Effective Writing Assessment and Instruction for Young English Language Learners

The total number of English Language Learners in the American public schools is more than 4.5 million students or 9.6% of the total school population. This article focuses on instructional writing strategies and assessments for English Language Learners in the elementary classroom. This article provides early childhood education teachers with information about differences amongst English Language Learners because they are not a homogenous group. English Language Learners’ academic abilities can range from emergent readers, writers, and speakers of English to proficient readers, writers, and speakers of English.     

Evaluating writing instruction through an investigation of students’ experiences of learning through writing

Learning through writing is a way of learning not only the appropriate written expression of disciplinary knowledge, but also the knowledge itself through reflection and revision. This study investigates the quality of a writing experience provided to university students in a first-year biology subject. The writing instruction methodology used is Genre-based literacy pedagogy, designed to help both with learning disciplinary knowledge and its appropriate written presentation. Evaluative research methodologies from Student Learning Research are used and include the use of three closed-ended questionnaires and an open-ended questionnaire. The results of the research suggest ways of improving the writing instruction by better understanding the previous writing experiences of the students, improving the instructional materials, clarifying goals of the writing tasks at key stages in the writing process, and helping students to improve their approach to the writing experience.in final form: 23 August 2004     

Starting small: Building preschool teacher knowledge that supports early literacy development

A growing body of research is emerging that investigates the teacher knowledge base essential for supporting reading and writing development at the elementary school level. However, even though increasing recognition is given to the pivotal role that preschool teachers play in cultivating children’s early literacy development, considerably fewer studies have examined the knowledge base of these early childhood educators. This paper will discuss the existing research literature and then examine a recent study that investigated the knowledge constructs of 20 preschool teachers. Findings indicate that preschool teachers lack the disciplinary knowledge required to promote early literacy and, in fact, tend to overestimate what they know, creating a potential obstacle for seeking additional knowledge. Recommendations for strengthening professional development programs and developing more robust measures of preschool teacher knowledge are proposed.     

Information Literacy: The Missing Link in Early Childhood Education

The rapid growth of information over the last 30 or 40 years has made it impossible for educators to prepare students for the future without teaching them how to be effective information managers. The American Library Association refers to those students who manage information effectively as information literate. Information literacy instruction has been a priority in many secondary schools since the American Association of School Libraries published the Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning in 1998. Although these standards were written for grades K-12, information literacy is still not the focus in many early childhood classrooms. This article discusses the importance of information literacy instruction in early childhood education. Research suggests that early information literacy instruction, using informational texts and collaborative, teacher–librarian curriculum planning, promotes critical thinking and increases the ability to problem-solve—two skills necessary for survival in today’s Information Age.     

Advances in research on internal and external factors that guide adolescents’ reading and learning on the Internet (Avances en la investigación de los factores internos y externos que condicionan la lectura y el aprendizaje de los adolescentes a través Internet)

ABSTRACT

Articles in this special issue — How adolescents read and learn on the Web: internal and external factors — provide compelling new empirical evidence on a suite of internal and external factors that guide adolescents’ reading and learning from Web resources. This commentary first provides a brief overview of the findings and interpretations from each of the constituent articles. It then builds coherence amongst the findings and interpretations across the articles and in relation to the broader extant research literature. The organization differentiates which factors appear to promote and which factors appear to undermine different facets of reading and learning from Web resources. Finally, seven important future directions are discussed that emerged from analysing and synthesizing ideas presented across the articles in combination with the extant research literature. The hope is that the commentary stimulates research directions moving forward, with mindfulness towards developing conditions that support online reading for a host of different adolescent readers.     

Learner-friendly textbooks: Chemistry texts based on a constructivist view of learning

In this study, the use of inquiry methods, learning cycles, a conceptual change model and analogy in creating alternative science texts was discussed. An alternative text on the topic of acids and bases was created by integrating the methods and models discussed in this paper. The alternative text and a sample of a traditional text taken from a textbook, which is still used in Turkish high schools, were given to two groups, totaling 42 pre-service teachers—the alternative text was given to an experimental group and the traditional text to a control group—in an experimental setting and their understandings of acids and bases were compared. In addition, in the second step of the study, the pre-service teachers read both texts and indicated their preferences in terms of interest, understandability and helpfullness.     

音乐教学充分调动幼儿的情感体验

幼儿音乐教学,就是对幼儿的审美能力的培养。教学实践当中,幼儿教师可以利用现代化的教学手段,采取科学有效的“互动课堂模式”,营造良好的教学氛围,激发幼儿学习音乐的兴趣;采取灵活多样的教学方式,充分发挥城乡课程资源的优势互补,全面提高幼儿的音乐素养,为他们将来进一步发展奠定良好的基础。在欣赏音乐的过程中,幼儿教师应帮助幼儿领悟音乐所要表达的情感世界,使幼儿真正把握音乐的内涵意义,从而全面理解音乐作品。     

多元读写模式及对习作教学的启示——以三名中国移民儿童的海外读写经历为例

学生习作能力的培养一直以来被看成是课堂教学的任务,对移民英国的三名中国儿童的海外读写经历研究发现,儿童读写能力形成的途径是多元的,非正式、非正规读写学习有效地支持正规读写学习,三种读写学习模式相互独立又密切相关。读写学习的目的不仅要帮助儿童培养读写能力,还要提升儿童的读写素质。     

CHELLO: The Child/Home Environmental Language and Literacy Observation

The purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable tool for measuring the quality of the language and literacy environment in home-based settings. Based on a convergence of research on the ecological and psychological factors associated with early literacy development, the Child/Home Environmental Language and Literacy Observation (CHELLO) was developed to gauge the quality of current practices associated with positive early childhood literacy outcomes. Following the structure of the Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation Scale (ELLCO) [Smith, M., & Dickinson, D. (2002). Early language & literacy classroom observation. Baltimore, MD: Brookes], we developed two interdependent tools: The Literacy Environment Checklist and the Group/Family Observation and Provider Interview. Inter-rater reliability using weighted kappas indicated acceptable reliability. Following this analysis, the CHELLO was administered in 128 home-based settings in four low-income urban areas. Initial evidence of its psychometric properties provided support for internal consistency. Although more research is needed, the CHELLO has the potential to serve as a useful tool for examining the language and literacy environment in home-based settings.     

语言学习策略实例研究及教学启示

以某普通高校226名新生为对象,以交互英语和策略训练为教学干预手段,探索了交互英语对策略使用情况和学习成效的影响作用.结果发现:语言学习策略是可以学习和训练的;交互英语和策略训练的结合有利于学生语言学习策略的有效使用和学习成绩的提高;单一的策略训练教学方式对学生学习成效作用不显著.