The eight articles in this journal issue focus on vocabulary skills. The topics covered are semantic feature analysis, the use of highway survival terms in a vocabulary list, making vocabulary interesting to secondary students, word lists, the use of newspapers in creating vocabulary lists, six strategies underlying effective vocabulary programs,…

The Verbal Measure of Information Rate (VMIR) is a measure of information rate which reflects the elements, features, and changes in a complex environment. Subjects rated 14 bipolar adjective pairs to indicate an appropriate description of the learning situation or information load (simple-complex, novel-familiar). The measure was administered to…

New trends in teaching EFL in Europe are compiled and evaluated from various national and international research studies. Proposals for the integration of the semantic syllabus are emphasized. A movement towards rhetoric is found. (MS)

This article discusses the problems invovled in presenting grammar in a threshold approach to French as a second language. (Text is in French.) (CLK)

An analysis of exercises concerning indirect, direct and free discourse appearing in tests of the "premier cycle," from both pedagogical and linguistic points of view. The thesis is that a method giving primacy to manipulative exercises based on prefabricated sentences militates against discourse and communication. (Text is in French.) (AMH)

Describes two studies of word meaning acquisition among children. Concludes that (1) even very young children can learn new words and their meanings on basis of linguistic expressions and in absence of direct experience with referents, and (2) that particular forms of discourse (e.g., narrative and dialogue) can render new meanings more accessible…

Suggests that children learn to distinguish between similar words when the words are first taught separately, then compared. Offers a vocabulary remediation technique and shows how three groups responded to some variations. (JC)

Concludes that semantic maps do not work alone, but must be built in class during discussion of vocabulary. Shows that discussion alone works well for most students. (FL)

Presents reading activities for second language students to demonstrate how new vocabulary and concepts can be introduced and practiced in stimulating, meaningful way. Students also learn that facts within a story relate to what has been read and what will be read, and their knowledge and skill at problem-solving is more important than individual…

Contains a systems analysis of the Mankind-Education System and a block-diagram model of this system. (DD)

Each speaker-hearer commands a language system that he uses unconsciously as he speaks and writes. Discovery of the rules underlying that system shows the futility of some accepted teaching practices and suggests other approaches. (Author)

Author's discussion is based on the following assumptions: (1) the greater the degree of correspondence between the student's language and his world, the greater are his chances for sanity and survival; and (2) creativity consists of seeing new relationships, forming new organizations, or building new cognitive structures. (Author/MB)