On Developing College Students’ Ability of Reading Comprehension

Reading has become one of the four essential skills in English study,without reading,it is difficult for the students to support independent and self-directed learning.With the arrival of the Information Age,our reading materials gradually change from paper materials to electronic ones.So it becomes more and more important for college students to speed up their reading and develop a good reading habit in order to acquire as much information as possible.     

A Study on How to Enhance Students’ English Reading Proficiency

The major problems affecting students in reading are lacking time, vocabulary, background knowledge and reading skills. Among them, lacking vocabulary is the utmost problem, therefore, special attention still need to be paid on vocabulary teaching. To solve the above mentioned problems, countermeasures such as enlarging vocabulary, building background information and reading skills as well as reading extensively are put forward.     

An Analysis of the Relationship between Implicit and Explicit Knowledge——the Grammar Study

The discussions about cognition psychology in the field of second language acquisition(SLA) exert great influence on language teaching practice and theoretical research.Interface positions on the role of explicit and implicit knowledge in SLA have led to further exploration by different researchers.This paper,on the basis of previous studies,makes a brief review of the relation ship between implicit and explicit knowledge,focusing on the analysis of interface position and its role in grammar teaching and learning.     

The Obstacles and Solutions to Improving Non English-major Students’Listening Comprehension

Listening has been playing an essential role in daily communication.However,listening is the most difficult part and has been an obstacle in the process of learning English for most of learners for a variety of reasons.The paper mainly discusses the linguistic and non—linguistic obstacles in the process of listening and aims to help English learners find out their own shortcomings and put forward some corresponding solutions to improve learners' listening ability.     

The Relationship between Students’ Characteristics and Their Impressions of Online Courses

This study explored relationship between students’ conscientiousness and motivation, their impressions of the online environment, and their learning. Also examined were relationships between their impressions of the online environment and their sense of community and their interactions with others. Questionnaires were completed by 84 students at a private college. Students who were more conscientious and intrinsically motivated had more favorable impressions of online courses. They were engaged, and perceived value in the course, and were less anxious or frustrated when taking online courses. Those students who perceived a sense of community, or social presence, also had more favorable impressions. These relationships and their implications are discussed.     

Using Technology to Improve Students’ Literacy

Rapid evolution of communication technologies has changed language pedagogy and language use,and they enable new forms of discourse and new ways to create and participate in communities.Using the modern technology can reinforce and expand the ESL stu dents’ s language and literacy instruction.It mainly discusses the effects of television on literacy development,and using video to enhance reading outcomes.A great number of studies provide evidence that learners can develop their language and literacy skills from technology.     

The Effects of Prior Knowledge and Audience on High School Students’ Writing

Abstract

To investigate the likelihood that explicit instruction in text summarization is being provided in classrooms, an "ideal lesson" method was used. Twelve experienced K-12 teachers were asked to devise summarization lessons appropriate to their learners and course content, to deliver the lessons, and to audiotape them. Lessons were transcribed, and instances of mentioning of summarization rules were coded. Only two teachers in the sample group discussed more than one of the five summarization rules assessed. The other teachers provided instruction that emphasized words and facts, despite their having been prompted to "assist students in improving text summaries." Staff development possibilities are discussed.     

The Relationship Between Chinese Students’ Subject Matter Knowledge and Argumentation Pedagogy

Science education in China is Subject Matter Knowledge (SMK) oriented in that SMK understanding is the major benchmark to assess students’ achievement in science learning. Such an orientation causes students to overemphasize the memorization of SMK and neglect other indispensable components of science, such as scientific attitudes and research skills. The central government in China launched an educational innovation known as New Curriculum Reform in 2003. Considerable progress has been made in the past 11 years in regard to theoretical understandings and administrative priorities, but little progress has been made in terms of classroom instruction and scientific literacy cultivation at the secondary level. Under the pressure of nationwide standardized exams, any educational innovations are unlikely to be accepted unless there is robust evidence suggesting their efficacy in promoting students’ achievements on exams, or even attempted unless teachers are assured such attempts will not negatively impact such achievement. Argumentation-integrated curriculum is one such innovation. Scientific argumentation is an essential scientific activity that leads to the development of an explanation based on empirical evidence. An initial foundation of SMK, in terms of the necessary background knowledge, is considered by many to be a vital component of argumentation and an enhanced SMK is one of the intended products of argumentation. The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed methods study was to investigate the relationship between Chinese students’ SMK levels and argumentation pedagogy and to provide insights into a possible research agenda focused on implementing argumentation in a heavily SMK-oriented context.     

A Research on Middle School Students’English Reading Obstacles and Strategies

English reading,a key procedure of English learning and teaching in middle school,is an essential way of getting information from the globe and communicating with others.Therefore,efficient comprehension on reading materials will directly serve for accepting the information.And it is extremely important for middle school students to acquire certain reading ability.At present,great attention has been paid to the course of reading in the instruction of English by the Chinese Education Department.But middle school students’read ing ability is still much lower than the target they should reach because of a set of existing obstacles that prevent them from being effective English readers.What are these obstacles? How to break them down? This paper will first point out and then analyze the obstacles that af fect middle school students’reading ability from two aspects:linguistic obstacles(obstacles of lexicon,grammar and background knowl edge) and non-linguistic obstacles(obstacles of psychology,interest,skill,and habit).After demonstrating different obstacles,the paper also come up with some corresponding strategies in the hope of helping middle school students to be effective English readers.     

The Teacher’s Role of Listening Comprehension

Throughout the history of the listening comprehension teaching at home and abroad, the research mainly focus on the correlation of the learner’s English listening proficiency and their self-efficiency. Scholars like Alisa J.Bates, Penny Ur. and Widdowson, H. G. have claimed the significance of teacher’s role in listening comprehension. For the purpose of proving the necessity of the teacher’s role in listening comprehension, based on the analysis of the features of classroom listening comprehension,this paper presents the teacher’s role before class, in class and after class. Meanwhile, during the teaching process, teachers and learners are revealed in two way interactive relations and the pedagogical process is the result of the bilateral interaction of the two sides.     

Learning Using Dynamic and Static Visualizations: Students’ Comprehension, Prior Knowledge and Conceptual Status of a Biotechnological Method

The importance of biotechnology education at the high-school level has been recognized in a number of international curriculum frameworks around the world. One of the most problematic issues in learning biotechnology has been found to be the biotechnological methods involved. Here, we examine the unique contribution of an animation of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in promoting conceptual learning of the biotechnological method among 12th-grade biology majors. All of the students learned about the PCR using still images (n = 83) or the animation (n = 90). A significant advantage to the animation treatment was identified following learning. Students’ prior content knowledge was found to be an important factor for students who learned PCR using still images, serving as an obstacle to learning the PCR method in the case of low prior knowledge. Through analysing students’ discourse, using the framework of the conceptual status analysis, we found that students who learned about PCR using still images faced difficulties in understanding some mechanistic aspects of the method. On the other hand, using the animation gave the students an advantage in understanding those aspects.     

Research Insights Into The Relationship between Teachers’ Acceptance Attitudes,Their Role Concepts,and Students’ Acceptance Attitudes

Abstract

In experiment I, two teachers of adolescent students were given video feedback of their teaching behavior in regard to two types of teacher "postures/’ the effect of which was to change their behavior in specific directions. Experiment II, a replication, was conducted with elementary students and demonstrated that change in specific teacher behaviors appeared to produce changes in academic response rate in pupils. Results were discussed relative to teacher training.     

The Relationship Between Students’ Motives to Communicate With Their Instructors and Classroom Environment

This study examined the relationships between students’ motives for communicating with their instructors (i.e., relational, functional, participatory, excuse making, and sycophantic) and their perceptions of the classroom environment (i.e., classroom climate, classroom connectedness, and personalized education). Participants were 174 undergraduate students enrolled in several introductory communication courses at a large, Mid-Atlantic university. The results indicated that students’ self-reports of their relational, functional, participatory, and sycophantic motives to communicate with their instructors were positively related to their perceptions of the classroom environment, but students’ self-reports of their excuse-making motives were not related to their perceptions of the classroom climate. Future research should examine whether students’ motives to communicate with their instructors remain constant or whether these motives fluctuate over the course of a semester or increase or decrease based on the instructional tasks that normally occur during an instructional period.     

The Relationship Between Students’ Casual Interest in Science and Their Perceptions of the Undergraduate Laboratory Environment

Research in Science Education - Science instructors assume that they have created their laboratory curriculum in such a way as to reflect an ideal science instructional laboratory, but students may...     

Reading Sacred Texts in the Classroom: The Alignment Between Students and Their Teacher’s Interpretive Stances When Reading the Hebrew Bible

This study investigated the voices of students interpreting Hebrew Bible texts in one fourth-grade classroom. Through think-alouds on the Biblical text with each student, exit interviews, teacher interviews, and classroom observations, this study found that those students whose interpretive stances were more aligned with the teacher’s were given greater voice in classroom text discussions than students whose interpretive stances were misaligned. Drawing on neo-Vygotskian education theory, I argue that Jewish educators need to take students’ interpretive stances seriously; attempting to force students into an interpretive framework that is set by the teacher will only undermine student learning and engagement.     

The Impact of Differentiated Instruction on Students’ Reading Comprehension Attainment in Mixed-Ability Classrooms

Interchange - This explanatory sequential quasi-experimental study investigated the impact of differentiated instruction on reading comprehension attainment in mixed-ability classrooms. Fifty-four...     

Rethinking on Matching Teachers’ Teaching Styles with Students’ Learning Styles in ESL/EFL Classrooms

Teaching styles and learning styles play important parts in ESL/EFL classrooms. However, is it necessary for language teachers to match their teaching styles with their students’ learning styles?Is it feasible for the teachers to match their teaching styles to every individual student’s learning styles?Because of the incompatible learning and teaching styles, suggestions on how to deal with the difficulties in the matching of these two styles will be given.     

Improving Elementary Grade Students’ Science and Social Studies Vocabulary Knowledge Depth,Reading Comprehension,and Argumentative Writing: a Conceptual Replication

Educational Psychology Review - This experimental study aimed to replicate and extend a previous efficacy study of an elementary grade content literacy intervention that demonstrated positive...