A 12-lesson college-level French unit using the same recorded text to teach three aspects of oral language (pronunciation, comprehension, and production) is described and documented. The activity attempts to use the unit vocabulary as much as possible in a variety of exercises to develop communicative competence. (13 references) (MSE)

Determines how science and social studies textbooks were used by teachers and students in 12 fourth grade lessons and what kinds of questions the teachers asked during the lessons. Finds that students do not get much practice reading informational text, and instruction often fails to promote conceptual understanding and meaningful learning from…

Education lags behind other scientific disciplines in its effective use of data displays. An example is provided in which the reorganization of data from two bar graphs into one table highlights the obvious and subtle results. To address the need for effective data display, the companion article, "Understanding Graphs and Tables," was…

This introduction to the special issue on reading comprehension in content areas notes the articles' emphasis on integration of research into practice, process orientation, development of metacognitive strategies, and the value of discussion. (DB)

Describes the procedures one teacher used to help students develop a love of reading and think about and respond to what they read. Outlines how students were provided with structure (questioning techniques), time (proceeding at their own rate), and choices (selecting their own reading material). Discusses student progress and program…

Fourth and fifth graders marked on a checklist the titles and authors of children's books which they recognized. This measure of exposure to print was correlated with children's growth in reading ability as measured by standardized tests. Individual differences in growth in reading were significantly related to the measure. (BC)

This study of 48 individuals with visual impairments (16 middle-aged with experience in synthetic speech, 16 middle-aged inexperienced, and 16 older inexperienced) found that speech synthesis, compared to natural speech, generally yielded lower results with respect to memory and understanding of texts. Experience had no effect on performance.…

An ethnographic approach to the study of second-language lecture comprehension was used to study 30 first-year Hong Kong Chinese students in a Teaching-English-as-a-Second-Language course. Results indicate student attitudes, problems, and their approaches to overcoming the problems. (17 references) (Author/LB)

Describes "Effective Reading," a newly revised community college developmental reading course, which focuses on reading comprehension skills of predicting, confirming, and integrating; uses the direct teaching model of demonstration, guided practice, and independent practice; and is corequisite with an introductory sociology course. Reports…

Examines the effectiveness of combining two cognitive strategies, self-questioning and prediction, for a range of students reading below grade level. Finds that the use of these combined strategies improved reading comprehension of both slightly and severely disabled middle school students. (SR)

Discusses the use of content area textbooks and indicates that content textbooks are difficult for students to understand because the books generally are not well written. Offers solutions for how to use content textbooks and illustrates how lessons can be created through the integration of tradebooks and through discussions in which critical…

A survey of 75 school administrators was made to determine what they judge to be the specific oral communication skills most vital to teacher success. The emphasis administrators place on oral communication means that it should figure prominently in teacher education. Of all communication factors, listening is considered most important. (SLD)

Examined the validity of aural and oral self-report scales for determining the Fiji Hindi proficiency of new adolescent immigrants in New Zealand. Participants completed self-reports and performance tests (oral interviews, listening-comprehension tests, and vocabulary tests). Performance tests correlated strongly with self-reports. Respondents…

A study investigated the English vocabulary knowledge of 324 first-year students at an Indonesian university. Results indicate that on average, students had some knowledge of 1226 English words, far less than the 3000-5000 word range widely considered a threshold level for independent reading of unsimplified texts. Only a small portion of students…

The Dyslexia Training Program, a remedial reading program derived from Orton-Gillingham methods, embodies principles of structured phonetic instruction, drill and repetition, and multisensory methodology. Following the two-year program, dyslexic students (N=22) demonstrated significantly higher reading recognition and comprehension than a control…