Comprehension has often been conceptualized in ways that privilege either the "right" understanding of a text (comprehension-as-outcome), or getting to that "right" understanding (comprehension-as-procedure). This article makes a case that we should, instead, teach with an eye toward fostering comprehension-as-sense-making--a socially purposeful…

An interview with Michael Stubbs, lecturer in linguistics at the University of Nottingham, regarding the sociolinguistics of the classroom. (DD)

Describes one teacher's systematic inquiry into the effectiveness of strategies to increase students' vocabularies. A research-type approach indicated that use of clarity statements and interchanges that encouraged connections to the students' own lives seemed more effective in helping students incorporate their understanding of concepts with…

Explores materials in the ERIC system dealing with the turn-taking model of classroom interaction between teacher and students. (HTH)

Examines requests for information and action in peer-directed groups of children engaged in learning specific skills. Concludes that (1) children who use information requests effectively obtain higher test scores, (2) children can help each other learn, and (3) encouraging small group talk about a task promotes academic and social learning. (HTH)

Decries teachers' use of questions with the phrase "tell me," arguing that this locus of authority in the classroom interferes with children's understanding of the function of language. (HTH)

Reviews the literature indicating that most classroom communication is of the "teacher question-student response-teacher reaction" cycle, either oral or written. Argues that this dominant pattern of classroom dialogue is ill-adapted to real learning and presents an alternative model that values exploratory talk and writing. (HTH)

Discusses the interrelationship of the language arts, and how both oral and written language help the learning process. Describes a classroom in which students' activities center around talking, and how the teacher participated as a researcher in ethnographic studies out of which came the motivation for this instructional approach. (HTH)

Reflects on the role of tradition in defining the nature of classrooms, schools, schooling, learning, and teaching. Argues that if schools really are for children, they should be organized in such a way that they facilitate learning rather than perpetuate tradition or make things easier for adults. (HTH)

Classifies the different language interactions that occur in the school and home, ranging from those that give the child or learner the power to make language choices to those that control the child's use of language. (HTH)

Describes a teacher inservice project intended to develop a language policy for using writing as a learning tool. Argues that the inservice context for teachers as learners is similar to that of the classroom and that the opportunity for talking should likewise be used for learning in the classroom. (HTH)

Examines notions and examples of instruction that can inhibit language growth, arguing that reading and writing curricula can be designed so that children are provided the freedom to explore language and grow as language learners in much the same way they learned oral language. (HTH)

Follows a six-year-old boy and his writing-revising experiences at school, demonstrating how his independence as a writer develops. Teacher and peers initiate interactions with the writer as he listens and responds and gradually learns how to discuss writing and learns a sense of the purpose of revision. (HTH)

Reports on dialogue journals as effective writing tasks which bridge the gap between spoken conversation and the traditional tasks of essay and report writing. Suggests that the use of dialogue journals improve classroom management and discipline, while creating an individual tutorial relationship of both an academic and personal nature. (MM)

Discusses how primary school students use language as a tool for learning mathematics and develop their language abilities at the same time. Shares how students use a research approach as they investigate mathematics and use language in their speaking, listening, reading, and writing. (MG)