Examines the benefits of group discussion in English classrooms. Demonstrates how small group discussion yields qualitative learning among participants and enhances questioning skills. Advocates the growth and challenge that can come from such activities. Provides student discussion transcriptions. (HB)

Suggestions are offered for activities that encourage language learners to communicate with each other in class using the target language. The activities include student pairs and small groups explaining picture stories and answering questions and solving problems presented in short stories. (13 references) (LB)

Used the experience sampling method to examine emotional structure of the week for adolescents in fifth to eighth grades and again four years later. Found that weekend evenings emerged in middle adolescence as the week's emotional high point, a time for enjoyable peer group and romantic activities, although the scripts for Friday and Saturday…

Studied role of nonshared parent and peer influences on siblings as predictors of adolescent cigarette smoking onset. Found peer influences were predictors of smoking onset when shared influences were controlled. Nonshared peer influences on siblings were stronger in educated families. Findings highlight utility of controlling for shared…

Questions the distinction between "natural" and "instructed" language learning. Introduces two extracts in which adolescents use Panjabi as a second language in peer-group recreation, and then shows how these contradict orthodox images of natural acquisition and classroom learning. (Author/VWL)

Reports findings on changes in adolescent-crowd orientations using national data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988. Categorizes high school students into five prototypical peer-crowd orientations at tenth and twelfth grade. Illuminates the change in students' peer crowd orientation by examining individual and relationship…

Examined orientation of high school students' peer groups to formal (school-oriented) and informal (peer-oriented) reward systems. Investigated factors that influence change in peer-group orientation over time, and demonstrated how changes by the individual and changes in peer-group orientation predicted change in ego identity. Demonstrated how…

Article discusses two adolescent peer-led interventions in New Zealand designed to offer support to young people dealing with important issues - sex, drugs, and alcohol. The relevance of the unique cultural environment of New Zealand is discussed, and a description of the two interventions is provided. Suggestions for possible future directions…

Describes and reviews the work of researchers who have operationalized the construct of friendship and the theoretical basis for the association between friendship experiences and children's level of psychological adjustment. Details study of how various levels of friendship constructs relate to one another and to children's loneliness and…

Reviews how federal courts applied the "state-created danger" theory in the school setting. The courts ask when, if ever, does a school district owe an affirmative constitutional duty to protect students from private violence at school. Examines those cases, with emphasis on elements a student must prove in order to hold the school…

Discusses a study of 250 high school students who participated in weekly peer support groups. The program was accepted and showed signs of success, helping alcohol and substance users reduce their intake and helping keep potential dropouts in school. Indicates peer support groups can help in early recognition and management of emotional and…

Reviews research on friendships of delinquents and nondelinquents. Contrasting theories and research have pointed to both the distinctiveness of delinquent friendships and the commonality with normal friendships. Greater conflict, poorer attachment quality, lesser ability to repair relationships, cognitive distortions, and poorer social-cognitive…

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of Reconnecting Youth, a prevention program for at-risk high school youth. Data are from a large, independently evaluated effectiveness trial in two diverse urban school districts. A total of 1,218 students participated: 50% were male; average age was 15. We tested whether positive efficacy…

This study applied a social identity perspective to the study of adolescent self-concept and social development. British adolescents aged 14-15 years (N=114) completed a questionnaire which asked them to: (i) rate their degree of identification with a school-based friendship group; (ii) complete a measure of multi-dimensional self-concept; and…

This study examined who among the 526 fourth to sixth graders are nominated as among the coolest kids in their class. There were two questions: (1) Are popular-aggressive (tough) children nominated as cool by a broad spectrum of their peers, or only by a select few? (2) Does variability in children's cool nominations more closely follow their…