It has been well documented that oral language skills are precursors of the development of written abilities, meaning that improving oral language skills, e.g. vocabulary, listening comprehension, could have positive effects reading comprehension. The main aim of the present study was to analyze the effect of a training program focused on four…

With increased demand for improved early childhood education services, it is important to better understand the essential professional development resources that have the greatest impact on both teacher and child outcomes. This study compared the effectiveness of two teacher-training models in bilingual Migrant and Seasonal Head Start and Head…

This dissertation investigated 1) American L2 learners' perceptual ability to accurately identify Japanese pitch accent, and 2) learners' realization of Japanese pitch accent. This study was conducted to determine whether these abilities could be improved through training. Study 1 tested the ability to identify the accent location (pitch fall)…

Discusses the development and production of TOPIC (Training for Oral Proficiency Interviewing Competence), an interactive video refresher training program that teaches interviewing and evaluation skills to German oral proficiency testers. The program can be used as a prototype for the development of refresher training programs in other languages.…

The use of self-questioning strategies with orally presented materials was studied for 32 college students (30 females and 2 males). Results suggest that practice in a self-questioning information-processing procedure can effectively improve college students' comprehension of lectures. (SLD)

This report is a review of findings and recommendations following a study by the Migrant Student Record Transfer System (MSRTS) Committee of the National Association of State Directors of Migrant Education (NASDME). The assessment of NASDME's Skills Information System (SIS) was initiated in September 1984 and completed in December 1985. Section 1…

Describes the University of Delaware's drama-based approach to enhancing the intelligibility of international teaching assistants (ITA). This training addresses the segmental and suprasegmental features of ITA pronunciation within the context of cultural, pedagogical, and linguistic factors unique to the university classroom environment, and…

The advanced phase of the University of Florida's international teaching assistants training program extends the linguistic and pedagogical training of these assistants by concentrating on one-on-one and small group interactions with native speakers. Detailed analysis of videotaped interactions help in the development of strategies for the…

Explores the problems of international teaching assistants (ITA) in graduate education programs, stemming mostly from cultural, language, and educational philosophy differences. A case study of one university's attempts to investigate problems connected with ITA training identifies objectives for selection, admission, training, and retention of…

Explains how a learner-centered approach works on "Talkbase," an eight-week workshop in language and technology. This article describes how participants coped with a new educational experience in which participants carried out tasks, learned through active investigation, developed concepts and skills and gained confidence to express…

Describes a technique for videotaping classroom performances of native and international teaching assistants (ITA) to teach ITAs about specific, definable English language skills, U.S. academic culture and pedagogical performance, and to help them develop communications strategies for coping with largely undefinable future communicative needs.…