As teachers have struggled to implement scientifically based instructional practices in reading, some researchers have begun to focus on ways to "boost the value of reading aloud to young children". Such studies seek ways to promote oral language as well as comprehension and vocabulary through read-aloud experiences. Interactive read-alouds…

In Malaysia, studies have shown that most Malay learners learning Arabic Language exhibit weak Arabic speaking skill despite spending years of learning the language. However, given the same learning environment and experience, some of them could be considered as good Arabic speakers as revealed by the results of Arabic Placement Test conducted by…

The primary aim of this dissertation was to investigate the relationship between speech perception and speech production difficulties among Japanese second language (L2) learners of English, in their learning complex syllable structures. Japanese L2 learners and American English controls were tested in a categorical ABX discrimination task of…

The present study investigates whether three types of instruction (Focus on Meaning, Focus on FormS and Focus on Form instruction) have differential effects on the acquisition of the Spanish present subjunctive in complement/noun clauses. It seeks to establish whether "dictogloss", one of the proactive Focus on Form techniques, enhances the…

This article argues that Vygotsky's analysis of children's play and of the ways it can serve as a powerful matrix for learning and development has two important implications that are not always fully appreciated. First, children's social pretend play can promote development both in the domains of cognition and language "and" in…

In Study 1 we evaluated whether each of three kinds of reading fluency (oral, silent-sentences, silent-passages) contributed uniquely to reading comprehension when children were in second grade (when oral reading is emphasized) and again when they were in fourth grade (when silent reading is emphasized). In Study 2 we evaluated the relationship of…

This study explores the nature of reading comprehension difficulties among early adolescent language minority (LM) learners and native English speakers in urban schools. Sixth-grade students (399 LM learners, 182 native English speakers) were screened for difficulties, using a standardized measure of reading comprehension. Of these, 262 students…

The simple view of reading (Gough & Tunmer, 1986) proposes that listening comprehension and decoding, properly measured, can account for all of the variance in reading comprehension. We assessed the simple view in community college students. In addition to listening comprehension and decoding, we included measures of oral vocabulary, nonverbal…

Multiple studies have shown that kindergarten measures of phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge are good predictors of reading achievement in the primary grades. However, less attention has been given to the early predictors of later reading achievement. This study used a modified best-subsets variable-selection technique to examine…

Previous research has found that "similar" sounds interact in phonological nasal consonant harmony, wherein certain consonants become nasals when the word contains a nasal (e.g., Kikongo: /-kun-idi/ [right arrow] [-kun-ini] "planted"). Across languages, stops and approximants are chiefly affected, especially voiced consonants and ones that match…

It is well documented that attrition in the postsecondary settings for students who are deaf or hard of hearing is greatly due to their academic and communication skills, as well as pre-entry attributes. However there is little evidence that indicates why students who are deaf or hard of hearing are successful in the postsecondary setting. This…

This study examined the use of automatic speech recognition (ASR) scored elicited oral response (EOR) tests to assess the speaking ability of English language learners. It also examined the relationship between ASR-scored EOR and other language proficiency measures and the ability of the ASR to rate speakers without bias to gender or native…

The article discusses the results of a longitudinal study of how the use of conjunctions, as an aspect of spoken discourse competence of 13 selected advanced students of English, developed throughout their 3-year English as a foreign language (EFL) tertiary education. The analysis was carried out in relation to a number of variables, including 2…

This study reports on the design and testing of an integrated suite of vocabulary training games for Nintendo[TM] collectively designated "My Word Coach" (Ubisoft, 2008). The games' design is based on a wide range of learning research, from classic studies on recycling patterns to frequency studies of modern corpora. Its general usage…

The purpose of this article is to describe the professional development (PD) model for preschool literacy and language instruction that took place in a 3-year, 2-tiered Early Reading First project in 9 Head Start and community-based school classrooms. In our tiered model, the Tier 1 level was classroom instruction and Tier 2 was intervention…