In the study reported on here we investigated the effects of sign language barriers among Deaf learners in special schools for the Deaf and Blind in the Motheo District in the Free State province of South Africa. Semi-structured focus group interviews were held with 7 teachers (2 males and 5 females) and 10 Grade 8 learners (6 males and 4 females)…

The quality of teacher-student relationships greatly affects students' academic life. Students need to be recognized by their teacher. One way through which such need may be fulfilled is receiving strokes (teacher attention). In a broad sense, stroke is known to be a unit of human recognition (Berne, 1988). Accordingly, the current mixed-methods…

The purpose of this study was to compare and describe 8 fifth-grade classrooms by their teachers pedagogy during a quasiexperimental, longitudinal, and field-based project focused on increasing English language learners' (ELLs') achievement in science and language. The larger study found statistically significant and positive intervention effects…

The present paper argues for a shift in teacher knowledge and beliefs about the role of group work in the teaching and learning of emergent bilingual students. Using case study data from an eighth grade classroom, the authors analyze the role of collaboration in the interaction with grade-level text of emergent bilingual students. The analysis…

In content-based instruction (CBI) programmes, students learn content subjects through a second language (L2), so that they can incidentally learn the language. To further facilitate students' L2 development, the collaboration between L2 and content subject teachers has been strongly advocated. Previous research on such kind of collaboration…

What happens in the first week of school could very well set the stage for the rest of the school year. Setting high standards for science activities based in inquiry can start on the first day of science class and develop as the year unfolds. With the use of simple, readily available, inexpensive materials, an efficient mystery box lesson can be…

This paper presents results of a research study focusing on the analysis, comparison, and description of students' attitudes towards the teaching of mathematics lessons presented in a foreign language (English) using the Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) method in three elementary schools. It also highlights the difference between…

Beliefs of in-service English teachers about grammar learning/teaching and the influence of such beliefs on their classroom practices remain relatively unexplored. More precisely, this study explores English teachers' beliefs about grammar learning and teaching. It throws light on the teachers' actual practices in the classrooms of 7th -12th…

One-to-one laptop programs, where each student has their own laptop to use in classroom, are becoming popular in schools especially in Australia and the United States. The purpose of the study was to contribute to the limited knowledge base explaining the implementation of laptop programs specifically with English language learners. Four ESL…

Van Sluys and five eighth-grade ethnographers with a range of linguistic experiences in Spanish and English write about their processes and findings in their shared study of parent literacy practices. Here, they describe a disconnect between their own understandings of literacy and their roles in a literacy learning community. For example, their…

The re-birth of South Africa in 1994 has brought the implementation of effective educational policies. Simultaneously, the Outcomes-Based Education (OBE) approach has been introduced to advance the teaching and learning of the Learning areas in schools in South Africa. This article focuses on the learning of English as a Second Language (ESL) in…