This paper explores the patterns and processes used by adult students of English as a second language (ESL) when they guess at the meanings of nonsense words in a reading text. The findings suggest that while word-unit processing is a major component of both first- and second-language reading, a major difference between first- and second-language…

Some of the problems of acquisition of pragmatic competence in speech experience by language learners are examined, and the implications of selected literature in sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, and social psychology for enhancing pragmatic competence through second language instruction are discussed. Of special concern are the development…

A study investigated how young children understand natural kind terms by examining how 3- and 4-year-olds rely on category membership to draw inductive inferences about objects. One hundred four children (53 girls and 51 boys) from six preschools in California and Michigan participated in the study. The children were shown 10 sets of pictures of…

Cognitive development proceeds through a series of four levels. The first is the single-class level, attained by infants at approximately 1 year of age. At the single-class level, concepts are based on element similarity or convention (for example, images and words for common objects). The second level is the relational level, attained by toddlers…

The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between semantic memory or integration and general ability. The main hypotheses are as follows: (1) the ability to memorize meaningless materials will not correlate with general ability; (2) the ability to abstract meaning from semantically related propositions will correlate with…

Reviews research relevant to understanding the conditions in which elaborative inferences are made, with a particular concern for the implications for schema-theoretic notions of comprehension. (FL)

This study of undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in computer literacy courses focuses on the effects of orienting activities and varied cognitive processing times on learning facts and deriving inferences. Highlights include computer-based instruction processing, embedded instructional activities, and suggestions for further research.…

Indicates that adding large amounts of supportive information to basal reader stories increased children's story understanding and enhanced their interest in the stories, but had no effect on reading rate or the amount of important information included in story retellings. (FL)

Tested hypothesis that understanding validity of inference is a relatively late development by asking fourth and seventh graders and college students to sort sets of deductive arguments. None of fourth graders, 45 percent of seventh graders, and 85 percent of college students used validity as basis for distinguishing arguments. Experiments…

Describes cultural bias at four levels: lexico-syntactic, content and concepts, social and cognitive, and schematic or frame of reference. A study is described which provides examples of cultural bias in reading comprehension items because of a mismatch between the culture of the test item and that of the test taker.

The role of content validity in policy-relevant research is illustrated in a study contrasting results of surveys concerning public opinion toward gun control. Inadequate content validity threatened inferences about the overall level of support for gun control, but not about opinion difference between sexes or respondents of varying political…

As information and communication technologies bring people, places, and events from around the world to desktops, telephones, and televisions, the economic, social, and cultural issues of the globe are becoming increasingly, unavoidably, our own (McLuhan, 1964). Diversity is thus a broader and more complex concept than ever before…

The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 shifts decision-making authority for funding of local job training programs from the federal government to state and local boards, which will need local decision-making tools to inform policy. One such tool is a method proposed by S. Goetz and D. Debertin to estimate demand for educational attainment at the…

Developed for use in small groups, this unit focuses on developing skills pupils need if they are to progress from Level 3 to Level 4 in English of England's National Standards. It is meant to supplement, but not to replace, the English curriculum for Year 7 pupils. The unit is intended for Level 3 pupils working towards Level 4. It sets out to…

Adapted for whole class use, this unit focuses on developing skills pupils need if they are to progress from Level 3 to Level 4 in English of England's National Standards. It is meant to supplement, but not to replace, the English curriculum for Year 7 pupils. The unit is intended for Level 3 pupils working towards Level 4. It sets out to develop…