Describes an investigation into whether second language learners use knowledge of their first language to comprehend and produce idioms in the second language. Results showed identical idioms were the easiest to comprehend, similar idioms were comprehended almost as well, and different idioms were the most difficult to comprehend and produce.…

Explains the context in which courses aimed at improving problem-solving skills are implemented. Describes the structure and content of courses and evaluates activities designed to develop problem-solving skills, including a discussion of factors affecting students in their ability to perform. (JM)

Describes an experiment whose principal aim was to examine how a classroom silent period, devoted almost exclusively to aural comprehension, operates. In the case of the French adult learners of English involved in this study, 60 hours proved to be a satisfactory period. (SED)

Using 146 high school students, this research assessed the effects of aptitude, strategy training, and item characteristics on the strategic processes employed in the performance of spatial visualization tasks. Treatment effects were shown to depend on the subject's aptitude profile and on the characteristics of items. (BS)

Presents a study investigating effects of reading ability and study activity (rote or conceptual testing, structured or unstructured review) on learning outcomes of students assigned a reading on behavior modification procedures. Results indicate no significant effect for type of study activity and high reading ability students performed better.…

Offers suggestions for organizing the primary classroom to provide ideal conditions for teaching reading. (DF)

Pairs of undergraduate students were instructed to engage in metacognitive activities, elaborative activities, or neither while listening to prose passages. Results of a recall test suggested that metacognitive activity facilitated cooperative learning, while elaborative activity transferred to a later individual learning activity. (Author/GDC)

Discusses the applicability of research into cognitive schemas, metacognition, instructional design, and learning strategies to textbook creation; the value of well-structured, coherent, and focused texts; readability formulas, narrative characteristics, science and social studies texts, glossaries, dictionaries, teachers' manuals, and practice…

Explains a five-step study strategy (PORPE) that can be used in any content area: Predicting potential essay questions to guide subsequent study; Organizing key ideas using own words; Rehearsing the key ideas; Practicing the recall of the key ideas in self-assigned writing tasks; and Evaluating the completeness, accuracy, and appropriateness of…

Describes a teacher modeling technique whose purpose is to form a comprehensive approach to modeling metacognitive strategies through direct explanation of the reading comprehension process. (HOD)

Honors programs are reviewed that use diversity in presentation, approach, and educational context to foster intellectual development. They individualize instruction and encourage students both to form partnerships in learning and to develop their own strategies for integrating information. (MSE)

Classroom-tested strategies for implementing mainstreaming in the secondary social studies classroom are described. These included textbook and lecture strategies; discussion, role-play, and debate strategies; and map, globe, and art projects. (RM)

Argues that new vocabulary words should be presented in concept clusters and related to prior knowledge to facilitate organization in memory. Presents a sample lesson for science vocabulary. (HOD)

The behavior of children from a wide range of family backgrounds was observed in elementary school classrooms several years after program services had been delivered. The results indicated that program participants benefited, particularly in the area of academic learning behavior. (Author/BW)

The influence of selected science class attitudes and image of the science teacher on cognitive and affective outcomes was studied. Results and implications for science teachers are offered. (DF)