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When students are left to choose their own approaches to studying, they frequently engage in ineffective learning strategies, such as rereading textbooks or cramming. Given this natural tendency amongst students, there has been significant interest in how to increase the use of more effective methods of studying. Efforts to-date have typically entailed either explicit instruction (e.g., teaching students which study habits are more/less effective) or direct experience (e.g., having students attempt to utilize an effective technique), yielding somewhat mixed results. The aim of the present study was to examine whether a combination of explicit instruction and direct experience with effective learning strategies positively impacts how students study. After an in-classroom intervention, 316 participants (177 women, M age = 19.03) were asked to indicate how frequently they used various studying strategies and how effective they perceived them to be. Participants demonstrated both a change in knowledge regarding the (low) utility of more ineffective strategies and indicated that they were using those strategies less frequently. However, there was not a global change in their perceptions/use of more effective strategies. Instead, there were increases only for a subset of the more effective strategies. These results support metacognitive theories of desirable difficulties, wherein individuals prefer less effortful strategies and less effortful shifts in behavior, as well as suggest possible directions for furthering effective learning practices amongst students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-regulated learning (SRL) is crucial to students' learning. SRL is characterized by students taking initiative, showing perseverance and adaptively regulating their learning. Teachers play an essential role in promoting and fostering this process. However, several studies have shown that in primary education explicit instruction of SRL strategies barely takes place. Given the relevance of SRL for learning and preparing students for the knowledge society of the 21st century, it is of crucial importance that teachers in primary education learn how they can improve their students' SRL. In the present study, we implemented a professional development program (iSELF) in which primary teachers were trained and coached in promoting and fostering their students' SRL. The extent to which iSELF contributed to teachers' explicit instruction of SRL strategies was evaluated in a quasi-experimental pre-test-post-test design using video-based classroom observations. Thirty teachers from fourteen different primary schools participated in this study and were assigned to either a control (twelve teachers) or an experimental group (eighteen teachers). Results indicate that in both conditions explicit SRL strategy instruction is rare. However, explicit instruction of SRL strategies is significantly higher in the experimental group on the post-test compared to the control group showing that teachers do benefit from learning about explicit SRL instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study examined the interaction of gait-synchronized vibrotactile cues with an active ankle exoskeleton that provides plantarflexion assistance. Background: An exoskeleton that augments gait may support collaboration through feedback to the user about the state of the exoskeleton or characteristics of the task. Methods: Participants (N = 16) were provided combinations of torque assistance and vibrotactile cues at pre-specified time points in late swing and early stance while walking on a self-paced treadmill. Participants were either given explicit instructions (N = 8) or were allowed to freely interpret (N=8) how to coordinate with cues. Results: For the free interpretation group, the data support an 8% increase in stride length and 14% increase in speed with exoskeleton torque across cue timing, as well as a 5% increase in stride length and 7% increase in speed with only vibrotactile cues. When given explicit instructions, participants modulated speed according to cue timing—increasing speed by 17% at cues in late swing and decreasing speed 11% at cues in early stance compared to no cue when exoskeleton torque was off. When torque was on, participants with explicit instructions had reduced changes in speed. Conclusion: These findings support that the presence of torque mitigates how cues were used and highlights the importance of explicit instructions for haptic cuing. Interpreting cues while walking with an exoskeleton may increase cognitive load, influencing overall human-exoskeleton performance for novice users. Application: Interactions between haptic feedback and exoskeleton use during gait can inform future feedback designs to support coordination between users and exoskeletons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Executive functions, which begin developing in early childhood, are necessary for the tasks of daily life, such as decision making and planning. Despite their early development, often without teaching, many teens with disabilities need explicit instruction to acquire and apply executive functions each day. Gaps in executive functions directly impact a teens ability to achieve post-secondary success, as executive functions support planning, goal setting, and organization. This article provides instruction on how to support teens with disabilities on three executive functions: (a) building habits that form routines, (b) utilizing sensory reminders to manage time, and (c) applying a planning tool. This article also instructs teachers on embedding executive function instruction within transition planning for individualized education programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meta-analyses indicate that explicit writing instruction (EWI) is an effective method for improving student writing self-efficacy and writing performance. EWI relies on explicit instruction of writing strategies through modeling, scaffolding and self-regulation. Most EWI-based interventions have been conducted by researchers, generally with subgroups of students or on a one-on-one basis, and very few have been conducted in other languages than English. Our quasi-experimental study aims to address these limits by testing EWI's effects when teachers themselves intervene using peer feedback during the writing of opinion letters. We used practice-based professional development to teach teachers how to use EWI, and compared two experimental conditions (EWI with and without peer feedback) to a control group (Business as Usual). A total of 483 French-speaking 5th grade students participated in the study. Results from repeated measure analyses showed that, with or without peer feedback, the EWI intervention produced better writing performance and higher self-efficacy compared to the control group. We discuss the role of EWI for writing performance and self-efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate how the interplay between the declarative and procedural memory systems and learning conditions influences second language acquisition, we conducted a cross-sectional study involving 102 primary, secondary, and university English learners in a real-world English-medium educational context. Linguistic and non-linguistic measures of declarative and procedural memory were used. The untimed grammaticality judgement test was used to measure the learners' grammatical knowledge of nine features considered to have been taught explicitly (Explicitly Taught) and four others that were likely not taught explicitly (Not Explicitly Taught). To control for random variability at item and participant level, we constructed a series of linear mixed-effects models to examine the effects of memory. Overall, declarative memory was associated with both structural types across the educational levels while procedural memory was associated with learners' performance at lower levels of L2 acquisition, contrary to Ullman's declarative and procedural memory model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To determine the effects of explicit instruction (EI) and potential moderators in second/foreign language (L2) teaching, this study meta‐analyzed 28 primary reports (a total of 67 unique samples, N = 3754). The main results show that EI was significantly effective in facilitating L2 development, with effect sizes ranging from moderate to large magnitudes (d = 1.07 and 0.81 for within‐and between‐group contrasts, respectively). Moderator analyses show that EI type, practice type, delivery mode, length and intensity of treatment, the type of outcome measures, as well as the reporting practices of the validity and reliability of outcome measures moderated differentially the effects of EI. The findings offer important pedagogical implications for teacher‐practitioners to enhance the efficacy and efficiency of EI. The Challenge: EI has been revealed by research as more effective than implicit instruction in facilitating L2 development. But to what extent would the concrete implementational forms affect its efficacy? With limited instructional time and language input in L2 settings, how can instructors implement appropriate types of EI to enhance teaching effectiveness and efficiency? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this synthesis, we analyzed 10 prealgebraic reasoning interventions for students with mathematics difficulty (MD) in Grades 6 through 8. All interventions focused on one or more prealgebraic concepts including integer operations, algebraic expressions and equations, and functions. Of the 10 intervention studies, six employed single-case design methodology and four employed group design. We synthesized intervention effects and identified instructional practices utilized within interventions. Results indicated positive proximal student performance across studies, generally positive maintenance effects, and mixed transfer effects. Manipulative-based instruction and explicit instruction were the two most used instructional practices within interventions, supporting their use in improving targeted prealgebraic reasoning skills among students with MD. Additional implications for research and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pop songs have been claimed to provide a noteworthy source of second language (L2) input. While listening to songs in English is one of the most commonly reported out-of-class activities among EFL learners, little research exists as to how different teaching approaches to the use of songs in the EFL class can enhance students' vocabulary learning. The present study aims to investigate two different instructional approaches to the use of songs in the L2 class in order to learn how to maximise vocabulary learning through this input source. Two groups of grade 8 Italian EFL learners followed a short treatment that used English pop songs in different conditions, which differed in instructional focus (explicit vs. implicit). The results of the study suggest that although vocabulary significantly improved in both conditions, the explicit approach led to more durable gains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students with disabilities experience differential levels of achievement in mathematics when compared with their nondisabled peers. Identifying and implementing evidence-based practices (EBPs) is essential to increase their mathematics achievement. However, an argument is re-emerging that calls into question the effectiveness of well-known EBPs, such as explicit/direct instruction. This argument is based on opinion and conjecture, rather than student outcome measures. In this commentary, we use research on explicit and direct instruction with mathematics to (a) highlight the confusion over theoretical implications, (b) call for researchers to reduce personal bias within research, and (c) emphasize the need for improving outcomes of students with disabilities that affect mathematics learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports findings from a larger research project which aimed to promote learner autonomy among Thai secondary school learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) through strategy-based instruction (SBI). The study involved 30 learners from an intervention class and 32 learners from a comparison class. Nine strategies were introduced to the intervention class learners over a semester with the purpose of helping them develop essential skills for strategic and autonomous language learning. This article focuses on examining how explicit teaching of strategies in class affected learners' reading scores and approaches to reading. It also observes the effects of SBI on learners' perceptions of their ability to read English. Findings from the pre-, post- and delayed reading tests and think-aloud reading sessions showed significant increase in the intervention class learners' reading test scores and their enhanced strategic approaches to reading. Group interviews further revealed learners' positive attitudes towards English reading and increased confidence in their ability to manage their reading process independently. This article argues that explicit strategy instruction can help language learners develop essential strategic skills to process English texts. It also discusses how SBI can be effectively implemented in language classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document emphasizes the importance of explicit vocabulary instruction for English Language Learners (ELs) and students with limited vocabulary in any language. The author conducted a study where an ESL teacher taught vocabulary explicitly to a group of students, resulting in significant improvement in their vocabulary and ability to discuss the words. The study highlights the correlation between vocabulary and reading proficiency, underscoring the need for targeted vocabulary instruction to support language learners. The document also acknowledges the challenges faced by ELs, such as limited vocabulary due to low socioeconomic backgrounds and a lack of reading materials at home, and addresses the impact of cultural differences on vocabulary development and comprehension. [Extracted from the article]

This study explores English-dominant speakers' and English learners' knowledge of (in)formal stylistic variants, their choice of (in)formal styles in relation to social context, their preferences in the use of select (in)formal stylistic variants, and their beliefs about the influence of their other languages. Ten English-dominant undergraduates in Canada, 10 international English-as-a-second-language undergraduates in Canada, and 11 English-as-a-foreign-language undergraduates in Slovakia completed a questionnaire and composed 6 short e-mail messages, each embedded in a unique social context defined by the intended reader (ranging from completely unfamiliar to extremely familiar) and the communication purpose (ranging from completely transactional to completely interactional). Differences were found among the groups in their knowledge of (in)formal stylistic variants, their choice of style, their use of some (in)formal variants, and reported effects of their other languages. This study concludes that primarily classroom-instructed English learners who wish to learn how English-dominant speakers approach expression of formality would benefit from explicit instruction. It further concludes that more research is necessary to identify factors driving individual knowledge of (in)formal variants and preferences in their use, particularly in relation to overall communicative competence and the context of language acquisition and use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study with 60 Korean university students was to compare the impact of ChatGPT on English writing skills. The study lasted for ten weeks and involved both a control group and an experimental group. Two groups performed a pre-writing task and a post-writing task. Students in the experimental group were required to fill out a questionnaire regarding their perceptions of the learning effect and affective satisfaction. The study used SPSS 25.0 to analyze the data, focusing specifically on two statistical tests: the paired samples t-test and the independent samples t-test. The findings indicated that the ChatGPT group significantly improved their writing skills more than the traditional group. Secondly, respondents regarded ChatGPT as a helpful tool for remembering the study content and completing assignments. Lastly, the respondents had positive attitudes towards the effect of ChatGPT in terms of psychological and emotional satisfaction. Based on the findings, it is essential to consider the instructor's new role in preparing for future classes that will incorporate ChatGPT. Teachers should offer explicit instructions on the proper use of AI tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rational number proficiency is predictive of later mathematics achievement, especially for rigorous mathematics courses, such as Algebra I. Students with learning disabilities (LD) in mathematics struggle to make adequate progress on rational number concepts and skills that lay the foundation for successfully completing secondary mathematics courses. However, recent research has demonstrated that utilizing effective instructional design, such as the use of a number line with systematic and explicit instruction, can result in academic progress for students with LD in mathematics. This article presents teachers with a four-step teaching sequence utilizing the number line and effective strategies for teaching students with LD in mathematics to introduce fraction-to-decimal relationships in upper elementary, a prerequisite for middle school mathematics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Páginas de la Educación is the property of Universidad Catolica del Uruguay Damaso Antonio Larranaga and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article discusses the effect of explicit instruction on the acquisition of visual-orthographic phenomena in French-speaking second-grade children. It highlights the need for further research on the role of semantic information in orthographic learning. A study was conducted to determine the role of semantic and formal properties of words in developing quality lexical representation among French-speaking children. The results showed that teaching both semantic and visual-orthographic properties of words led to similar gains in spelling for participants without difficulties, but was particularly beneficial for participants with special needs. The study suggests that future research should assess the semantic properties of words and include a larger number of students with specific writing and spelling needs. Additionally, the text includes various research articles and appendices related to spelling instruction and assessment, providing a comprehensive overview of the current research and practices in the field. [Extracted from the article]

This study examined the effects of three task conditions on young EFL learners’ oral performance of a picture prompted task and their grammatical knowledge gain. To this end, 34 EFL learners were randomly assigned into three experimental groups, namely online planning, pre-planning, and explicit instruction, and one control group. Pictures were employed as prompts to implement the tasks in all groups. A Grammatical Judgment Test was used to compare students’ knowledge of simple present passive structure before and after the treatment. Learners’ oral task performance was measured in terms of Complexity, Accuracy, and Fluency (CAF). The findings demonstrated significant differences among groups as for CAF measures. However, no significant differences were spotted in GJT posttest scores. The paper calls for the incorporation of diverse prompt-based planning conditions in task-oriented teaching practices in order to target learners’ higher levels of oral competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This short article summarizes the pedagogical decisions behind the implementation of treatment in our 2022 study (Gordon & Darcy, 2022). In this study, we provided explicit pronunciation instruction to three groups of first-semester English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) classes at a small university in Costa Rica. We included a group trained on suprasegmental features and connected speech (Suprasegmental Group), a second group that received instruction on vowels and consonants (Segmental Group), and a third group that received a combination of segmentals and suprasegmentals as in the other two groups (Mixed Group). We collected speech samples in a pretest and a posttest, which were rated by a group of L1-English speakers for comprehensibility, fluency, and accentedness. In this article, we provide details about the selection of content, materials development, and the implementation of instruction in the three experimental groups in our study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calls for disciplinary literacy instruction in elementary schools encourage teachers to provide authentic opportunities for students to read and write like scientists. Enacting disciplinary literacy with problem-based learning practices to inquire about the world and find solutions to real-life problems is an effective practice for integrating elementary science and literacy instruction. Science texts found in printed and digital formats are becoming increasing multimodal in nature and require students to have complex navigation and interpretation skills when being asked to read like scientists. We provide a framework, that emerged from our work with urban elementary students in a summer camp, with steps that support students to read like scientists as they use multimodal science texts within a problem-based learning context. These concrete, practical steps combine explicit instruction using think-alouds with disciplinary literacy strategies in science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrating corpus-based analyses with instructed SLA, this study explores how lexical bundles can be used to teach prepositions to EFL learners. It first identifies lexical bundles occurring most frequently with preposition errors in a learner corpus of L1-Korean high school student writing. It then uses the 10 identified bundles to compare three different types of instructional treatment: one hundred L1-Korean high school EFL students received either implicit instruction (teaching each bundle as a unit with no emphasis on embedded prepositions) or one of two types of explicit instruction (focusing on embedded prepositions with or without input enhancement). The explicit-instruction-with-input-enhancement group showed the greatest improvement, followed closely by the implicit-instruction group; the other explicit group showed the least improvement. These results suggest that textual enhancement can facilitate L2 preposition acquisition and that recurrent sequences such as lexical bundles can serve as a useful pedagogical means to teach linguistic forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a collection of abstracts from various presentations and studies related to the teaching and study of psychology. The abstracts cover a range of topics, including curriculum development, teaching approaches, and specific areas of study within psychology. The abstracts provide insight into the research and practices surrounding psychology education in different contexts. One study focused on embedding critical thinking skills in the psychology curriculum and found that explicit instruction and assessment methods were effective in developing these skills. Another study explored the knowledge and attitudes of clinical psychologists in Indonesia towards complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), highlighting the need for education on this topic. Additionally, a national survey in Indonesia revealed positive attitudes towards CAM, suggesting the potential for its integration into healthcare practice. [Extracted from the article]

Attentional biases toward threatening faces have repeatedly been studied in the context of social anxiety, with etiological theories suggesting exacerbated biases as a possible cause for the latter. To counteract these postulated effects, research has focused on the concept of attentional bias manipulation (ABM), in which spatial contingencies between succeeding stimuli are traditionally employed in training paradigms designed to deliberately shift automatic attention processes away from threat-related stimuli. The ABM research field has been faced with various methodological challenges, such as inconsistent results, low reliabilities of dependent variables and a high susceptibility to moderating factors. We aimed to combine several recent approaches to address these issues. Drawing upon theories of value-driven attention, we explored reward-based contingencies in a Dot Probe task to improve the training's efficacy, combined with neurophysiological measures for greater reliability compared to reaction times, while evaluating the moderating effect of explicitness in the instruction. In a healthy sample (N = 60) and within a single session, we found a general attentional bias toward angry faces present across all conditions as indicated by the N2pc, which was, however, marked by large intrinsic lateralization effects, with submeasures exhibiting opposing polarities. This prompted us to explore an alternative, intrahemispheric calculation method. The new N2pc variant showed the attentional bias to have disappeared at the end of the training session within the explicit instruction group. Reliabilities of the main dependent variables were varied from excellent to questionable, which, together with the exploratory nature of the analysis, leaves this result as preliminary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes a research study of a three‐semester elementary Italian language curriculum at a large Midwestern research university that incorporates intercultural competence (IC) training through cognitive dissonance image analyses, conversations with native speakers, classroom discussion, and reflections to determine the impact of this curriculum on learners' development of IC. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered over three semesters to assess students' IC and identify insights into the developmental processes. Students' development of IC was measured in pre‐ and posttests using the Intercultural Development Inventory. Students demonstrated positive growth in IC with 9‐point gains in developmental orientation scores (p <.001). Qualitative data from student interviews and reflections were analyzed using the VALUE rubric of the Association of American Colleges and Universities and illustrate that students increased awareness of cultural self and different others, applied openness and curiosity in intercultural interactions, and developed skills for empathy and perspective taking. While previous studies on language courses with no or limited intercultural learning content failed to prove effective in promoting IC growth, this study suggests that purposeful integration of IC materials and activities can promote intercultural development in elementary language learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study investigated the influence of a connected learning approach for explicit nature of science (NOS) instruction and explicit argumentation instruction, in comparison with a non‐connected approach, on students' NOS conceptions and argumentation skills. Participants comprised 42 students enrolled in two sections of grade 10 that were randomly assigned (flip of a coin) into two groups: Connected (22 students) and non‐connected (20 students). Participants in both groups were taught by the same teacher. The duration for the treatment was 2 months and one unit about plants was addressed. Participants in one group received explicit NOS and explicit argumentation instruction and learned about NOS and argumentation components as connected and at the same time, while participants in the other group received explicit NOS instruction and explicit argumentation instruction as non‐connected and learned about them as separate. An open‐ended questionnaire, together with individual semi‐structured interviews, were administered at the beginning and conclusion of the study to assess participants' NOS conceptions and argumentation components in socioscientific contexts. The results showed that the connected group outperformed the non‐connected group in generating arguments and counterarguments. As for NOS, the results revealed that both the connected and non‐connected approaches showed a general enhancement of the conceptions of the NOS aspects. These results are interpreted in terms of the reflective judgment model, argumentation as a framework, an explicit approach, cognitive load theory, and curriculum coherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solving a novel problem has recently garnered some attention as a viable alternative to traditional explicit instruction in the preparation of students for learning. This study investigated the effectiveness of introducing problem-solving tasks and worked examples prior to explicit instruction, along with the use of contrast, for gifted and non-gifted adolescents. One hundred and ninety-nine students from academically selective government and Independent high schools participated in this study. The 2 × 2 × 2 research design that was used examined the effects of giftedness (i.e., gifted vs. non-gifted), instruction-type (i.e., problem-solving vs. worked examples), and structure (i.e., high vs low contrast materials) on the learning outcomes of transfer and procedural knowledge. The study also examined the impact of explicit instruction and invention-first instruction strategies on non-performance variables—self-efficacy, extraneous load, experience of knowledge gaps, and interest. The results of the study suggested that invention-first instruction may be more effective than example-first instruction in transfer, and that gifted students may benefit more from invention-first instruction than example-first instruction. The use of contrast materials was not found to affect performance. Furthermore, instruction was found to have no significant effects on the investigated non-performance variables. Collectively, these findings challenge the conventional teaching modality of explicit instruction in gifted education, and puts forward the possibility of the invention-first strategy as an effective instructional strategy for gifted students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aims at narrowing the evident gap between the receptive and productive competence of idiomatic expressions of Jordanian EFL learners through the use of explicit CM-inspired instruction. 130 Jordanian EFL learners participated in the study and were separated into a control group that received no instruction in CMs and an experimental group that received a CM-based instruction. A multiple-choice test and a completion test were designed to measure the receptive and productive knowledge of students. A pre-test and post-test were conducted to measure the improvement of the idiomatic competence of students. The results of the pre-tests and the post-tests show that Jordanian EFL learners' productive competence can be developed to match that of receptive knowledge using CM-based instruction. The study is expected to provide EFL instructors and curriculum designers with insights on how to tackle the challenges posed by these figurative expressions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study probed the effect of explicit text structure instruction on argumentative reading comprehension and written recall of Iranian EFL learners. Furthermore, it tried to find out whether the effect of text structure awareness was significantly different between learners at high and low reading ability. To achieve these goals, 40 English undergraduate students were randomly assigned into two experimental (n=18) and control (n=22) groups. To ensure the homogeneity of the two groups, a thirty-multiple-choice-item reading comprehension test and a free immediate written recall task were implemented. Furthermore, a Cambridge Advanced English (CAE) paper reading ability test was used for dividing the participants into high and low reading ability. The treatment was the instruction of argumentative text structure based on Toulmin's (1958) model of argumentation. Finally, the post-test on argumentative reading comprehension and the post-task on argumentative written recall were administered on the two groups to show their comprehension and recall of argumentative texts after the instruction. Independent-samples t-tests were run to analyze the data. The findings of the study suggested that explicit instruction of text structure enhanced learners' reading comprehension; however, no significant difference was indicated for written recall ability between the two groups. It should be mentioned that a significant difference was observed with regard to the effect of explicit instruction of text structure on reading comprehension of argumentative texts for learners at high and low level of reading ability. The pedagogical implications of the study as well as suggestions for further research are reported at the end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative-dominant mixed methods study aimed to investigate how native English speaking third graders (n = 72) and sixth graders (n = 88) navigate cohesive ties in academic sentences. There are studies on supporting students with academic language at the word and text levels, but less research has been done on readers' knowledge of the dense and challenging sentences in academic texts. The current study examines both how students navigate cohesion in academic sentences as well as how their knowledge of cohesion relates to their performance on reading comprehension measures. With a multi-case study framework, we analyzed students' (n = 6) metalinguistic interviews with academic sentences. We then designed Maze tasks for a larger sample (n = 160) to identify patterns in students' knowledge of cohesion. We also conducted correlational analyses between students' sentence-level knowledge and performance on measures of reading comprehension. Qualitative findings suggest that students draw on both metalinguistic and epilinguistic knowledge to explain cohesion, and that students value explicit instruction with academic sentences. Quantitative findings show that knowledge of cohesive ties is significantly correlated with performance on reading comprehension measures. Implications and future research for both monolingual and multilingual learners are addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the most efficient teaching context to learn words’ visual aspects and by second-grade French-speaking children, including those with special needs. Students came from six classrooms and each classroom was randomly assigned to the control group or to one of two experimental interventions (TFS: explicit teaching of semantic and formal properties of words; TF: explicit teaching of formal properties of words). For students without difficulties, the experimental interventions have contributed equally to the learning of the words’ visual aspect, whereas no progress was observed for the control group. For students with special needs, only the intervention that combined explicit instruction of semantic and formal properties lead to significant progress. These results suggest that explicit instruction should focus on the semantic and formal properties of words, especially for students with special needs.

Explicit teaching of pragmatics to second language learners has been studied by a large number of researchers. However, the review of the related studies shows that while some researchers believe in the effectiveness of explicit instruction of pragmatics, others believe that explicit instruction is not effective and it does not contribute to the language learners’ pragmatics awareness. The main goal of this study was to investigate the outcomes of teaching pragmatics- focusing on the concept of politeness through the speech act of request - by explicit intervention. The participants were Iranian intermediate 36 EFL students who were selected through convenience sampling. A quasi-experimental research method was used, and the participants were divided into two groups. The experimental group benefited from overt metapragmatic discussions and explanations, role plays and other pragmatically-oriented tasks. Different instruments were used: a written discourse completion test (DCT), a general English proficiency test to homogenize the participants, a pre-test of participant's initial pragmatic awareness and ability in politeness, and a post-test of pragmatic awareness and ability in the production of politeness features following the periods of instruction. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (t-test). The results of data analyses revealed that students' speech act comprehension and production improved significantly in the explicit instruction group, but no change was made in students' speech act comprehension and production of the students who received no instruction. It is concluded that pragmatic competence can be taught to EFL learners explicitly.

This paper reports on the effectiveness of teaching grammar explicitly, with a focus on form, function, and rules. The study tested the hypothesis that explicit instruction of grammar leads to increased accuracy in the grammaticality judgment, using a sample of 32 Macedonian learners of English at levels B and C. The structures selected for the task included subject-verb inversion, subject-verb inversion and it-insertion, omission of expletive and anticipatory it and omission of a referential subject, which are typical in the interlanguage of Macedonian learners of English due to cross-linguistic influence from their mother tongue and developmental factors. The study involved a pre-test, explicit instruction and controlled practice activities, and a post-test. The pre-test and post-test assessed the accuracy of a series of sentences, while the instruction involved contrastive analysis of examples in Macedonian and English, eliciting differences between the two languages. Results showed improved accuracy in the assessment of the grammaticality of the target structure at the post-test, but an experimental study with a control group is required to verify whether the improvement can be solely attributed to explicit instruction.

The ability to read in a second language (L2) for academic purposes is essential for higher education students. Dutch colleges increasingly use materials in English or teach in English. This can be challenging for L2 readers, especially students entering higher education from vocational studies, who may have less experience with L2 academic reading. Teaching L2 reading programmes containing explicit instruction of reading strategies may benefit higher education students in L2 academic reading, particularly since reading strategies learned in the first language (L1) may not transfer to the L2. In this 7-week L2 reading strategy intervention, 801 first-year polytechnic students learned to use seven reading strategies that were effective according to a meta-analysis of L2 reading strategy studies. Data regarding students reading skills were collected over one academic year, from three treatment waves, using a regression discontinuity design. Three tests of equal difficulty were given to participants. In each wave students completed reading tests several weeks before the intervention, at the beginning and directly after the intervention. Results show that in all three waves the improvement in reading comprehension scores between the second and third measurement (due to the experimental course) significantly exceeded the increase between the first two measurement occasions. Although the intervention was shown to be effective, the effects were to some extent mediated by the previous education level. This study supports the explicit instruction of strategies in L2 reading for students in higher education and welcomes more research into L2 reading strategy interventions for students from vocational backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase in enrollment in online programs for Grades K–12 students, including students with disabilities, requires teachers to consider how to provide effective online instruction. Although schools may offer students a fully online curriculum, teachers serve an essential role in supporting students with disabilities in meeting (a) learning goals of the online curriculum and (b) individual needs as outlined in the Individualized Education Program (IEP). Because students with disabilities often need targeted instruction to meet their academic and behavioral needs, teachers should consider integrating small group synchronous instruction to supplement fully online curricula. This article provides teachers with guidance on how to select appropriate online tools and technology to increase opportunities to respond throughout the main components of explicit instruction (i.e., modeling, guided, and independent practice). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sounds following a cue or embedded in a periodic rhythm are processed more effectively than sounds that are part of an aperiodic rhythm. One might also expect that a sound embedded in a periodic rhythm is processed more effectively than a sound following a single temporal cue. Such a finding would follow the theory that the entrainment of neural rhythmic activity by periodic stimuli renders the prediction of upcoming stimuli more efficient. We conducted a psychophysical experiment in which we tested the behavioral elements of this idea. Targets in periodic and aperiodic rhythms, if they occurred, always appeared at the same moment in time, and thus were fully predictable. In a first condition, participants remained unaware of this. In a second condition, an explicit instruction on the temporal location of the targets embedded in rhythms was provided. We assessed sensitivity and reaction times to the target stimuli in a difficult temporal detection task, and contrasted performance in this task to that obtained for targets temporally cued by a single preceding cue. Irrespective of explicit information about target predictability, target detection performance was always better in the periodic and temporal cue conditions, compared to the aperiodic condition. However, we found that the mere predictability of an acoustic target within a periodic rhythm did not allow participants to detect the target any better than in a condition where the target's timing was predicted by a single temporal cue. Only when participants were made aware of the specific moment in the periodic rhythm where the target could occur, did sensitivity increase. This finding suggests that a periodic rhythm is not automatically sufficient to provide perceptual benefits compared to a condition predictable yet not rhythmic condition (a cue). In some conditions, as shown here, these benefits may only occur in interaction with other factors such as explicit instruction and directed attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. There is increasing interest in the application of self-regulated learning (SRL) to improve academic and clinical performance in health professions education. SRL-learning diary (SRL-LD) interventions have become popular in non-health professions contexts to develop students' SRL and academic performance. The aim of this systematic review was to identify how SRL-LD interventions have been used in health and non-health professions education, with the intention to provide insights into their use and to inform future implementation and research in health professions education. Methods. Electronic search in ERIC, ProQuest, PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Web of Science was conducted. Two authors independently selected studies based on inclusion criteria and all selected studies were analyzed using a predetermined framework. Results. Of the identified 986 studies, 23 were selected for the review. Most studies were conducted in higher education within a domain-specific context, with only one study in health professions education. Most were justification studies. Five types of intervention were identified (Diary + SRL instruction, Diary + feedback, Diary + SRL instruction + feedback, Diary only, and SRL instruction only). Overall, the combination of a diary with explicit SRL instruction and/or feedback improved more SRL processes than diary only or SRL instruction only interventions. In studies reporting academic outcomes, there was also an improvement in 40% of studies. Conclusion. This systematic review highlights the potential usefulness of SRL-LD interventions in health professions education. Recommendations for implementation and future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When a highly salient distractor is present in a search array, it speeds target absent visual search and increases errors during target present visual search, suggesting lowered quitting thresholds (Moher in Psychol Sci 31(1):31–42, 2020). Missing a critical target in the presence of a highly salient distractor can have dire consequences in real-world search tasks where accurate target detection is crucial, such as baggage screening. As such, the current study examined whether emphasizing either accuracy or speed would eliminate the distractor-generated quitting threshold effect (QTE). Three blocks of a target detection search task which included a highly salient distractor on half of all trials were used. In one block, participants received no instructions or feedback regarding performance. In the remaining two blocks, they received instructions and trial-by-trial feedback that either emphasized response speed or response accuracy. Overall, the distractor lowered quitting thresholds, regardless of whether response speed or response accuracy was emphasized in a block of trials. However, the effect of the distractor on target misses was smaller when accuracy was emphasized. It, therefore, appears that while the distractor QTE is not easily eradicated by explicit instructions and feedback, it can be shifted. As such, future research should examine the applicability of these and similar strategies in real-world search scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life skills refer to a person's ability to do life well through the successful completion of everyday tasks and a meaningful engagement at school, at work, at home and in the community. However, several scholars have critiqued existing approaches to life skills teaching in sport, often situated as individualistic and focused on economic productivity and integration in predetermined social orders. For the teaching of life skills in sport to instigate social change, coaching approaches must consider broader structures of power, privilege and oppression. The purpose of the paper is to propose a two continua model coalescing implicit/explicit approaches and normative/transformative dimensions of how coaches can teach life skills through sport. The model is designed to account for how coaches can be implicit or explicit in their approaches to teaching life skills, doing so in manners that can be normative or transformative. Within each of the model's quarter-circles, examples are offered as to how coaches can teach life skills in approaches considered normative implicit, normative explicit, transformative implicit and transformative explicit. In the transformative explicit quarter-circle, the concept of social justice life skills is expanded to include dignity, reciprocity, transformative leadership and critical consciousness. Implications for research and practice are offered in terms of situating youth development from a relational perspective and positioning transformative change as a complex process that carries certain challenges and risks for coaches and youth. The two continua model for life skills teaching offers researchers and coaches a conceptual framework that delineates actions that can be taken to enact transformative pedagogies, while also opening new horizons for what life skills can become when envisioned with social change in mind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are there aspects of human intelligence that artificial intelligence cannot emulate? Harry Collins uses a distinction between tacit aspects of knowing, which cannot be digitized, and explicit aspects, which can be, to formulate an answer to this question. He postulates three purported areas of the tacit and argues that only "collective tacit knowing" cannot be adequately digitized. I argue, first, that Collins's approach rests upon problematic Cartesian assumptions—particularly his claim that animal knowing is strictly deterministic and, thus, radically different from human knowing. I offer evidence that human linguistic intelligence depends upon embodied forms of animal intelligence. Second, I suggest the development of deep-learning algorithms means that Collins's mimesis assumption (that successfully realized explicit instructions to machines are needed to confirm human-artificial intellectual equivalence) is no longer appropriate; equivalent accomplishment of goals is what counts (as he also concedes). However, persons must realize and integrate many goals and also deal with failures; a general-purpose AI capable of integrating all the needs and goals of human existence resists development. Third, I explain how Michael Polanyi's understanding of tacit knowing, quite different than Collins's concept of the tacit, exemplifies features that are missing in contemporary AI. I make use of evolutionary theory, studies of animal intelligence, biological insights, individual construction of meaning, and notions of human responsibility to argue for the existence of three categories that distinguish human from artificial intelligence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I first provide a brief review of how scholars have conceptualized, tested, and elaborated aptitude frameworks relevant to second language (L2) speech learning. Subsequently, I introduce an emerging paradigm that assigns a fundamental role to domain-general auditory processing (i.e., having a good ear) in L1 speech acquisition and proposes that the same faculty acts as a cornerstone of L2 speech learning (i.e., the Auditory Precision Hypothesis-L2). This hypothesis predicts that learners with more precise auditory processing ability will be able to make the most of every input opportunity, which will result in more advanced L2 speech proficiency. To close, I will provide suggestions on how scholars can assess L2 students' auditory processing ability (e.g., our team's offline test deposited at L2 Speech Tools for Researchers & Teachers [ http://sla-speech-tools.com/ ]) and discuss how the results can be used to maximize learners' L2 speech learning opportunities via optimal, profile-matched training programs (e.g., explicit vs. incidental training; naturalistic vs. classroom learning; phonetic vs. auditory training). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explicit teaching of pragmatics to second language learners has been studied by a large number of researchers. However, the review of the related studies shows that while some researchers believe in the effectiveness of explicit instruction of pragmatics, others believe that explicit instruction is not effective and it does not contribute to the language learners' pragmatics awareness. The main goal of this study was to investigate the outcomes of teaching pragmatics-focusing on the concept of politeness through the speech act of request - by explicit intervention. The participants were Iranian intermediate 36 EFL students who were selected through convenience sampling. A quasi-experimental research method was used, and the participants were divided into two groups. The experimental group benefited from overt metapragmatic discussions and explanations, role plays and other pragmatically-oriented tasks. Different instruments were used: a written discourse completion test (DCT), a general English proficiency test to homogenize the participants, a pre-test of participant's initial pragmatic awareness and ability in politeness, and a post-test of pragmatic awareness and ability in the production of politeness features following the periods of instruction. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (t-test). The results of data analyses revealed that students' speech act comprehension and production improved significantly in the explicit instruction group, but no change was made in students' speech act comprehension and production of the students who received no instruction. It is concluded that pragmatic competence can be taught to EFL learners explicitly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the effectiveness of a reading comprehension strategy designed to enhance learning for participants with disabilities who come from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Specifically, a multiple probe design was used to examine the effects of a reading comprehension strategy on the summarization skills of English learners with disabilities at the high school level. Individualized support was provided through an intervention that utilized a modified version of the Generating Interaction between Schemata and Text (GIST) strategy. The intervention incorporated strategy instruction and explicit instruction in the summarization of expository passages. Visual analysis indicates that all participants improved in their ability to summarize expository passages, as demonstrated by an increased level of change between the baseline and intervention phases. Statistical analysis using NAP and TAU-U reveals all participants demonstrated improvement between the baseline and intervention phases. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a reading comprehension intervention on the summarization skills of ELs with disabilities at the high school level. Results show improvements in summarization skills for all three participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document provides information on evidence-based instructional approaches for teaching math to students who may be struggling with the subject. The approaches discussed include systematic and explicit instruction, focusing on the language of math, using multiple representations such as number lines, building fluency, and providing word-problem instruction. Each approach is supported by evidence and can be tailored to individual students' needs. The document also suggests resources, such as the What Works Clearinghouse and the Science of Math, that can provide further guidance on evidence-based math instruction. [Extracted from the article]