Curricula for students with autism do not take into account levels of learning such as behavioral fluency. Behavioral fluency addresses accuracy as well as speed of response. We posit that fluency increases the functionality of skills for students with autism and should be systematically programmed into a curriculum. To discuss the application of…

When people perform a recognition memory task, they may avail themselves of different forms of information. For example, they may recall specific learning episodes, or rely on general feelings of familiarity. Although subjective familiarity is often valid, it can make people vulnerable to memory illusions. Research using verbal materials has shown…

This study investigates the current situation of Arabic education in the United States with an overarching question of, "What is the best way for a student of Arabic in the United States to achieve Superior proficiency?" This study focuses on two elite institutions of Arabic education in the United States. This study is based on 3 sources of…

It is a widely accepted belief that the best way to master a new language is to live in the country where the language is spoken. For young people, one of the most popular ways of immersing themselves in the host environment is to become an "au pair:" move in with a family and look after their children to get first-hand experience of the…

Adults who immigrate to the United States recognize the value of fluency in the dominant language as a bridge to social mobility in their new homeland. In California, many of them invest time and energy in noncredit English as a Second Language (ESL) programs offered within the community college system to gain communicative competence and enhance…

The purpose of this study was to identify potential general outcome indicators (GOIs) of language proficiency. Brief narratives were elicited from 45 kindergarten, first-grade, and third-grade children using single-picture scenes and a standardized protocol. Measures of language productivity, verbal fluency, and grammaticality were examined for…

The notion of "fluency" is most often associated with spoken-language phenomena such as stuttering. The present article investigates the relevance of considering fluency in writing. The basic argument for raising this question is empirical--it follows from a focus on difficulties in written and spoken language as manifestations of different…

When immigrant youth come to the United States, they must learn to interact with dominant and cultural groups as part of the adjustment process. The current study investigated whether the association between Chinese immigrant high school students' (N = 286) English fluency, academic and career/college help-seeking, multidimensional acculturation,…

This paper focuses on the effectiveness of direct instruction in improving non-native student achievement in English learning. The study involved two groups in two English classes. Groups were selected from two different elementary public schools in the State of Kuwait. Study parameters were derived from a review of the literature and scientific…

This leaflet provides a summary of research and recent advances in understanding stuttering. Stuttering is defined as a disorder in which the rhythmic flow of speech is frequently disrupted by repetitions of sounds or syllables. The leaflet outlines possible causes of stuttering, methods of measurement of fluency and work on a uniform method of…

A Language Fluency Project was set up to encourage eight culturally disadvantaged and mentally handicapped girls (11 to 13 years old) to verbalize more clearly and more fluently and to maintain a verbal interaction. The program consisted of having the group imagine that they were taking part in a television documentary program. Over a 20-week…

Some implications of the multi-dimensionality of attainment tests are considered and a factor analytic study is reported of the responses to a placement test made by incoming students of English at universities in Germany. (Editor/LBH)

Discusses how current applied and sociolinguistic research and theory, which reveals the naturalness of language variation and productive aspects of error-making, seriously challenges traditional second language learning practices and postulates. (EKN)