In many language classrooms in multilingual nations, standard dialects are associated with and promoted in formal domains. Through classroom pedagogical processes that reify standard language use, other dialects are relegated to informal domains and therefore devalued in classroom settings. Informed by critical pedagogy, this article challenges…

In this work the WIHIC (What is Happening In this Classroom) instrument was used to assess the types of interactions, from students' perspectives, that occur in two science classrooms in Trinidad & Tobago. It was the first attempt to use the WIHIC instrument in the research context. An exploratory case study research design in the quantitative…

Theories of second/foreign language (L2) learning attach great significance to meaningful communication both inside and outside language classrooms. In this respect, it is vital that language learners use the target language. However, they substantially differ from one another with regard to how much they talk. This difference has been partly…

In recent years, language games have become a matter of interest for educators not only because of their potential to enhance language learning experiences, but also in the support they give towards creating a multimodal and interactive classroom environment that leads children towards perceptual, behavioural, emotional and cognitive development…

Although research has investigated laughter in professional communication settings, fewer studies have explored laughter-talk in second language (L2) classrooms. This study examines L2 university students' use of laughter-talk in peer group conversation to understand the linguistics of affect and its interactional effects. The author draws upon…

The present paper addresses the issue of theory and practice in the implementation of the communicative approach in the context of English as a foreign language teaching in Morocco. It set to evaluate the communicative orientation of English language teaching classrooms in Moroccan secondary schools. This evaluation incorporates the investigation…

This article describes the findings of a constructivist qualitative research study focused on students' perceptions of the learning experience and student communication in two cohorts of doctoral students. We also capture student perceptions of taking a merged course--that is, two previously closed cohorts taking a course together for the first…

Self-talk has been recognised as an important tool used by children to regulate their thinking and behaviour. Existing studies typically characterise children's self-talk according to broad categories that do not allow for investigation of self-regulatory aspects of children's internalised self-talk. The findings reported in this paper are based…

This study examines how bilingual second-grade students perceived of their reading competence and of the work of reading in two contrasting settings where texts were regularly discussed: a monologically organized classroom (MOC) and a dialogically organized classroom (DOC; as determined by prior analysis of classroom discourse). Interview data…

Through the use of narrative enquiry, this paper tells the story of how a kindergarten teacher in an all-girls' school incorporates family and community members' involvement to the construction of the congruent Third Space present in the classroom, and the ways the girls respond to this involvement, thereby providing a successful model for other…

Modeling Instruction holds the potential for transforming science instruction and improving student achievement. Key to the success of Modeling Instruction, however, is the fidelity of implementation of its curriculum. This qualitative study examined the impact of Modeling Instruction professional development on participating teachers'…

A study investigated the impact of teachers' use of immediacy behaviors in the college classroom. Behavior patterns of teachers often affect the behavior patterns of students. Teacher immediacy has been found to positively impact student cognitive, affective, and behavioral learning. Subjects, 70 students, enrolled in a communication course in a…

Presentation and discussion of children's picture books as well as classroom meetings were implemented on a twice-weekly basis in a fourth grade classroom in an attempt to improve each student's sense of community within the classroom. A survey ("Measuring Classroom Community") which was administered to the teacher and to each student as well as…

Describes the validation and use of English and Chinese versions of the Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES) in a study of high school science classrooms in Australia (n=1081) and Taiwan (n=1879). Data analysis supported each scale's internal consistency reliability, factor structure, and ability to differentiate between classrooms,…

With more and more cultural backgrounds represented in the American classroom, it is important that faculty consider the cultural variables that are introduced in such a situation. Cross-cultural awareness in the multi-cultural classroom has become an important issue in recent years for two main reasons: a continued increase of international…