strategies occurring in interactions between speech pathologists and migrant children are discussed. Various contexts and strategies are first defined, and the role of the concept of scaffolding in different types of research is examined. Finally, a corpus of therapist-child interactions is analyzed, focusing on problems of mutual…

A study of interlanguage comprehension, part of a larger project by the Gothenburg research group, investigated the telephone conversations between advanced learners and native speakers of Swedish. In four of the eight conversations, the non-native speakers called the public library to get information on how to borrow books; in the other four the…

The Maryland School Performance Program released six sample tasks to illustrate the types of assessment tasks that would appear on the 1992 Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP). Students' responses to these tasks are open-ended; that is, students generate their own responses. A wide range of responses to each task is acceptable.…

Placing reading instruction in a child-centered, language-rich environment, this book provides preservice elementary teachers at the undergraduate and introductory graduate level with a detailed understanding of how to implement a developmental reading program. The book discusses the role of basal readers, and also discusses teaching reading…

A practicum was designed in response to the increasing numbers of at-risk middle school students lacking appropriate academic skills as well as the motivation to learn. A small-group reading intervention program was implemented to help underachieving students increase their success rate on a mastery level. Targeted students were sixth graders, in…

The improvement of reading comprehension skills in a target group of at-risk students in the second grade of a North Florida school was achieved through the implementation strategies of parental involvement and collaborative learning. At-home parent-child literacy interactions increased and parents became active role models in a Parent as Readers…

The workbook, designed for use by adults learning to read, contains a series of brief personal narratives with photo illustrations and related comprehension and extension exercises. The first section's narratives focus on family relationships and description of the personal characteristics of seven individuals. The second section contains stories…

In 1987, Northern Arizona University's Center for Excellence in Education agreed to provide computer assisted reading instruction for juvenile delinquents experiencing academic difficulties. An interactive instructional program was used that incorporates the Principle of the Alphabet Literacy System (PALS) with the IBM InfoWindow system. PALS…

A preliminary study of job-related communications skills in British Columbia sawmills investigated the extent of agreement between reading grade levels of written workplace materials and reading comprehension levels of employees expected to read them. In 1990, 227 employees in 8 sawmills were interviewed with a 52-item structured interview, a…