The current concept of the "global village" is used as the basis for a discussion of new approaches to language acquisition, and particularly a new pedagogy. It is noted that the pedagogy of the language classroom of the 1990s does not call for a language "laboratory" but centers that focus on communicative competence or proficiency. (LB)

Despite research and theory to the contrary, approaches to the teaching of reading continue to reflect a transmission model of reading, focused on the retrieval of information from a text. It is argued that writing should be fully integrated with reading to give students experiences of engagement and connection with texts. (66 references)…

Two methods for presenting cultural information to elementary school students in a French language program are compared, using 56 fifth graders as subjects. The findings support the use of video to enhance the teaching of culture to the child foreign language learner. (28 references) (Author/LB)

Details the advantages of the use of dialog journals in language arts/reading methods courses for undergraduate and graduate students. Describes student reaction to the activity as indicated through free writing in their journals and on an anonymous questionnaire. Finds that dialog journals can play a positive role. (SR)

Reviews selected instructional procedures in the four reading readiness skills that can be taught and learned: auditory discrimination, auditory comprehension, visual discrimination, and visual memory. Stresses that readiness skills are prerequisite to reading skills. (RS)

This study, involving 15 deaf parents, their hearing children, and the children's hearing grandparents, examined the content validity of the Parental Strengths and Needs Inventory for evaluating the child-rearing performance of deaf adults. The inventory was found to be inadequate for assessing the strengths and needs of deaf parents. (Author/JDD)

Teachers of children with visual impairments are encouraged to create their own useful and age-appropriate songs to help teach orientation and mobility skills to children in preschool to grade three. The songs can be created by writing new lyrics to well-known tunes or by writing new lyrics and melodies. (DB)

Eight preschool children with specific language impairment (SLI) and 30 nonimpaired children were selected on the basis of specified mean length of utterance (MLU) ranges and compared on word class production. The high-MLU and low-MLU groups of SLI children could not be empirically differentiated based on their word class profiles, whereas the…

Psychopathological disorders exhibited by children of normal intelligence are the same as those seen in intellectually disabled children, although they occur much more commonly in intellectually disabled children. Factors which complicate the clinical assessment and diagnosis of psychiatric disorders in this group are noted and assessment…

Discusses bridging the gap between agricultural and science education; involving the science department in animal science classes; working with industry to improve educational programs; integrating science and agriculture; improving scientific literacy through an agriscience curriculum; and industry's role in developing science-based agriculture.…

Introduces strategy for evaluating how drugs, administered in varying doses, affect dependent variables (physiological, psychological, and social functioning and quality of life) that fluctuate in level. Tests hypotheses with statistics computed from benefit/harm scores, measuring longitudinal associations between dose and dependent variable…

Findings from 84 interns from 32 nationwide training sites revealed that cognitive-behavioral supervisors were perceived to be in consultant role and to focus on skills and strategies more than were humanistic, psychodynamic, and existential supervisors, who were perceived more as using relationship model, playing therapist role, and focusing on…

Presents a group-guided invented-spelling instructional strategy called "Making Words" which teachers can use with beginning readers to develop their ability to spell words and to apply this knowledge when decoding during reading. Discusses how to plan and teach the strategy. Describes two sample lessons, and explores why the strategy works. (PRA)

Presents practical ideas for classroom use in literacy education, including a schoolwide reading incentive program; a center to publish students' work; a way to use the calendar to improve reading; and a method for using children's oral language patterns (such as jump rope rhymes) to teach reading skills and strategies. (PRA)

Describes a successful unit of study on poetry in a fifth grade class that ended with students each writing a sonnet as a final project. (SR)