Families today are using culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP)--a social justice pedagogy that incorporates marginalized cultural practices into the classroom--to cultivate their children into future cosmopolitan professionals. Asian American, black, and Latinx families rationalize that CRP helps their children learn "a little bit of…

This paper is motived by an email message the author received recently from a practicing, 'well-qualified' (BA and MA in Linguistics and a (200 hundred hour) TESL Certificate) ESL teacher in the US who was reaching out because she felt her training as a teacher had failed her. This prompted the author to reflect on two main inconvenient truths…

In this article I discuss the contributions to this Special Issue of "Language Learning" on orders and sequences in second language (L2) development. Using a list of questions, I attempt to characterize what I see as the strengths, limitations, and unresolved issues in the approaches to L2 development represented in this Special Issue. I…

In recent years, ELT professional discourse has been increasingly characterized by the active promotion of a number of ideas which lack popular appeal. It is argued that one reason for this trend is the influence of the prevailing intellectual ideology in the professionally-dominant Anglophone West--one of "political correctness" (PC). The nature…

The cell phone, now the most widely used medium in Asia, has major educational implications. Most users, however, do not realize the cell phone's potential for education, nor even for the communication functions for which it was originally designed. Most educators still see the computer and the cell phone as unrelated devices, and the tiny cell…

A bilingual elementary school teacher and mother of a bilingual child, the author questions the presence of specific bilingualism discourses in two Southeastern public schools. Despite research that shows the acquisition and development of two languages actually augment language processing and problem solving skills, the perception of children's…

Focuses on the problem of cultural stereotyping in work on intercultural communication. Describes recent interest in culture in relation to language learning and the problematic nature of the concept of culture. Concludes that Chinese attitudes toward academic study are diverse, and argues that culture is a contested area of discourse. (15…

Describes and assesses the general direction of French immersion research and establishes the need for more qualitative and theoretical approaches to research in this field. The areas of particular interest include (1)language learning environment; (2) children's language learning strategies; (3) classroom communication; (4) effective teaching…

A discussion of the teaching of poetry begins with a brief look at attitude toward poetry within British educational institutions, followed by an assessment of the relationship between poetry teaching and teaching reading skills to children and foreign language learners. A new approach for teaching poetry is presented. (11 references) (Author/LB)

Foreign workers, particularly those who have been in Austria for a long time, are already included in training and other educational programs promoted by the labour market administration. Regulated by a 1972 decree of the Federal Ministry of Social Administration, vocational training of foreign workers is steadily gaining in importance in Austria,…

This study surveyed the nature and extent of exploratory programming in intermediate schools. A 22-item questionnaire was sent to all 285 of the state's middle and junior high schools. Of the 163 respondents, 160 indicated that they had some form of exploratory programming. The latter number included: (1) 155 schools with traditional exploratory…

Noting that, in terms of language acquisition, the "basics" at schools should parallel the "basics" of common sense family life, this book examines the connections between play, language development, and learning in young children. Chapter 1 deals with the role of the teacher in a changing society. Chapter 2 addresses some of…

Chinese university students seem to feel their best hope for bringing about change lies in conforming outwardly to the policies of the government while seeking a chance to study in a Western country. Students are increasingly studying Western languages and monitoring Chinese and United States policies concerning international educational exchange.…

This five-chapter booklet is a report on Lifelong Learning Week (LLW) 2000 in Slovenia, which included a celebration of the fifth anniversary of LLW and the first International Week--Festival of Learning. Chapter 1 contains one report, "LLW Has a Special Mission" (Olga Drofenik), and Chapter 2 contains these three speeches from the LLW…