This study considered the efficacy of a differentiated approach to vocabulary instruction for learners with word-finding difficulties (WFD) in the speech and language pathologist’s room. Using a pretest–posttest design to study treatment outcomes, 10 second graders with WFD received first semantic-based vocabulary instruction (S) and then semantic- and phonological-based vocabulary instruction (S & P). The S instruction focused on teaching only the semantic properties of words, whereas the S & P vocabulary instruction focused on teaching both semantic and phonological properties of words. Lexical factors of words taught were studied in reference to their influence on vocabulary instruction. Greater expressive language normalized gains were revealed for learners with WFD following the S & P approach to instruction as compared to the S approach. Phonotactic probability influenced success; learners found words consisting of common phoneme sequences easier to learn. Thus, for learners with WFD, expressive language learning was enhanced when form-based strategies were added to the semantic-based teaching paradigm.
This multiyear mixed-method study was conducted to understand (a) the perceptions of the preservice and in-service teachers regarding the significance of action research in their teaching career and (b) how teachers draw on skills developed in the research courses as they initiate a reflective inquiry and conduct research in their own classrooms. Based on 176 surveys, we conclude that research plays an important role in the teachers' professional life and that teachers desire (a) to have more time to do research, and (b) collaboration with and assistance from colleagues and administrators. Ethnographic data from three participants revealed that each understood research differently, which affected what was unfolding in the classrooms. Implications for teacher research are discussed.
This study investigated correlations between parents' and students' attitudes towani the Hebrew language; and the correlation between students' attitudes toward, and achievement in, the Hebrew language. Additional&, duferences in attitudes between boys and girk and between students in Levek 3 and 4 were investigated. The sample conskted of Ulstudents in the thiniand fourth years Of Ekbmt~ i m t m C t O f & andthUWRna f m m f o w a P plementary Hebrew schools in the Chicago area. S M e n t s a d m e n e wwvadminktemiattitude W-The role of attitudes in the acquisition of second language has been explored by many resmhers in the last 30 years. Studies investigated the nlationships between students' and parents' attitudes, and between students' and teachers' attitudes and student achievement (Anisfeld & Lambert, 1; Dockrell& Bn>sseau, 3; Feenstra, 4; Gardner, 5 and 6; Macnamara, 8.) In addition, several studies explored the effect of teachers' attitudes on students' attitudes and achievement (Feenstra, 4; Gardner, 6 Awidely-held opinion is that the home environment and parents' attitudes toward a second language correlate positively with their children's attitudes (Gardner, 5). Feenstra (4) sees the students' orientation as based upon the family-wide orientation.Parents may playpassive or active roles in shaping their child's attitude toward, and acquisition of, a second language and in the child's attitude toward the other ethnic groups (Gardner, 5). In the active role, "the parent monitors the child's language learning performance, and ... attempts to promote success" (Feenstra, 4, p. 9). The passive role, which involves the parents' attitudes toward the second language community, is more subtle and the parent may not be aware of its impact (Gardner, 5, p. 110).Research has shown that there is a correlation between the child's attitude toward, and achievement in second language. Gardner (6) summarized several studies done in Canada and the US., and concluded that, in all these studies, "The results clearly indicate a particular pattern of attitudinal-motivational com- Less conclusive were the results from several studies (Anisfeld & Lambert, 1; Dockerell & Brosseau, 3) which did not find a clear pattern of correlation between students' attitudes and various measures of second language achievement. Macnamara (8) for one, opposes the commonly-held belief that an integrative attitude is more likely to lead to success than an instrumental attitude. He emphasizes the practical aspects of learning a language, and suggests that if language is for communicating, we should stop talking about attitude and start talking about communication.Another variable studied in connection with second language acquisition is the sex of the learner. l3artley (2) investigated the differences between students who dropped out of second-language courses after junior high school and those who continued their studies in high school, and found that the two groups differed in attitude, the girls in both groups being more favorably dispos...
invalid. Recognizing this problem, educators and language teachers in the Chicago area expressed a need for a new series of both summative and formative tests which would be used by all schools.The first test in the series was constructed in the spring of 1977 and was designed to evaluate the level of Hebrew language achiel-ement attained by American students at the end of the second year in the after-school Hebrew schools. These students received an average of two to four hours of language instruction per week. The Hebrew Language Achievement Test (HLAT) for second-year students was developed in two stages: the pilot stud!-and the crossvalidation study. The Pilot StudyThe purpose of the pilot study was to survey curricula, define objectives, generate items, and assess their reliability and validity. The final product was to be a preliminary edition of the achievement test. Methods and ProceduresThe objective was to create a test with approximately 50 items selected from a pool of 103 newly written draft items. Because only about 45 minutes of testing were allowed in each classroom, the items were divided into two similar forms of approximately 50 items each which were randomly assigned to every other student in the classrooms. Each form included a reading comprehension (RC) section with 12 items (Form A) or 13 items (Form B); a language structure (LS) section uith 12 items; and a vocabulary (V) section with 28 items.The test content was selected by professional educators to represent, as closely as possible, the
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