Teachers fostering the co-development of science literacy and language literacy with English language learners

Thirty-five elementary teachers participated in a yearlong professional development (PD) program that was designed to foster a culture of on-going teacher learning to promote the co-development of science and language literacy for English language learners (ELL). An explanatory design methodology was used to determine the degree to which science and language literacy co-developed. The research question guiding this study was: In what ways did the yearlong PD science program support teachers at 10 elementary schools to become more knowledgeable about fostering science literacy and its role in co-developing language literacy (e.g. reading, writing, listening, and speaking) for ELL? The measurable and significant gains on the quantitative mandated state science and reading tests and the analysis of qualitative teaching episodes led to the conclusion that demonstrated the synergy between science learning and language learning – as one increased, so did the other.     

中英文化差异及习语翻译问题

语言与文化密不可分,文化差异形成了翻译的障碍,造成了翻译问题,其中,习语翻译是比较突出的问题。一般来说中英文化差异来源于以下五个方面：历史和典故,地理位置和自然环境,风俗和习惯,社会、政治和经济制度,宗教信仰。在翻译教学和翻译实践中,充分考虑文化因素,消除文化障碍,减少误译,提高翻译质量。     

Implementation fidelity of MyTeachingPartner literacy and language activities: Association with preschoolers’ language and literacy growth

There is surprisingly little empirical research examining issues of fidelity of implementation within the early childhood education literature. In the MyTeachingPartner project, 154 teachers were provided with materials to implement a supplemental classroom curriculum addressing six aspects of literacy and language development. The present study examines the degree of variability in three aspects of implementation fidelity – dosage, adherence, and quality of delivery – and whether these components of fidelity were associated with children's growth in language and literacy skills across the preschool year. Findings indicate that teachers reported using the curriculum fairly often (dosage) and that they were observed to generally follow curricular lesson plans (adherence). In contrast, the quality of delivery, defined as the use of evidence-based teacher–child interactions for teaching literacy and language, was much lower. Children in classrooms in which activities were observed to last for longer (dosage) and in which teachers exhibited higher quality of delivery of literacy lessons made significantly greater gains in early literacy skills across the preschool year. Also, teachers’ use of higher quality language interactions was associated with gains for children who did not speak English at home. Results have implications for teacher professional development and the supports provided to ensure that curricula are delivered most effectively.     

Examining the literacy component of science literacy: 25 years of language arts and science research

This review, written to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the International Journal of Science Education, revealed a period of changes in the theoretical views of the language arts, the perceived roles of language in science education, and the research approaches used to investigate oral and written language in science, science teaching, and learning. The early years were dominated by behavioralist and logico-mathematical interpretations of human learning and by reductionist research approaches, while the later years reflected an applied cognitive science and constructivist interpretations of learning and a wider array of research approaches that recognizes the holistic nature of teaching and learning. The early years focus on coding oral language into categories reflecting source of speech, functional purpose, level of question and response, reading research focused on the readability of textbooks using formulae and the reader's decoding skills, and writing research was not well documented since the advocates for writing in service of learning were grass roots practitioners and many science teachers were using writing as an evaluation technique. The advent of applied cognitive science and the constructivist perspectives ushered in interactive-constructive models of discourse, reading and writing that more clearly revealed the role of language in science and in science teaching and learning. A review of recent research revealed that the quantity and quality of oral interactions were low and unfocused in science classrooms; reading has expanded to consider comprehension strategies, metacognition, sources other than textbooks, and the design of inquiry environments for classrooms; and writing-to-learn science has focused on sequential writing tasks requiring transformation of ideas to enhance science learning. Several promising trends and future research directions flow from the synthesis of this 25-year period of examining the literacy component of science literacy - among them are critical listening and reading of various sources, multi-media presentations and representations, effective debate and argument, quality explanation and the role of information and communication technologies/environments.     

Developing language and literacy: effective intervention in the early years

Reading Recovery is an early intervention program used around the world for at-risk readers. Developed at a time when constructivist principles dominated educational philosophy, its efficacy has caused debate and division over the last three decades. This qualitative study employed in-depth interviews and observations to explore 10 Reading Recovery teachers' views and experiences about working with the program. Findings revealed that the program was implemented by participants as originally prescribed and its contents were well regarded. However, deeper analysis revealed that Reading Recovery teachers held the view that the program was best suited for children with innocent deficits such as mild maturational delay but were not necessarily confident about its ability to meet the needs of children with various clinical conditions, including specific reading difficulty. Theoretical, ethical and clinical implications are explored regarding the utility of the Reading Recovery program as an early intervention program for low progress readers.     

浅谈农村小学语文教师的语文素养及其提升策略

文章以文献研究的方法梳理了语文素养的内涵,得出语文素养包含人文素养、语文知识、语文技能等内容。同时,文章分析了农村小学语文教师群体存在的问题：语文教师群体结构不良、语文素养内涵不足、缺乏竞争压力和自我发展意识,进而提出提升其语文素养的策略：将年轻高学历毕业生充实到农村教师队伍中、对现有教师进行适当的在职培训、建立合理的考核与退出机制,保障高素养教师从事农村语文教育。     

Functional literacy of Young Guyanese Adults

Functional literacy is interpreted as the ability of the individual to apply skills in reading, writing, calculation and basic problem-solving in those activities in which literacy is required for effective functioning in his/her own group and community. The paper describes the rationale, development and administration of the test used for measuring levels (high, moderate, low) of achievement in functional literacy in three domains (document, prose and quantitative). An assumption of the study was that a high level of functional literacy was required for the individual to function effectively in his/her own group and community. The context of the study is Guyana the most underdeveloped and impoverished country in the English-speaking Caribbean. The subjects are out of school youth in Guyana aged 14–25.Amongst the main findings are: only approximately 11% of the young people show a high level of functional literacy; females tend to have a higher level of functional literacy than males: and most of those at the low level never went beyond primary and low status secondary schools and usually end up unemployed or in semi- or unskilled jobs.Attention is drawn to the difficulty of attracting funding for literacy programmes from international aid agencies, given the inflated adult literacy rate which is reported for Guyana in international statistics. While they credit Guyana with an adult literacy rate of 97.5%, the study suggests that a more realistic figure is in the 70s. The importance of adult and continuing education is underscored in view of the need to help those who are out of school to meet the ever-changing demands of society for improved skills in literacy and numeracy.     

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.     

Functional literacy of Young Guyanese Adults

Functional literacy is interpreted as the ability of the individual to apply skills in reading, writing, calculation and basic problem-solving in those activities in which literacy is required for effective functioning in his/her own group and community. The paper describes the rationale, development and administration of the test used for measuring levels (high, moderate, low) of achievement in functional literacy in three domains (document, prose and quantitative). An assumption of the study was that a high level of functional literacy was required for the individual to function effectively in his/her own group and community. The context of the study is Guyana the most underdeveloped and impoverished country in the English-speaking Caribbean. The subjects are out of school youth in Guyana aged 14–25.Amongst the main findings are: only approximately 11% of the young people show a high level of functional literacy; females tend to have a higher level of functional literacy than males: and most of those at the low level never went beyond primary and low status secondary schools and usually end up unemployed or in semi- or unskilled jobs.     

有关口语中英文夹杂使用的问题

随着文化发展的交流日益加大,人们对英语的学习越来越重视.在生活中出现汉语中夹杂使用英文的现象越来越多,英文的吸收有丰富汉语的作用,但直接在汉语中夹杂使用英语不符合汉语规范.如何解决好英语外来词的吸收问题是我们值得关注和研究的问题.这一问题时汉语的健康发展以及中小学的教学都有着举足轻重的地位.     

语文识字教学方法评述

五种语识字教学方法各有特点和优势。在识字教学中，语教师应该系统地把握汉字及汉字认知的特点和规律，理性地认识各种识字教学方法的优点和缺点，扬长避短，综合运用，提高识字教学的效率。     

例谈核心素养视域下生物工程原创试题的命制

基于生物学热点基因编辑技术命制生物工程试题,考查学生的学科核心素养.并从命题背景、设计说明、考查水平和测试结果等方面进行阐述.     

Efficacy of the TELL language and literacy curriculum for preschoolers with developmental speech and/or language impairment

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the efficacy of a new preschool oral language and early literacy curriculum package (Teaching Early Literacy and Language [TELL]) for children with developmental speech and/or language impairment (DSLI) either as a primary (e.g., specific to speech and/or language) or secondary impairment (e.g., developmental delay that includes DSLI). Participants included 118 children (30 females, 88 males, M age = 53.58 months) with DLSI and their 29 preschool teachers. The design was a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with assignment to experimental versus contrast conditions at the classroom level. Teachers in TELL classes received formal training, in-class support, and mentoring to implement the curriculum. Dependent measures for the children included scores on the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Preschool 2nd edition (CELF-P2), the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening for Preschool (PALS-PreK), the Renfrew Bus Story (BUS), and a receptive and expressive vocabulary measure developed for this investigation (VOCAB). Results indicated that when compared to the contrast group, children in the TELL condition demonstrated greater gains on the phonological awareness subtest of the CELF-P2, the sentence length score of the BUS, the letter sounds, beginning sound awareness, and rhyme awareness subtests of the PALS-PreK, and VOCAB. Results suggest that the TELL curriculum package has promise for promoting gains in early literacy and oral language skills in preschool children with DLSI.     

A study of the relationship between American sign language and English literacy

This article presents the findings of a study of the relationship between American Sign Language (ASL) skills and English literacy among 160 deaf children. Using a specially designed test of ASL to determine three levels of ASL ability, we found that deaf children who attained the higher two levels significantly outperformed children in the lowest ASL ability level in English literacy, regardless of age and IQ. Furthermore, although deaf children with deaf mothers outperformed deaf children of hearing mothers in both ASL and English literacy, when ASL level was held constant, there was no difference between these two groups, except in the lowest level of ASL ability. The implication of this research is straightforward and powerful: Deaf children's learning of English appears to benefit from the acquisition of even a moderate fluency in ASL.     

Cross-linguistic transfer in literacy development and implications for language learners

One of the challenges for educators working in multilingual settings has been to identify the causes of reading difficulties of language learners (LLs). It is difficult to distinguish between reading problems stemming from low levels of linguistic proficiency versus more general reading/learning difficulties. There is now growing research evidence of cross-language transfer in different literacy processes. Literacy components that reflect language-independent, metacognitive/metalinguistic processes show similarities across the two languages of students. Some examples are phonological awareness, syntactic awareness, knowledge of genres and meaning-making strategies. A possible way to use cross-language transfer as a diagnostic tool is proposed. If children have had enough exposure to and possibly instruction in their first language (L1), we can assess their skills and insights in L1. For LLs who have these skills and insights in their strong L1, we can expect transfer to their second language (L2). If they do not have these skills and insights in their L2 yet, it indicates a delay due to limited language proficiency, and not because of a disability. This way LLs who just need more L2 practice and exposure can be distinguished from those LLs who truly have special needs.