This study compared first and second language (L1/L2) reading rate and task performance on five tasks (scanning, skimming, normal reading, learning, memorizing) in two groups of Mandarin speakers (Canada group, China group). A repeated measures ANOVA design was used with one between-subject factor (Group), two within-subject factors (Language,…

Writing fellow or writing associate (WA) programs trace their heritage to a single point of origin: the model developed at Brown University in the early 1980s by Tori Haring-Smith (Soven, 1993, 2001). Since then, the Brown model has spread to hundreds of schools. WA programs are so adaptable because they consist of many discrete elements, each of…

This study explores factors influencing the degree to which language minority (LM) children from Spanish-dominant homes understand how connectives, such as "in contrast" and "because", signal relationships between text propositions. Standardized tasks of vocabulary, listening comprehension, word reading, and a researcher-designed text cohesion…

The 2008 Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages focused on learning about the diverse backgrounds and needs of today's students. The 2009 Conference continued that focus and added diversity by instructors in using a variety of teaching methods, strategies, themes, technologies, and assessments. Presenters from all 17 states…

Clear descriptions of job expertise are required to support applications and improvements in personnel training and job performance. This report describes a practical approach to task analysis that integrates the issues, content, and methods of cognitive science and personnel psychology. Cognitively oriented task analysis employs a breadth, then…

This document provides a day-by-day description of the process of training and placing an employee with mental retardation in a job as a janitor in a grocery store. The analysis shows that successful job placement of a student with limited capability subject requires thorough planning and research into all factors that have an impact on successful…

Reading response groups are an outgrowth of theories which suggest that: (1) meaning derived from text is highly individualized and personal, and (2) reader understanding is deepened through interactions among peers. A study examined the non-participation in one reading response group composed of four high-achieving adult readers who were…

Describes a five-step task analysis approach used in a clinic to teach reading. (RB)

Cognitive-based approaches to social and personality psychology have studied the structure of trait constructs in memory. The bipolar view of traits suggests that the activation of a trait construct such as "hostile" should be associated with the simultaneous activation of its semantic opposite "kind." The unipolar view, in…

Technical writers involved in an institutional writing project need some way of viewing the raw material globally before writing. In this way they can build a framework which can be used for different types of information. This is accomplished through a task analysis meeting that highlights the following preparatory steps prior to writing: (1)…

This paper presents an overview of research on academic tasks in the classroom and describes some of the themes that are emerging from studies in this area. The concept of "academic task" is defined along with problems associated with using this theoretical construct in classroom research. Three conceptions of how content should be represented to…

The topic of teaching troubleshooting is examined as an example of the teaching of cognitive strategies for technical problem solving. The traditional behavioral approach to teaching troubleshooting has essentially been algorithmic. Recent cognitive research suggests an approach founded first on task analysis and characterized by: (1) analysis of…

A three-phase study was conducted to compare the cost-effectiveness of two methods for determining job profiles in the publishing business and book trade--the task inventory and the Developing a Curriculum (DACUM) process. In phases 1 and 2, the task inventory and DACUM approaches were used to identify future changes in the technology used in the…

Approximately 200 employees of small and medium sized businesses participated in a study to determine if their task characteristics affected the communication network roles they enact. Specifically, the study investigated the effects of variety, autonomy, task identity, feedback, dealing with others, and friendship opportunities on the network…

This paper is the second of a series of three which attempt to integrate categories of description aimed at characterizing the experience of learning in terms of the logical relationships that exist between them. The description of the qualitatively different ways in which various aspects of reality are experienced and conceptualized, and the…