There is an ongoing concern regarding the alignment of textbooks with curriculum standards across different subjects. Such studies have emphasized the critical, yet complex, role of textbooks in bridging pedagogical practices with curricular reforms. The present research builds upon these discussions, by examining not only the alignment but also…

Challenging policymakers, educators, reformers, and citizens to replace piecemeal reforms with fundamental redesign, "First Things First!" calls for a different way of organizing the American primary school. Ruby Takanishi outlines a new framework for integrating early education with primary education (pre-K-5), including both short- and…

Teacher education is effective when pre-service teachers are able to transfer knowledge from content areas to practice. This study investigates the extent to which curriculum and assessment designs, along with teaching practices, supported pre-service teachers to transfer knowledge gained about language from a first-year course into a second-year…

The theme for the 62nd annual conference of the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers was Educating for a Just Society. Connie Briggs, previous Program Chair, reminded us that, "Education has always been the foundation of a democratic nation. It is important that our students understand the principles upon which our nation was…

This article discusses various features in the design and implementation of online course materials. The author provides a critical review of some instructional design patterns and expands on the alignment among instruction, motivation and learners' performances as part of a curriculum design process. In this context, the author emphasizes the…

One of the main professional-development challenges social studies teachers face involves adjusting content and instruction to accommodate the surging population of English Language Learners (ELLs). Between the 1993-1994 and 2004-2005 school years, ELL school populations increased 68 percent to more than 5.1 million, compared to a 7.8 percent…

The purpose of this article is to discuss the inseparable relation between culture and language and the implementation of instructional strategies for teaching second language through culture to enhance students' linguistic comprehension. Language is not only the product of culture, but also is the symbol of culture (Gleason, 1961). Culture must…

The significant increase of English Language Learners (ELLs) in the United States raises complex questions about how to provide these students with access to high quality education that can improve both their content knowledge of school subjects and their English proficiency, particularly their academic English proficiency. The development of…

Theory and research suggest three ways grammar instruction might assist second-language acquisition. These include the following: as an advance organizer; as a meaning-form focus in communication activities where there are many examples of a single meaning-form relationship; and through monitoring, if learners can acquire their own input. (41…

This article describes curricular accommodations in the foreign language for college students with language learning disabilities. Elements of a model program are discussed, including advising, instruction, and efficacy research. The implementation of these components is described with particular reference to modified programs in Italian, Spanish,…

This study analyzes the development of English language use in Singapore (using the 1970 and 1980 censuses), examines the primary school English syllabus, and discusses the implications of primary school English instruction of pre-school children whose parents are English-educated. It is concluded that the increasing tendency for Singapore…

Conference papers on bilingualism and children are presented, including: "The Nurture and Nature of Bilingual Acquisition" (Laurel Kamada, Liu Xing-Ying, Willeta Silva, Mary Goebel Noguchi); "Early English Acquisition in the EFL Situation" (Soo-Woong Ahn); "Age Factors and Language Proficiency in Child SLA" (Kazuko Yumoto); and "Development of…

An annotated bibliography of 224 items drawn from the literature on instruction in English as a second language (ESL) includes citations from bibliographic databases (Educational Resources Information Center, Bilingual Education Bibliographic Abstracts, Bilingual Research On-Line, and Microcomputer Courseware Resource On-Line), professional…

Essays on cooperative learning focus on the use of this strategy to address the special needs of linguistically and culturally diverse student groups in elementary and secondary education. The volume contains several essays on theory, principles, and techniques of cooperative learning and a series of model instructional units for a variety of…

The discussion presented here is intended to clarify terminology and concepts of learning strategies and language use strategies for second languages. It first provides working definitions for these terms: language learning and use strategies; language use strategies; language performance strategies; communication strategies; cognitive strategies;…