This paper reports an experimental investigation of the relative effects of processing instruction, structured input activities and explicit information on the acquisition of gender agreement in Italian adjectives. Subjects were divided into three groups: the first received processing instruction; the second group structured input only; the third…

This study investigates the effects of meaningful input- and output-based practice on SLA. First-semester Spanish students (n = 45) were assigned to processing instruction, meaningful output-based instruction, or control groups. Experimental groups received the same input in instruction but received meaningful practice that was input or output…

Native speakers, when listening to lectures, sift through the information to choose what to listen to, make hypotheses about future discourse, synthesize preceding discourse, and add their own background knowledge. Nonnative speakers, in their native languages, follow the same procedures. When dealing with a foreign language, however, they are not…

Three issues were examined in a study of children's use of first language knowledge in acquiring a second language: (1) understanding of narratives, (2) the degree to which knowledge available in the child's first language is used in understanding second language input, and (3) the relationship between knowledge utilization in two languages as…

An ongoing, interdisciplinary reading program for students in grades 7-10 in Perris Union High School District (California) is described. Initiated in 1979 as a result of low reading scores, the program divides all incoming seventh grade students into homogeneous groups. In the first 6 weeks of school these new groups meet once a day for 50…

Acknowledging a growing national awareness of the need for direct instruction in higher order thinking skills within public education, this paper describes an instructional model for reinforcing thinking skills in the classroom, kindergarten through grade 12. Following an introduction justifying the model's reliance on the processing of…

In order to foster awareness of the auditory characteristics of learning disabled students and the essential skills involved in effective listening, this paper suggests teaching strategies to improve listening skills that include both individual and whole class activities specifically geared to learning disabled students. The first section of the…

Retrospective Miscue Analysis (RMA) is a curriculum tool for use in the preservice preparation of reading teachers. The questioning procedure in RMA is designed to encourage consideration of reading as a meaning-getting process rather than as a process of seeking accuracy or perfection. The technique, which involves the teachers in analyzing a…

A total of 272 children participated in a study of the effectiveness of three support systems for cuing sixth grade students in interpreting the metaphoric language of poetry. The first system involved regular classroom teachers who applied their own verbal cuing, the second included external instructional support through media and the teachers'…

Applied linguistic theory is examined in light of neuroscientific knowledge, especially in regard to the structure and function of the cerebral cortex, in order to illuminate the process and methods of teaching or learning language. Wernicke's Area and Broca's Area are parts of the brain that have been associated with language function.…

Discusses the hypothesis that pupils who read and understand a first language text (in this case, Romanian) fairly well, will be able to improve their reading and understanding of a second language (German) text after having learned and exercised certain reading strategies in both languages. (SED)

The relationship between writing and reading linking prescriptive and contrastive rhetoric, textual discourse analysis, ESP text research, and psycholinguistics and reading is examined. The chief axioms stressed for writers are planning and using discourse devices. How these can be translated into reading strategies is demonstrated. (PMJ)

Attempts to determine whether or not explicit information given to second-language learners receiving processing instruction is responsible for the beneficial effects of instruction. Results indicate that these beneficial effects derived from the structured input activities and not from the explicit explanation provided to learners. (22…

Looks at the ways grammar and vocabulary are interconnected and suggests some implications for language teaching. Suggests that language teachers focus on word patterns to encourage four aspects of language learning: understanding, accuracy, fluency, and flexibility. (four references) (Author/CK)

This study compares the relative effects of two types of instruction, processing instruction and traditional instruction, on the acquisition of the verbs "ser" and "estar" with adjectives and past participles. (Author/VWL)