The study reported in this article describes second language (L2) vocabulary learning outcomes associated with adult L2 reading comprehension processes, thus connecting L2 learning with the complex cognitive and linguistic processing involved in reading. The study aimed to determine whether background knowledge moderated the relationship between…

Bilingualism and multiculturalism have for four decades been official ideologies and policies in Canada but, as is often the case, the implementation and outcomes of such government policies nationally are less impressive than the rhetoric would suggest. This article reviews the political, theoretical and demographic contexts justifying support…

This article analyzes the challenges encountered in a first-year service-learning course in which students had high expectations for community involvement and a commitment to social responsibility, yet significant difficulty connecting their service orientation to the intellectual inquiry expected of them at the college level. This conflict…

This study investigated the nature of morphological awareness and its relation to learning to read Chinese characters among 46 Chinese-speaking preschool children. The children took a morphological awareness task, which varied in semantic transparency and morpheme position. Children's vocabulary knowledge and extant character reading ability were…

Sight-word instruction can improve functioning with various daily, recreational, and work-related tasks among children with moderate to severe disabilities. Previous research has demonstrated the effectiveness of drill methods to teach sight words if the model contains at least 50% known items, which would also increase the number of opportunities…

As part of the activities at the Research Institute in Education of Learning Disabled Children, work was carried out with a group of about 30 children (grades 4 through 6) disabled in the comprehension of written language. Most of these children, when reading, went beyond using prior knowledge to provide schemata and interpretations; they…

Viewed as discourse, official forms exhibit identifiable text characteristics and elicit strategies for comprehension that take into account these characteristics, as well as context and the user's prior knowledge about the world. However, forms also have unique characteristics that require processes and strategies which differ in systematic ways…

This study examined the effects of low- and high-prior knowledge and peer and teacher audiences on high school students' writing. Forty high school juniors and 40 seniors wrote on both low-prior knowledge and high-prior knowledge topics, half writing for their peers, and half for their teachers. Results are presented. (Author/MT)

Describes a procedure called Generating Reciprocal Inferences Procedure (GRIP), which teaches inferential comprehension using direct or explicit instruction, a generative process, and reciprocal questioning. (RS)

Strategies were examined for adapting the context of mathematical materials to student interests. Two groups were studied using four context variations. Implications for increasing students' confidence and proficiency in solving word problems is discussed. (Author/MT)

Reports results of a study of 30 graduates who received credit for learning from life experience. The study (1) gathered data about the experience of persons preparing, presenting, and receiving credit for learning from life experience and (2) assessed the relationship to the predominant or preferred learning styles of three other factors in these…

Every year, students encounter the same topics. While they may successfully learn the topics each year, there is not enough attention to the process of learning how to learn. Without knowing how to learn, students will find it difficult to transfer what they have learned to new but similar learning tasks. This fastback identifies the areas that…

This study examined the role of different scaffolding instructional interventions in facilitating students' shift to more sophisticated mental models as indicated by both performance and process data. Undergraduate students (n=51) were randomly assigned to use of one of three scaffolding conditions (adaptive scaffolding (AS), fixed scaffolding…

This article examines approaches which are used to validate experiential competencies in technical education. The two most common approaches to credentialization are discussed. The importance of nonacademic experiences in credentialing is examined, and several assessment models are described. (CT)

Provides suggestions for activating prior knowledge, getting children to be aware when their comprehension is lagging, and tying it all together at the end. (FL)