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Written argumentation is a complex skill to master. It can be assumed that students can transfer oral argumentation skills into a written format. Still, students from disadvantaged backgrounds for whom this task is highly novel require greater scaffolding to formulate persuasive arguments in writing. Therefore, there is a need for developing sound methodologies to introduce argumentative writing to these students. This study's objective was to address this need to develop evidence-based methodologies for teaching genre novice students at the end of primary school in Mexico (5th and 6th grades). Based on a socio-discursive interactionist approach, an introductory instructional sequence using the opinion article was designed for disadvantaged students. A quantitative pre-test-post-test design evaluated its efficacy in fifth and sixth graders (n= 50) from a rural community in northern-central Mexico by prompting an initial and final opinion article and measuring intervention changes with inferential statistics. Findings from a mixed 2x2 analysis of variance with Grade as the between-participants variable and Time as the within-participants variable suggested there was a significant instruction effect for both 5th and 6th -grade groups (main effect of Time: (F(1,48) = 28.52, p = = 0.0001, n[superscript 2 subscript p] =0.37). Students did not significantly differ by grade level (main effect of Grade: F(1,48) = 1.82, p = 0.18, n[superscript 2 subscript p] =0.03), nor did they benefit differently from the intervention (interaction of Time X Grade: (F(1,48) = 1.24, p = 0.27, n[superscript 2 subscript p] =0.02). When examining the opinion article's dimensions, the Wilcoxon signed-rank tests revealed students could improve the structure and linguistic devices, but not the communication of their texts' purpose. Results suggest a brief, socially relevant opinion article instructional sequence can facilitate the learning of argumentative writing elements in genre novice rural students.

Narratives skills are associated with long-term academic and social benefits. While students with disabilities often struggle to produce complete and complex narratives, it remains unclear which aspects of narrative language are most indicative of disability. In this study, we examined the association between a variety of narrative contents and form indices and disability. Methodology involved drawing 50 K-3 students with Individual Education Programs (IEP) and reported language concerns from a large diverse sample (n = 1074). Fifty typically developing (TD) students were matched to the former group using propensity score matching based on their age, gender, grade, mother's education, and ethnicity. Narrative retells and generated language samples were collected and scored for Narrative Discourse and Sentence Complexity using a narrative scoring rubric. In addition, the number of different words (NDW), subordination index (SI), and percentage of grammatical errors (%GE) were calculated using computer software. Results of the Mixed effect model revealed that only Narrative Discourse had a significant effect on disability, with no significant effect revealed for Sentence Complexity, %GE, SI, and NDW. Additionally, Narrative Discourse emerged as the sole significant predictor of disability. At each grade, there Findings suggest that difficulty in Narrative Discourse is the most consistent predictor of disability.

This experimental study aimed to influence reading comprehension skills through the development of one or both components of the Simple View of Reading (decoding and listening comprehension), by using a differentiated instruction approach. Reading comprehension skill gains were compared in an intervention group versus a control, after the delivery of a program designed to target one or both of such components. Fifty-four children from two 1st grade classrooms in a public school in Mexico were screened for difficulties in decoding and listening comprehension at the end of the school year. At the beginning of 2nd grade, 27 students identified with difficulties were randomly assigned to either an intervention (n = 14) or a control group (n = 13). Students selected for the targeted intervention attended the sessions aimed at their specific needs: five students with poor decoding only received the Phonological and Orthographic Awareness sessions of the intervention (9 sessions); seven students with poor listening comprehension only attended the Oral Vocabulary sessions (5 sessions); two students with mixed difficulties attended the full program (14 sessions). A 2 × 2 mixed analysis of variance showed that the interaction between the Time and Group variables had a significant effect, i.e. students in the intervention group had significantly higher scores in the post-test evaluation with respect to their baseline and compared to the growth observed in the control group. Results are discussed concerning their implications for teaching practices and for the use of strategies that target reading specific difficulties in students using both oral and written language.

English language teaching (ELT) as a second or foreign language is a worldwide practice for Educational Systems in elementary schools. Educational reforms in Mexico have aimed at addressing English language learning within the elementary schools' curricula, however, there have been shortcomings when implementing the teaching of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in all Mexican classrooms. This study was done to explore the possibility of general classroom teachers becoming EFL facilitators. The participants were 15 general classroom teachers with no specialization in ELT, from either a rural school in a Bilingual indigenous community or an urban school in the Mexican State of San Luis Potosí. A mixed-method research approach was employed, which included a socioeconomic questionnaire, an attitude towards English questionnaire and an ad hoc questionnaire; to explore the implementation of EFL in the participating schools. Results suggest that general classroom teachers without specialization in ELT may be a potential positive alternative to implementing ELT by becoming second language facilitators. The findings are discussed in relation to the concept of second language facilitators and recommendations for future studies to further explore this teaching role are laid out.

Learning to program is a complex task, and the impact of different pedagogical approaches to teach this skill has been hard to measure. This study examined the performance data of seven cohorts of students (N = 1168) learning programming under three different pedagogical approaches. These pedagogical approaches varied either in the length of the introductory programming block of courses (two or three semesters) or in the programming tool used in the first semester (C language or the programming support tool Raptor). In addition, gender and initial course selection differences were investigated. Raw pass rates under the three pedagogical approaches were compared; they were also compared, controlling for initial ability levels, using a logistic regression. Results showed that a more extensive duration of the introductory block produced a higher pass rate in students, but changing the programming tool used did not. Raw gender differences were not statistically significant; admission phase differences were initially statistically different, but not once initial ability and pedagogical approach received had been accounted for. Findings are discussed in relation to existing literature.

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Written argumentation is a complex skill to master. It can be assumed that students can transfer oral argumentation skills into a written format. Still, students from disadvantaged backgrounds for whom this task is highly novel require greater scaffolding to formulate persuasive arguments in writing. Therefore, there is a need for developing sound methodologies to introduce argumentative writing to these students. This study's objective was to address this need to develop evidence-based methodologies for teaching genre novice students at the end of primary school in Mexico (5th and 6th grades). Based on a socio-discursive interactionist approach, an introductory instructional sequence using the opinion article was designed for disadvantaged students. A quantitative pre-test-post-test design evaluated its efficacy in fifth and sixth graders (n= 50) from a rural community in northern-central Mexico by prompting an initial and final opinion article and measuring intervention changes with inferential statistics. Findings from a mixed 2x2 analysis of variance with Grade as the between-participants variable and Time as the within-participants variable suggested there was a significant instruction effect for both 5th and 6th-grade groups (main effect of Time: (F(1,48) = 28.52, p = ≤ .0001, η²p =.37). Students did not significantly differ by grade level (main effect of Grade: F(1,48) = 1.82, p = .18, η²p =.03), nor did they benefit differently from the intervention (interaction of Time X Grade: (F(1,48) = 1.24, p = .27, η²p =.02). When examining the opinion article's dimensions, the Wilcoxon signed-rank tests revealed students could improve the structure and linguistic devices, but not the communication of their texts' purpose. Results suggest a brief, socially relevant opinion article instructional sequence can facilitate the learning of argumentative writing elements in genre novice rural students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior studies suggest that academic language skills measures positively predicted reading comprehension outcomes of adolescents. Expanding on studies that have explored these relations in Spanish-speaking youth, this study examines the specific contribution of academic vocabulary knowledge and academic language skills to the Spanish reading comprehension of elementary as well as middle school students in Northeast Mexico. A total of 1103 public school students in 5th and 6th elementary grades (n=671) and 1st and 2nd middle school grades (n=432) took part in the study. Participants were assessed on academic vocabulary, academic language skills, and reading comprehension. Demographic and SES data were also obtained. Aligning with prior research conducted with English speakers in the U.S. and Spanish speakers in Chile, findings revealed that academic vocabulary knowledge and academic language skills are essential to reading comprehension outcomes. Our study adds to the growing evidence of academic language skills and academic vocabulary, as key predictors of text comprehension for Spanish-speaking adolescents in Latin America and expands the sample to Mexican students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]