Students enrolled in college courses are typically expected to read one or more textbooks per course. While the course text may be comprehensive, the author's approach may be narrow in focus, disregarding diverse perspectives on the subject. In addition, the limited genre presented in textbooks (i.e., nonfiction, expository) is not likely to encourage a desire for professional reading in students. To address these issues, two faculty members incorporated a Literacy Bag Project into their education courses at both graduate and undergraduate levels. The Literacy Bag activity involves students reading diverse genres in a variety of texts throughout the semester. Students select a different book each week, read one chapter/section, and reflect on the reading via journal writing and/or verbal discussions. This study examined students' perception of the Literacy Bag activity, as well as impact on critical thinking and professional literacy. Results indicate students at both the graduate and undergraduate levels: (1) plan to continue professional reading beyond the course; (2) engage in critical thinking; (3) enjoyed the activity and recommended the activity continue to be implemented. Analysis of student responses identified critical themes for success with the Literacy Bag activity: choice, perspective sharing, motivation, and classroom applications.
This study sought to examine the effects of a teacher-designed, differentiated instructional model on the reading skills (i.e., fluency and vocabulary) of struggling third grade readers. Participants included eight struggling third grade students in the intervention classroom and a comparison group of eight struggling third grade students in a control classroom. Participants completed measures of reading comprehension, vocabulary, and oral reading fluency. Participants in both groups received core reading instruction (i.e., 90 minute instructional block). In addition, participants in the intervention group received an additional 20 minutes of individualized, intensive intervention focused on vocabulary and fluency. This was done one-on-one. Results indicated that the children in the intervention group outperformed those in the control group on summative measures. Implications for individualized instruction in classrooms is provided.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a collaborative, multi-component reading intervention approach for adolescent students in high school with severe reading disabilities.Students in the experimental condition received 24 weeks of multi-component, differentiated small group interventions from a special-education teacher, a speech pathologist, and a paraprofessional with time to engage in cooperative groups and practice skills to mastery.Monthly progress monitoring informed the instructors of ongoing progress and drove instructional components based on student learning.The control group received whole classroom instruction combined with traditional, special educational supports.The results showed significant differences in growth between conditions on standardized measures of word reading fluency, oral reading fluency, and reading comprehension with medium effect sizes.No differences were noted in standardized vocabulary growth.Grade level progress in reading was not observed for either the experimental or the control groups; however, outcomes indicated only three "nonresponders" in the experimental group compared to six in the control.Findings are discussed in regard to practical application, limitations, and future research.
This article will examine the eight research-based characteristics of effective vocabulary instruction adapted from Building Academic Vocabulary by Robert Marzano (2004). This article will serve as a resource for educators to determine the most effective direct vocabulary approaches to utilize in their classroom as they address vocabulary instruction as outlined in the Common Core State Standards.
This mixed methods study examined the vocabulary knowledge and instructional practices of four grade 1 teachers in order to better understand how prepared teachers are to implement the First Grade English Language Arts Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Data collected included an audiotaped semi-structured interview, a teacher survey, video-recorded class vocabulary instruction, researcher field notes, and artifacts of class activities. Findings indicate that teaching experience is not a factor in the level of vocabulary instruction teachers provide. For example, veteran teachers in the analysis rely on traditional spelling tests and basal based vocabulary instruction to teach vocabulary, while the less experienced teachers utilize trade books to guide their instruction. However, veteran teachers provide vocabulary instruction daily, while less experienced teachers did not. Findings suggest that all teachers would benefit from professional learning opportunities related to vocabulary instruction and researchers are encouraged to investigate vocabulary instruction and its alignment to the CCSS with larger sample sizes in other districts and across all grade levels.
Many school personnel pursue the goal of developing English language learners' English-language and literacy skills efficiently and this is most often implemented to the exclusion of supporting, developing, and maintaining students' heritage language skills. However, there is significant evidence that promoting bilingualism and biliteracy can significantly contribute to the effect that many school personnel want, that of efficiently developed English language and literacy skills, with the added benefit of students who can function and thrive in multilingual environments. In this article, we present research-based evidence in support of developing and maintaining bilingualism and biliteracy, and we submit that the empirical research support for the benefits of bilingualism and biliteracy should change language and literacy instruction. Strategies for teachers, especially teachers who do not speak the heritage language of their students, are provided and can be implemented to promote bilingual reading, writing, and language skill development.
For today's elementary teacher, comprehension instruction must include strategies that include viewing to make sense of information in multimodal texts.Using case study methodology, this research describes the extent of how struggling readers notice images in picture books in order to make meaning.Data sources include written transcriptions of 13 video-taped reading sessions, the participants' criterion-based fluency measures and word identification proficiencies per book, and the researcher's field notes.Results reveal the participants most often noticed visual information in interpreting and then used the visual memory of these "noticings" to decode and increase oral reading accuracy.The results further reveal the ways in which the second graders' processed nonverbal information by (1) transacting with images/text via socio-cultural references, (2) interpreting images via representational aspects of the world, interactions of social relations, and compositions of integrated texts, and (3) questioning images/text.While "noticings" of visual information exceed "noticings" of verbal/written information, the students' meaning-making transactions are apparent with both images and text.Frequently, the participants' processing of information includes noticing the composition of an image.Yet, interpretations reference representations from their experiential worlds, such that "gaps" between what is represented/noticed and what the students' knew from prior experiences generated questions.
The implementation of Common Core Standards for English Language Arts (2010) will require the use of more complex text and an increase in the use of informational text; however, reading research and best practices in literacy instruction confirm the value of a narrative read-aloud.Read-aloud time using narrative texts must still be included as a vital part of literacy instruction.Reading aloud to students increases vocabulary development, enhances fluency and oral language, introduces students to diverse population or cultural diversity, and develops critical thinking and problem solving skills.An effective read-aloud can enable students to learn about different types of conflicts and possible solutions as well as empathy and understanding for others.An effective twenty-minute read-aloud can expose students to the same academic words that would be found in content area textbooks and motivates students to become engaged in reading.
A recent editorial in the New York Times (Editorial, 2013) raised an awareness of a growing demand for more college graduates in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields. This fact, coupled with a declining interest on the part of students in those areas (ACT, 2013) necessitates a dramatic and urgent need for K-12 curriculum that fosters an interest in these fields and promotes skills that facilitate success. Many educators believe the solution is a curriculum steeped in a problem-based approach that integrates strong communication skills (Sanders, 2009). This article will describe the importance and essence of making STEM instruction relevant through a problem-based learning approach at the same time promoting students' literacy skills. Specific suggestions for instructional strategies that can be used effectively in a problem-based curriculum to promote competence and interest in STEM areas will also be described.
This study used the concepts of comparison credibility and magnitude credibility to assess perceived news media credibility in China.It also investigated which sources people trusted more when they encountered conflicting reports regarding different kinds of stories including entertainment news, disaster news and political news.A random sample from three major metropolises (n = 1,844) were telephone interviewed.Results indicated that television was perceived as the most trustworthy.Regardless of the type of stories, people trusted national Chinese media over other media outlets.Implications on credibility research are discussed.
Research suggests that overweight/obese people face stigma. A measure of weight-related stigma was developed, adapted from the HIV stigma measure (Berger, Ferrans, & Lashley, 2001). A CFA confirmed the measure’s internal consistency. Using privacy management theory as a framework, participants (N = 199) completed a self-report survey that included a hypothetical conversational partner profile. Regression analysis and independent sample t-tests helped answer hypotheses about the ways weight-related stigma affect disclosure as well as how weight affects selfdisclosure and attraction. Attraction to partner and weight-related stigma significantly predicted overall self-disclosure ratings. Implications for obesity research, privacy management, and stigma are discussed.
The study reported here examined the question whether fossilization occurs as a result of competence deficiencies or is a function of processing constraints, i.e., a feature of performance.To address this issue, we first collected longitudinal data (2 years apart) from an adult second language (L2) learner of English.Error analysis conducted on our subject's L2 output revealed features that are consistent with the occurrence of fossilization: steady below norm levels of grammatical accuracy, fluctuation between correct and incorrect usage of the same structure, and backsliding.Next we used a grammaticality judgement (GJ) task to examine our subject's intuitions about the English article -the most pervasive error in his output; we also administered the same GJ task to eight native speaker controls.The analysis of the data from the grammaticality judgement task showed a clear mismatch between our subject's intuitions about article usage and those of the controls, suggesting that fossilization is most likely a competence phenomenon.
This paper explores and tests the claims made by Chapman (1992) in his popular press book, The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to your Mate.One of Chapman's fundamental claims is that couples where partners receive their respective preferred love languages experience higher quality relationships than couples who do not.Couples (N = 83) reported their preferences for and tendencies to demonstrate Chapman's five love languages.They also completed measures of relational quality.Descriptive results revealed different potential couple combinations in terms of feeling and giving preferred love languages, and suggest that few couples meet Chapman's criteria for high relational quality.After collapsing couple combinations to reflect matched, mismatched, or partially matched couples (in terms of feeling and giving their love language preferences), a significant result surfaced regarding assessments of relational quality.More specifically, matched and mismatched couples' reports of relational quality exhibited less discrepancy than partially matched couples.Other results from tests of ANOVA and MANOVA provided little empirical support for Chapman's notions of love languages.
This study examines the role of perceptions of opinion polls in assessing media performance in the 2010 midterm elections using data collected in a southern state.Results show strong hostile media effect in viewing the favorability of the polls and the third-person effect in assessing the impact of the polls on others and oneself.Moreover, results indicate that the influence of hostile polls on the perceived effect of these polls on oneself relative to others was mediated by poll exposure.Perception of hostile polls was found to be negatively related to poll exposure.The hotile perception indirectly affects perceived effects of polls on oneself and others, which in turn directly affects support for restrictions of election polls.The theretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.
Communication researchers have long been concerned about knowledge gaps, but few realize that knowledge gaps are rooted in early childhood learning differentials to which socioeconomic disparities contribute. The purpose of this paper is to illuminate understanding of the processes that contribute to knowledge gaps during the earliest stages of life and to invite communication researchers to study early childhood interventions, which can be considered communica- tion interventions. Communication researchers seldom may be directly concerned with early developmental processes, but they may wish to become more involved in such interventions. Ultimately, communication outcomes for adults can be en- hanced. Early interventions aimed at primary caregivers at risk of poor parenting can improve parenting knowledge and proficiency, thereby contributing to enhanced cognitive development of their children. The prenatal and early postnatal periods are times when parents are both vulnerable and open to support and new information. Three examples of knowl- edge measurement instruments and three examples of interventions to facilitate parental sensitivity to their infants' cues and to enhance parents' knowledge of child development are described. Researchers are encouraged to conceptualize fu- ture research with prospective, longitudinal designs, which could begin even before babies are born and follow children from birth through adolescence or adulthood, drawing concepts also from socialization theories. Communication re- searchers seldom may think about children in the context of the knowledge gap, but perhaps the time has come for them to use their talents and work with child development professionals and those in related areas to reduce parenting knowledge and skills gaps.
Interpersonal scholars are concerned about what motivates people to communicate with one another, and how motivation manifests itself in dyadic interaction. Rubin, Perse, and Barbato (1988) identified the main motives for interpersonal communication: control, inclusion, affection, relaxation, pleasure, and escape. Although Myers and Ferry (2001) examined interpersonal communication motives and immediacy behaviors in general, there is a dearth of research addressing how nonverbal cues or messages correlate to motives in specific communication events. Examining the nonverbal layer that accompanies a verbal message is an important step in interpersonal communication motives research. Most of the meaning of a message is derived from the nonverbal layer of the message (Mehrabian, 1969). Incongruent verbal and nonverbal messages are more difficult to interpret than are congruent messages (Burgoon & Bacue, 2003). In addition, the sender of incongruent messages might "come across as smug, insincere, or patronizing" (p. 194). Schrader (1994) found, however, that messages attempting to convince an adversary were rated more appropriate when accompanied by nonverbal indicators of immediacy and intimacy, not dominance. In this case, incongruent behaviors preserved a favorable impression of the sender. Given these findings, it makes sense to examine whether or not nonverbal messages seem to complement or contradict the motivation of the message. Nonverbal cues normally tell us little about the messages when viewed in isolation from one another. Burgoon and Hale (1984) argued that relational messages encompass "both the verbal and nonverbal expression that indicate how two or more people regard each other, regard their relationship, or regard themselves" (p. 193). Although they identified several relational messages, Dillard, Solomon, and Palmer (1999) argued that substantive relational messages could be subsumed into two larger categories: dominance and affiliation. This study examines how nonverbal cues are interpreted in terms of dominance and affiliation for messages motivated by the three primary interpersonal communication motives: control, inclusion, and affection. The findings will illuminate how speakers package messages according to the motive for the communication.
The purpose of this study was to determine whether Spanish-dominant individuals had unique communication needs during a hypothetical event resulting in sudden speechlessness (SS), relative to an established template of messages with their respective graphic images/symbols previously validated by English-proficient patients experiencing sudden speechlessness.Spanish-dominant participants were included in a simulation where they became suddenly speechless while hospitalized after a surgical intervention.Participants listed basic care/symptom management needs important to communicate while speechless, identified corresponding illustrations by using a validated template, and/or described or drew pictorial representations appropriate to illustrate each of their needs.Study participants generated messages congruent with the experiences of English-dominant speechless participants by matching a list of messages with at least one picture or symbol included on the template.Participants generated new messages not represented in the original template to communicate about psychosocial needs, immediate needs, clarification/informational needs, and spiritual/faith needs.Results showed that the template in its original state did not meet the range of communication needs experienced by the Spanish-dominant study participants.Culturally specific input was essential to convey participants' communication needs during a period of speechlessness.Validation of study findings by Spanish-dominant individuals experiencing communication disorders will assist to further evaluate if messages and illustrations included on a revised template are representative of communication needs during SS periods.
This study investigates the mediating role of visual-verbal redundancy on the impact of three features, namely, message sensation value (MSV), message cognition value (MCV), and smoking scenes, on the perceived effectiveness of antismoking messages among young adults.Recent literature examining the effects of the three major message characteristics presents contradictory results, which is argued to be affected by the factor of how ad structure and content are organized.Using a within-subject experimental design, the mediation analyses indicate that the visual-verbal redundancy mediates the relationship between message effectiveness and three message features.Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
This paper represents a review of more than one hundred studies on the social networking website Facebook. An initial selection has been made and has led to the identification of eight main research themes: effects on the users, friendship, construction of impressions, privacy, use, Facebook and politics, self-expression and construal, social capital, and the merging of social spheres. This paper focuses on Facebook use, which is currently the most researched theme. How do individuals use Facebook and why? Six different categories are identified: initiating and maintaining relationships, learning about others, recognition, personality and willingness to communicate, social influence, and experience. The major studies for each category are presented, with an emphasis on the most influential ones in the field. The focus of this literary review is on the commonalities and differences that arise from the results. Hypotheses are presented when possible, and a few theoretical explanations are provided. As a result, one could notice that Facebook is mainly used to keep in touch with other people, but not in a conventional way as users tend to 'spy' on other users' profiles. This phenomenon leads to a growing exhibitionism, which is in turn related to individuals' personality traits. Use of Facebook is also influenced by peers and experience with the website. A few limitations are discussed, and gender is found to be a possible factor influencing Facebook use. Suggestions for further study are provided.
