Juvenile Delinquents' Views of Teachers' Language, Classroom Instruction and Listening Behaviors

The purposes of this study were to survey the views of female adolescents about: (a) their classroom teachers' language used during instruction, (b) their attitudes toward the language of classroom instruction, and (c) views about listening behaviors. A survey design was used with 31 participants ranging in age from 15 to 18 with a mean age of 17.12 years. Three questionnaires addressing classroom instruction and listening behaviors were read to each student. Two open-ended questions on learning in school were included in the study. Descriptive findings revealed the language load of the curriculum was too difficult and not sufficiently understood by one-third to more than one-half of the study participants. (Contains 4 tables.)