Ways to improve the role-playing conversations found in most second language textbooks are outlined. It is argued that the conversations are often restrictive, dull, and repetitive, and students respond to them in kind. The teacher can make the target language used more interesting by creating new characters, situations, settings, or objectives.…

One reason for a lack of religious literacy among undergraduates and members of society at large is the virtual absence of religion in high school textbooks. Thirty high school textbooks approved for use in North Carolina in the fields of United States and world history, economics, home economics, and biology were reviewed. The review revealed the…

This document is divided into two parts: (1) "A Study of Sex Role Stereotype in Arabic Readers" and (2) "A Guide for the Identification and Elimination of Sexism in Arabic Textbooks." In part 1, a sample of 79 Arabic readers were read word for word and the images pertaining to females were recorded. The results of the survey…

A study examined the first grade materials in five new basal programs submitted for the 1993 Texas state adoption. (The programs were those of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich; Houghton Mifflin; Scott Foresman; Macmillan/McGraw-Hill; and Silver Burdett Ginn). These series are compared with program materials currently in use in the state. The analysis…

This book is about civic literacy, which is described as "the ability to think critically and objectively about the nation's fundamental premises and practices." The volume examines influential education reports and theorists who have defined the civic literacy debate. The book challenges the dominant perspective of history as presented…

A study examined the historical development of the Cathedral Basic Readers (a.k.a. the Dick and Jane readers), a special edition used to teach reading in Catholic schools. Three questions served as a guiding framework: (1) what factors led to the creation, development, and discontinuance of this Reader series? (2) what were the differences between…

When analyzing the degree to which a balanced presentation of NATO is achieved in West German history and civics textbooks, two standards may be used: first, inclusion of information on NATO's formation, aims, strategies and achievements; and, second, inclusion of the criticisms that have been leveled at NATO from various points of view. This…

A flood of new multicultural readers and textbooks are hitting the market for writing and literature courses at the college level. Yet there has been no systematic examination of how these readers are being used, the purposes and audiences for which they are written, or the critical reception they have received. Multicultural readers distinguish…

This report contends that most U.S. history and government textbooks give only cursory attention to the Second Amendment "...the right of the people to keep and bear arms..." to the U.S. Constitution, and most endorse a particular political view of the amendment, rather than providing the necessary background for an informed political…

Educators tend to view curriculum integration as an obviously good idea and thus adopt an attitude of "the more integration, the better." However, the analysis of elementary social studies presented in this report indicates that many of the activities suggested in the name of integration either: (1) lack educational value in any subject or (2)…

This technical report describes a series of three studies designed to instruct students in the relationship between texts, comprehension questions, and two sources of answer information--the text to which a given question refers and their own background knowledge. The focus of the technical report is on individual differences in the amount and…

The educational history of resource conservation as an academic discipline is discussed. Also examined is whether conservation should be taught as a static or dynamic concept. The first conservation text was written in 1910. Since then, geographers have stressed several approaches to resource conservation including the inventory and analysis of…

Four textbooks used in the Certificate course are examined with regard to their suitability for teaching how to write letters in English. Then three letters are reporduced, one personal, one official, one an application for a job. They contain possibilities for exercises by offering variable formulas. (IFS/WGA)

"Englisch in Uebungen 1," by Schlecht, contains reinforcement and review exercises aimed at developing speaking ability. It covers: word order, negation, tenses, perfect forms, "be going to" plus infinitive, passives, and question-tags. Class use (as a supplement) and private use are discussed. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Faced with a market that puts a premium on newness, artwork, and copyright date, the textbook industry seems to have been forced into a hectic textbook revision cycle in which improvement in instructional quality takes a poor second place to more superficial changes. While educators think they are getting newer, different, and, therefore better…