Teaching French as a Second Language to Chinese students: Instructional staff adaptation and intercultural competence development

This case study is an analysis of second language instructors’ processes of adaptation to Chinese students at a small French University. More precisely, in this qualitative case study, it will be shown that the instructional staff's adaptation to an unfamiliar work environment and student population contributed to the development of their intercultural competence. Moreover, it will be argued that such competence was not developed to its full potential. Finally, we offer recommendations for teacher education programs at the end of the article.     

A study of self-actualization and self-concept in intellectually gifted students

The self-actualization and self-concept of 368 intellectually gifted students in grades 4 through 12 from a rural school district in a southern state were investigated using the Reflections of Self by Youth (ROSY; Schatz & Buckmaster, 1981), the Maslowian Scale (Falk, Bard, Duffy, Grieco, & Markus, 1988), and the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale (Piers & Harris, 1969). School level and gender had significant effects on the ROSY. The mean for students at the high school level was higher than at either the elementary or junior high school level. The mean for girls was higher than for boys. A significant interaction between school level and gender was observed only on the Psychological subscale of the Maslowian Scale. The ROSY and Self-actualization subscale and Total score of the Maslowian Scale were significantly related to the Piers-Harris. The ROSY and the Maslowian Scale were found to share a significant relationship (r = .51).     

The Benefits of Growing Up in Rural England: A study among 13-15-year-old females

A sample of 5535 Year 9 and Year 10 female pupils, aged between 13 and 15 years attending state-maintained secondary schools throughout England completed a scale of attitude toward their local area, together with the short form Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. The data demonstrate that young people living in the countryside are more likely than young people living in other environments to perceive their local area as a safe place in which to live and grow.     

Whatever Happened to Progressive Education? A comparison of primary school teachers’ attitudes in 1982 and 1996

Two cohorts of teachers working full‐time in Church of England voluntary‐aided and voluntary‐controlled first, primary and middle (deemed primary) schools within the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich were invited to complete a questionnaire concerned with teaching styles in 1982 and again in 1996. The data demonstrate a significant shift toward placing greater value on traditional teaching styles between 1982 and 1996.     

Genre effects on higher education students' text reading for understanding

This study provides empirical support for the proposalthat student learning in higher education is affectednot only by prior subject knowledge and by approachesto learning but also by ability to deal with textgenre. It first explores how 22 higher degreestudents on a course in education understood selectedtext extracts from different genres when reading attheir own pace under conditions expected to promotethorough understanding. After reading a text eachstudent wrote answers to a set of questions abouttheir reading and understanding of the text. Intape-recorded discussion with another reader of thesame text they then looked for similarities anddifferences between their responses. They laterreported on their feelings about the task and text. Understandings were found to vary between readers ofthe same text, difference being largely attributed bythe students to difficulty with the language andstructure of the texts in terms which pointed to thegenre. Considerable anxiety about difficulty anddifference in understanding was partly allayed throughdiscussion, but understanding was not much furthered. Most students felt that more work on the texts wouldbe fruitful.In a second part of the study a further 39 studentsfrom a new intake to the same course were asked abouttext types in their recommended and actual coursereading. The types they reported as most frequentlyrecommended were also felt to be the most difficultfor reasons to do with text genre. They were alsothose from which the earlier text extracts had beendrawn. Theoretical and practical issues arediscussed.     

Teaching English Language Learners At Risk for Reading Disabilities to Read: Putting Research into Practice

The purpose of this article is to describe features of interventions that are empirically validated for use with first‐grade students at risk for reading disabilities who are English language learners (ELLs) and whose home language is Spanish. The empirical evidence supporting these interventions is summarized. Interventions for improving oral language and reading abilities with struggling readers who are ELLs taught in either Spanish or English are described as a means to assist school districts and teachers in defining and implementing effective interventions for ELLs at risk for reading difficulties. The interventions described may be useful to educators seeking information about Response to Intervention as a means of identifying ELLs who require services for learning disabilities.