We have never known more than we do now about teaching multilingual students -- nevertheless, we teeter on the edge of retreating to old-think practices. The next generation depends upon our getting this right, and this spare, salient guide helps ensure we do. "Kids Come in All Languages" provides teachers and leaders with all they need…

"StoryMaking" is a first-to-market book celebrating the multimodal literacies and learning that are demonstrated by young children as they imagine, play, make, and share their stories. It encourages inquiry-based play to develop literacy, and combines: (1) Story-retelling and story creation; (2) the Maker Movement--a creative and…

It is clear that a proper understanding of what academic English is and how to use it is crucial for success in college, and yet students face multiple obstacles in acquiring this new "code", not least that their professors often cannot agree amongst themselves on a definition and a set of rules. "Understanding Language Use in the…

Students can learn the concepts of descriptive language, "group think," and how to overcome communication apprehension painlessly by using human interest stories with humerous elements. A public relations teacher uses two audio tapes and a true story about a former student in her classroom. Garrison Keillor's 12-minute story "Tomato…

The Wheel of Right Action and the "WHOOPS! Quotient" both offer students an opportunity to integrate values and ethics into real world situations. The Whoops! Quotient asks students to respond to questions regarding how often they have heard or have made statements of a "white lie" nature within the past week. Responses are…

Discusses examples of peer social interaction and language play among fourth through sixth graders. Suggests that these sub-rosa skills be taken into consideration during classroom assessment of language competence and development. (HTH)

There is more to the process of paraphrasing than simple transliteration. A variety of paraphrase types exist, each using a different strategy and requiring a different interpretive approach. (MSE)

A trainer in personal development gives advice, in the form of reflective questions, to group facilitators on appropriate language use, interpreting nonverbal communications (body language), and the appropriate use of nonverbal communications. (TD)

Four activities for language learning are presented, including: class completion of incomplete dialogues excerpted from major literary works; games for learning vocabulary and civilization using words beginning with the same letter; a lesson using cartoons to elicit description and dialogues; and a unit on appropriate and inappropriate…

Explains that creative writing is a form of communication and stresses the importance of communication in all aspects of education and suggests activities to facilitate that, such as having students produce a town guide or initiate and organize a campaign. (DF)

This paper suggests classroom activities to develop awareness of language and the sociolinguistic aspects of language proficiency and to help eliminate language prejudice. The exercises are presented in seven categories: (1) examination of connotative and denotative language, names and nicknames; (2) dialects and slang and the status attached to…

Describes a rating scale designed to provide a valid and practical evaluation instrument for testing communicative competence in French. Evidence from the application of this scale to actual test data and an analysis of its validation by means of native speaker judgments show that this method of evaluating student performance is effective. (SL)

Four ideas for French language instruction are presented, including an exploration of cultural and linguistic meaning in advertising; use of the Minitel database and computer capabilities; interpersonal communication games; and a vocabulary development and comprehension activity using text from a French weekly publication. (MSE)

The ways in which second language learners and teachers together can develop learners' ability to carry on conversation in the target language are examined. The discussion is based on the idea that practicing language skills, therefore creating opportunities to gain additional knowledge, is essential to continued learning, whereas using such…

A collection of classroom activities for teaching listening and speaking skills in English as a Second Language (ESL) is presented. They are designed to be accompanied by a tape (not included here). All were developed by teachers and have been used successfully in ESL classrooms. Topics and skill areas addressed in the games and exercises include:…