Computer-aided self-instruction training with hearing-impaired impulsive students

This study explored the utility of computer-aided, self-instruction training for enhancing reflective problem-solving among impulsive hearing-impaired adolescent students. Sixteen moderate to severely hearing-impaired students were randomly assigned to either a treatment or control condition. The self-instruction treatment condition consisted of training to solve visual problems using a modified version of the LOGO computer language (REFLECT) and videotape feedback. The control condition consisted of LOGO problem-solving without self-instruction. Instruction took place over 12 weeks. On two dependent measures of impulsive problem-solving behaviors, students in the treatment condition demonstrated significantly improved problem-solving ability.     

语言艺术在幼儿钢琴教学中的运用

钢琴教学是一项复杂的教学任务,让幼儿掌握音乐的基本知识和基本演奏方法,尤为困难。这是由于幼儿认识的直观性、行为的随意性、心理的依赖性、情绪的波动性导致的。钢琴教师应该根据幼儿的年龄特征,以生动活泼的语言把复杂的音乐内容和实际生活相结合更有助于幼儿的钢琴学习。在教学实践中,掌握和运用准确、形象、启发、实效性的钢琴教学语言,是钢琴教师沟通学生的思想、教授学生正确的弹奏方法、提高学习效率、达到教学目的的重要手段和前提条件。     

Understanding literacy development of language minority students: an integrative approach

This special issue of Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal contains nine papers by researchers who presented at the Language and Reading Comprehension for Immigrant Children (LARCIC) conference, which took place at OISE/University of Toronto in 2009. The first set of five papers focuses on the contribution of cognitive factors to reading comprehension in language minority children, and the second set of four papers focuses on the joint effects of cognitive and socio-cultural factors on literacy development in these children. Three common themes emerge in the first set of papers. The first theme compares the cognitive processes that contribute to reading comprehension between language minority children and their peers who speak the societal language as the first language. In particular, the application of the Simple View of Reading model in language minority children is discussed. The second theme compares the reading performance of language minority children to their peers. The third theme explores the nature of reading constructs in language minority children. Two common themes underlie the second set of papers. The first theme addresses the mediating role of socio-cultural factors in vocabulary development in language minority children. The second theme explores the joint effects of cognitive and socio-cultural factors on cross-language transfer of literacy skills. Taken together, the papers presented in this special issue point to the importance of considering both cognitive and socio-cultural factors in literacy research involving language minority children.     

The epistemological role of language use in learning: A phenomenographic intentional-expressive approach

In research on learning, one of the fundamental questions concerns issues of language and thought. A number of empirical studies have revealed the interplay between understanding of subject matter and meanings of language expressions to be more dynamic and ambiguous than is commonly acknowledged. The aim of this article is to outline an alternative intentional-expressive approach to the interplay between use of language and understanding of subject matter as a contribution to the theoretical development in research on learning. The approach is based on a conception of language that focuses on the function of learners’ language use in relation to subject matter in developing and expressing understanding. The learner is seen as an agent, and the focus is on the use of language from the learner's perspective. Four aspects of the relation between learners and subject matter are described and discussed. Conclusions concern the value of this approach as a complement and alternative to the dominant communicative and cognitive approaches to the role of language in learning.     

The language and literacy development of young dual language learners: A critical review

The number of children living in the United States who are learning two languages is increasing greatly. However, relatively little research has been conducted on the language and literacy development of dual language learners (DLLs), particularly during the early childhood years. To summarize the extant literature and guide future research, a critical analysis of the literature was conducted. A search of major databases for studies on young typically developing DLLs between 2000 and 2011 yielded 182 peer-reviewed articles.     

Coping with high-achieving transnationalist immigrant students: The experience of Israeli teachers

Little attention has been paid to teacher attitudes toward high-achieving culturally diverse student groups. This in-depth study focuses on the experience of Israeli teachers who tell the story of a decade and a half of educational work with their highly motivated, academically successful immigrant students from the Former Soviet Union. The paper explores the differential effect of subject matter and seniority on teachers’ experience. It analyzes communication patterns between teachers and their high-achieving transnationalist immigrant students according to these parameters. Implications for the educational treatment of academic excellence among immigrant students in a globalized context are considered.     

The mathematical textbook for young students

The mathematical textbook has always been an important influence in mathematics teaching. However, as more modern methods of teaching aim to engage the pupil in mathematical activity the textbook's role has become more problematical. In this paper the author analyses that problem and offers principles and examples from new Polish textbooks which illustrate some possible solutions.