In contrast with debates over language pedagogy or aptitude, this paper examines seven societal obstacles which impact the success of classroom language learning and the development of intercultural competence in American language classrooms. These include expectations for teacher preparation, language proficiency and target language use;…

This paper provides initial reflections on the impact of the economic crisis on education across the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) area by analysing the OECD educationtoday crisis survey responses of June 2009. It first looks at the impact of the crisis on education demand and participation, after which the focus…

In a special section of the "American Annals of the Deaf", Deaf education and the Deaf community in South Africa are discussed. The special section is organized into 7 segments: a historical overview to establish context, the educational context, educators and learners, postgraduate education and employment, perspectives of Deaf children…

Earlier research has attributed the performance decrements of older adults on many tasks to cautiousness. The purpose of the present investigation was to assess differences in performance between "cautious" and "risky" older adults. Male and female older adults, aged 65-80, were classified as either cautious (N=9) or risky…

Two digit span distraction tasks were used to compare performance of 32 learning disabled (LD) and 32 normal children (mean ages 16 and 15 years). On the first set of tasks, where the neutral and distraction conditions were matched for their ability to discriminate between groups, no differential distraction effect was found. The second task's…

Report is made of a study conducted to determine the adequacy of the diet of fourteen teen-age competitive swimmers. A three day meal record was compared with recommended daily allowance tables and other recommended minimum/ maximum amounts where such values are established. Areas of dietary deficiency are discussed with particular emphasis on how…

Much controversy surrounds the practice of doping the blood of athletes (the practice of introducing additional blood into a normal, healthy system). (MM)

Effects of a differential reinforcement of other behavior procedures (DRO) on the stereotypic responses and task performance of three autistic youth during dyadic instruction were examined. The procedures effectively reduced the stereotypic behavior of two children and substantially increased the task performance of the two lowest performance…

A 32-item test battery was administered to 154 male and female elementary school students to describe the static balance ability of 6- to 9-year-old children. Body position, visual use, and one-footed static base of support were found to affect subjects' balance performance. (Author/RH)

Discusses quantification of stimulus variables and analytic versus synthetic strategies relating to the block design task in two articles. Provides commentaries on recent articles by Royer (1984) and Schorr, Bower, and Kiernan (1982). (JAC)

Supports, generally, results of Walker and Spence study of 1964. Also demonstrates that subjects who are affected negatively by experimental procedure are likely to perform poorly on a variety of tasks. (Author/CJ)

Results of this investigation indicate that item format alone may be a factor affecting the performance of deaf students and that different conclusions may be possible concerning specific course objectives mastered. (Author)