This book introduces the main concepts of pragmatics as they relate to the young English language learner classroom and research with young second language learners (YLLs). It considers the speech acts which are particularly relevant to YLLs and presents research findings on learners' development of speech act perception and production. It…

The authors reflect critically on their experiences of teaching research methods/methodology/techniques (MMT) courses in human geography for the first time. Through a highly reflexive process involving journaling, they engage with the broader scholarship of teaching and learning approach. Three themes characterize commonalities in their…

The purpose of this study was to explore the professional learning process that teachers reported enhanced their use of technology in their classrooms. The framework for this qualitative, theory-building study was guided by research from the field of adult learning. Data were obtained from interviews of six teachers who worked in an urban science…

How can the average educator who teaches online, without experience in evaluating emerging technologies, build on what is successful and modify what is not? Written for educators who feel ill-prepared when required to evaluate e-learning initiatives, "Evaluating e-Learning" offers step-by-step guidance for conducting an evaluation plan of…

The promise, embraced by governments around the world, is that the knowledge economy will provide knowledge workers with a degree of autonomy and permission to think which enables them to be creative and to attract high incomes. What credence should we give to this promise? The current economic crisis is provoking a reappraisal of both economic…

"A Guide to Better Teaching" is a self-help book that provides anyone teaching a college course with a thorough understanding of what it takes to be an effective teacher. Derived from the authors' extensive research, several interactive assessment tools are included that measure levels of effectiveness according to learner preferences. Each…

Scientific inquiry reflects how scientists come to understand the natural world, and it is at the heart of how students learn. From a very early age, children interact with their environment, ask questions, and seek ways to answer those questions. Understanding science content is significantly enhanced when ideas are anchored to inquiry…

The use of several college classroom assessment techniques to evaluate the processes and products of accounting instruction through cooperative learning is described. The discussion looks at considerations in planning classroom assessment, choosing initial assessment techniques and adapting them, and blending cooperative learning structures with…

Three areas of research (second language acquisition (SLA), foreign languages (FL), and foreign language learning (FLL) are examined briefly and distinguished, and their relationship is discussed. The definition of FLL is then considered in greater detail. It is proposed that as an area of inquiry, FLL is characterized by specific features of its…

The I-Search is an inquiry-based process that compels students to move away from the traditional research report format in which they restate old information, empowering them and bringing out their curiosity and love of learning while laying a foundation for building a community of lifelong learners. Using the I-Search process, children move from…

The Self-Knowledge Inventory of Lifelong Learning Strategies (SKILLS) was developed to measure adult learning strategies in real-life learning situations. SKILLS consists of a series of 12 scenarios from real-world situations that reflect Shirk's (1990) nine general categories of learning for real-life situations and that necessitate various types…

An ethnographic study of a Philadelphia elementary school program in English as a second language focused on the way children's first and second languages were used in the classroom, and how this use of language was connected to the learning process. It was found that despite teachers' claims of emphasis on communication skills, a number of…

Research on content area reading in English as a second language (ESL) has focused on the psycholinguistic and educational aspects of reading. Psycholinguistic research has found that reading comprehension is not solely a result of text variables such as sentence complexity and length or vocabulary, but is largely dependent on reader variables,…

Maintains that assessment in the arts often is avoided in the early childhood years because it appears to be incompatible with a child-centered philosophy. Asserts that reflective assessment procedures can inform early childhood teachers about instruction in arts education. (CFR)

Relationships between language, literacy, and school learning are investigated in a case study of a first grader. Examination of his journal-writing during a school year focuses on a two-month period in which he wrote almost exclusively about superheroes. An individual approach to sociolinguistic research on childhood learning is advocated. (48…