This research reports on the teacher language and gesture that contributed to shifts in thinking about the equal sign and equations observed in twenty kindergarteners who took part in an early algebra intervention. Our analysis revealed ways in which the teacher used language and gesture to support students in moving from describing and working…

Collaborative dialogue is rich in conscious and subconscious coordination behaviours between participants. This work explores collaborative learner dialogue through theories of alignment, analysing inter-partner movement and language use with respect to our hypotheses: that they interrelate, and that they form predictors of collaboration quality…

Emoji are commonly used in social media to convey attitudes and emotions. While popular, their use in educational contexts has been sparsely studied. This paper reports on the students' use of emoji in an online course forum in which students annotate and discuss course material in the margins of the online textbook. For this study, instructors…

This paper discusses the importance of considering bilingual learners' non-linguistic forms of communication for understanding their mathematical thinking. In particular, I provide an analysis of communication involving a pair of high school calculus bilingual learners, who interacted with a touchscreen-based DGE (dynamic geometry environment).…

This paper provides a detailed analysis of the mathematical communication involving a pair of high school calculus students who are English language learners. The paper focuses on the word-use, gestures and dragging actions in the student-pair communication about calculus concepts when paper-based static and then touchscreen dynamic diagrams.…

A review of literature on communicative competence reveals many meanings of the concept and of the way it should be used in second and foreign language instruction. In the literature there are two views: that communicative competence includes grammatical competence, and that it does not; or at least the ability to communicate one's meaning is…

Research was conducted to examine selected formal features of conversational segments enacted by family members in three modes of television programming: documentary, prime time, and soap opera. A sample of videotape recordings for each program format was content-analyzed for: (1) segment length, (2) length of conversational turn, and (3) duration…

The research investigated the nature and frequency of hesitation phenomena in speech as presented within content segments featuring interaction among family members on three modes of television programming: documentary, prime time, and soap opera. A sample of videotape recordings for each program format was content-analyzed by noting repetitions,…

The depth and pervasiveness of linguistic symbols of sexual identity, difference, and hierarchy are discussed in this paper. After noting that the language of sexism begins at birth and is recognized and used by preschool children, the paper points to patterns of linguistic sexism in the semantics and syntax of the English language, in written and…

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…

Details of conversational behavior can often not be interpreted until the social interaction, including the rights and obligations of the participants, their intent, the topic, etc., has been defined. This paper presents a model of conversation in which the conversational image a person presents in a given conversational situation is a function of…

A study analyzed the perspectives, as expressed in gestures, of six sixth-grade students in science classes as they either explained in-the-moment or described book-learned or previously thought-out ideas. Student behaviors were analyzed for evidence of three perspectives: (1) outside observer, shown by the observer standing apart from his gesture…

Some failure types that occur in cross-cultural interactions are described, mainly from the point of view of Finns and Finland and from primarily anecdotal and "folk theoretical" data. Material from such sources as newspapers, joke collections, proverbs, and student experiences are used as the basis of the discussion. Non-grammatical…

The development and use of verbal and nonverbal communication by children in the early stages of second language acquisition were investigated in a natural setting. Twenty young speakers of Japanese, Korean, Hebrew, Spanish, Icelandic, and Polish, enrolled in a multilingual program and ranging in age from 7 to 12 years, served as subjects. All of…

A 6-minute, videotaped segment of discourse in a medical school classroom problem-based learning session is analyzed for evidence of the kinds of meanings being constructed, their functions, and the linguistic, kinesic, and other means by which they are being made. Three interdependent discourse agendas are distinguished: construction,…