We investigate the effects of age-related factors and formal instruction on the development of reading-related skills in children aged four and seven years. Age effects were determined by comparing two groups of children at the onset of formal schooling; one aged seven (laterschooled) and one aged four (earlier-schooled). Schooling effects were measured by comparing the later-schooled group wit...

This project provides a sample of the curriculum, Rapping English, which uses rap/hip-hop style music to teach ELLs vocabulary, grammar, discourse and prosody. The rationale for using musical instruction is based on Gardner’s (2006) multiple intelligence theory and Bloom’s (1978) learning domains. This curriculum instructs students through musical intelligence and the affective domain which are...

Children who have difficulty with literacy development often experience pervasive and enduring trouble with spelling, even after receiving remedial instruction. Our study tests a new approach to improving the spelling of these children. We designed an instructional program emphasizing the morphological structure of words, and directly contrast its benefits to instruction that focuses on word me...

This study sought to investigate the effect of teacher codeswitching, as compared to monolingual (L2) instruction, on L2 vocabulary learning and retention. Though a sizeable body of research on teacher beliefs and behavior regarding classroom L1 use has diminished the efficacy of monolingual pedagogy, the potential of strategic codeswitching for facilitating L2 learning has only recently come u...

Jim Ranalli, Iowa State University This paper explores the feasibility of an automated, online form of L2 strategy instruction (SI) as an alternative to conventional, classroom-based forms that rely primarily on teachers. Feasibility was evaluated by studying the effectiveness, both actual and perceived, of a five-week, online SI course designed to teach web-based dictionary skills integrated w...

Zhang, Jinghong. M.S.Ed., Purdue University, May 2015. Vocabulary Teaching in Chinese Junior High Schools. Major Professor: Melanie Shoffner. Vocabulary learning is an important and indispensable part of the English language learning process. In this paper, the author tried to examine the vocabulary teaching practice in Chinese junior high schools. A questionnaire was used to investigate the pr...

Does the type of reading instruction experienced during the initial years at school have any continuing effect on the ways in which adults read words? The question has arisen in current discussions about computational models of mature word-reading processes. We tested predicted continuing effects by comparing matched samples of skilled adult readers of English who had received explicit phonics ...

Gender is considered a sociological construct and investigating the role of gender in foreign language learning contexts is highly important due to the effects of sociological factors in learning. Therefore, the present study set out to explore the sociological effects of peer and teacher scaffolding through the process approach in a technology-enhanced environment on the vocabulary learning of...