English 102 - Spring 2009

This article is about literacy. It is helpful.

This article is about two teachers who used the literary devices associated with poetry to teach scientific writing to their students. The result was that students learned more about writing poetry and writing scientific reports. This article would be helpful for students researching the teaching of literacy using uncommon methods.

This NYT article is about how the way we refer to and treat the elderly (calling them "dear" or speaking loudly to them, for example) can affect their health. Such studies have broader ranging implications. When we call others derogatory names, can it affect their health? Does using "baby talk" affect the language development of children? Do our assumptions about teenagers affect their intellectual development?

Explains aliteracy and amoralism in literature and reading. Definition of aliterate and amoral; Discussion of several cartoons on aliteracy; View of the International Reading Association on aliteracy. (Description taken from EBSCO.)

Freakonomics is well-worth checking out. Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt, authors of Freakonomics, keep the conversation going from their best-selling book that explores the hidden side of everything.

An article that explains a debate that has raged for years in academic circles. When you read online, are you reading or skimming? Is the Internet killing reading or just helping students develop different skills?

An explanation of the current nutrition facts label required by the FDA. Contains facts and statistics about the American diet and use of the labeling system.

The author reflects on the use of acronyms, jargon, and terminology in electronic engineering. According to the author, terminology is a very significant issue since a common language is vital for the proper exchange of information, particularly when a new technology is developed. The author believes that many of the terms for the various devices were developed given the fact that the technology involved is old and established. (Description provided by EBSCO.)

The National Institute for Literacy serves as a national resource for adult education and literacy programs, coordinates literacy services and policy, and provides leadership for literacy in the United States. The Institute disseminates information on scientifically based reading research pertaining to children, youth, and adults as well as information about development and implementation of classroom reading programs based on the research. A great resource for articles and statistics.

The general website for the Bilingual Research Journal, a journal of the National Association for Bilingual Education and the Southwest Center for Education Equity and Language Diversity, this site contains full-text articles focusing on bilingual education, available in PDF format.

One possibility for those interested in sports to consider is the concept of physical literacy, here called "movement literacy," the idea that just as our minds learn to function at higher levels and acquire new skills, our bodies must do the same. However, between phyical education budgets being cut and increasing importance placed on technology, our understanding of movement literacy is decreasing. This article focuses on students in Kenya, where the most original innovative learning takes place during unstructed playtime. Includes a PDF and several photographs.

This article from ERIC, the Education Resources Information Center, a great free database for anyone doing research related to education, discusses aliteracy among college students. The PDF format is available via the link at the top of the page. It would be beneficial for all students to check out because it is an example of a well-written, college-level research paper.

A resource for teachers, literacy organizations and anyone interested in reading and education, created in collaboration with LitCam, Google, and UNESCO's Institute for Lifelong Learning.\n

This article from the Washington Post discusses the problem of aliteracy. Much more prevalent than illiteracy, it is also more insidious because unlike teaching someone how to read, which is fairly straightforward, how do you teach someone to LIKE to read? This article contains statistics on aliteracy in America and interesting ways in which aliteracy has changed the way our society functions.

This article, available in PDF format through EBSCO, discusses the problem of "financial aliteracy." Most Americans have limited knowledge of strategies for saving and investing. This is a timely topic, given the current problems on Wall Street.

A film on OhioLINK. Helping children to grow and bloom properly also means taking into account their biological rhythms. This program seeks out holistic approaches to education that more scientifically organize the school day and strike a better balance between intellectual and physical development. Educators, psychologists, a geneticist, a philosopher, and others consider topics such as the times of day when students are most ready to learn and the role of play in the developing child. They also question the effectiveness of lectures and take a penetrating look at the video game phenomenon. (53 minutes, color)

A film on OhioLINK. Could be helpful for students researching bilingualism. When Massasoit hailed the Plymouth settlers in their own language, they might have taken it for a sign that English would dominate the New World. Packed with surprising etymologies and intriguing stories, this enhanced DVD traces the dynamic relationship between English and America, exploring the linguistic influence of westward expansion, cowboy culture, slave culture, and encounters with the French and Spanish languages. Key works examined include The New England Primer and Webster's The American Spelling Book. Can be viewed using a DVD player or computer DVD-ROM drive. (50 minutes, color) Part of the "Adventure of English" series.

A film on OhioLINK. Communication is at the core of the human experience, even though effective communication takes a lifetime to learn. This program explores how we develop the arts of speech and physical expression to make ourselves understood and to understand others. Visiting a group of 25 three-year-olds, the film observes them learning as many as ten new words a day-some already grasping the first 1,500 components of the 20,000-word vocabulary collected in the average life span. The "nonverbal leakage" or body language that supplements verbal skills is also explored, demonstrating that children with verbal disadvantages can compensate through other techniques. Original BBCW broadcast title: Read My Lips. Part of the BBC series Child of Our Time 2004. (60 minutes)

A film on OhioLINK. For decades, IQ tests have been the gold standard for measuring intelligence. But is one standardized test really adequate for every taker? This program advocates a different approach, creating an array of unusual challenges to assess brainpower and positing an argument for the interplay of multiple intelligences. Assisted by the insights of Harvard's Howard Gardner and experts using brain scanning technology at UC Davis' M.I.N.D. Institute, the program brings together a group of obviously bright and talented people and presents them with trials of all shapes and sizes. The results establish the validity of measuring not just what people know but also the equally important ways in which they exercise their practical, creative, emotional, and kinesthetic IQs. A BBCW Production. (50 minutes)

A film on OhioLINK. Why do girls demonstrate greater reading and writing ability than boys? Is the female brain hardwired for faster verbal development? Should men let women do the talking? This program studies language differences between the sexes and explores the possibility that many communication skills are gender-specific. Following two teams of well-educated adults as they undergo a crash course in broadcast journalism, the program documents wide variations between male and female abilities to verbally multitask, and examines distinctions in physical interaction, eye contact, and other behavioral factors. Clinical evidence regarding the significance of testosterone levels is also explored. (45 minutes)