An article about literacy that cuts to the heart of American citizenship and probably reflects the experience of many people across all races and ethnicities.

This essay is an overview of the theoretical, methodological, pedagogical, ideological, and power-related issues of world Englishes: varieties of English used in diverse sociolinguistic contexts. The scholars in this field have critically examined theoretical and methodological frameworks of language use based on western, essentially monolingual and monocultural, frameworks of linguistic science and replaced them with frameworks that are faithful to multilingualism and language variation. This conceptual shift affords a "pluricentric" view of English, which represents diverse sociolinguistic histories, multicultural identities, multiple norms of use and acquisition, and distinct contexts of function. The implications of this shift for learning and teaching world Englishes are critically reviewed in the final sections of this essay.

Over the last seven years, Jessie Little Doe Fermino, a member of the Mashpee tribe on Cape Cod, has been on a single-minded mission to revive the language of her ancestors, Wampanoag, the one that greeted the Pilgrims when they landed at Plymouth Rock and that gave the state of Massachusetts its name. But when she applied to the National Endowment of the Humanities for a grant to create a Wampanoag dictionary, she was turned down. The apparent reasons: the Wampanoag language has not been used in about 100 years, the known descendants of the original speakers number only 2,500 and Ms. Fermino is trying to make a spoken language out of a language that until recently existed only in documents, many of them from the 17th century.

The latest NCAA graduation success rate report shows UD in the top 10 nationally with Notre Dame, Duke and Northwestern, among others.

An interesting look at the history and complexity of the N-word.

Most kids under 2 are parked in front of the electronic babysitter every day. Author Lisa Guernsey explains how the tube impacts the smallest couch potatoes. A worthwhile article that explains some of the reasoning behind children's television. I can only assume that the book would be worth checking out too.

A few weeks ago, a study connected TV watching to ADHD. But the findings have been blown way out of proportion.

Good for background information.

To describe the home literacy environment and to identify financial, human, and social capital variables associated with the presence or lack of Child Centered Literacy Orientation (CCLO) in families with young children who regularly attend pediatric primary care clinics. Could be helpful for those study literacy and family, especially among single-parent families.

Many patients misunderstand the written questions American doctors have them answer before physical exams, a finding that calls into question the usefulness of these screening tools, new reports say.

Health literacy is basic reading and numerical skills that allow a person to function in the health care environment. Even though most adults read at an eighth-grade level, and 20 percent of the population reads at or below a fifth-grade level, most health care materials are written at a 10th-grade level. Older patients are particularly affected because their reading and comprehension abilities are influenced by their cognition and their vision and hearing status. Inadequate health literacy can result in difficulty accessing health care, following instructions from a physician, and taking medication properly. Patients with inadequate health literacy are more likely to be hospitalized than patients with adequate skills. Patients understand medical information better when spoken to slowly, simple words are used, and a restricted amount of information is presented. For optimal comprehension and compliance, patient education material should be written at a sixth-grade or lower reading level, preferably including pictures and illustrations. All patients prefer reading medical information written in clear and concise language. Physicians should be alert to this problem because most patients are unwilling to admit that they have literacy problems. (Am Fam Physician 2005;72:463-8. Copyright© 2005 American Academy of Family Physicians.)

A study to be released today by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum [cites] improvements in a range of literacy skills among students who took part in a program in which the Guggenheim sends artists into schools. The study, now in its second year, interviewed hundreds of New York City third graders, some of whom had participated in the Guggenheim program, called Learning Through Art, and others who did not.

An article, based mostly on anecdotal data, that discusses college students' lack of "religious literacy."

The Educational Testing Service, the nonprofit group behind the SAT, Graduate Record Examination and other college tests, has developed a new test that it says can assess students' ability to make good critical evaluations of the vast amount of material available to them.

A fantastic article! "The most creative act a human can engage in is not repeating an answer, it is forming a good question." Truer words have never been spoken. Think about this as you write your research papers!

This study examined the roles of sensation seeking and self-efficacy in explaining extreme and high physical risk taking behavior. Study participants were 20 extreme risk takers chosen from participants in skiing, rock climbing, kayaking, and stunt flying. One control group was comprised of 20 high, but not extreme, risk takers from each of these activities, matched to the participants in skill and experience. A second control group consisted of 20 trained athletes involved in moderate risk sports. Percepts of self-efficacy emerged as the principle variable differentiating the groups. A social cognitive explanation for desire for mastery was used to understand what enables risk takers to overcome the potentially inhibiting influences of anxiety, fear, and the recognition of danger. This conclusion is further reinforced by converging results from interviews with the participants.