The use of linguistic landscapes (LLs) to expand the respect for and knowledge of minoritized language use has extended into classroom practice and teacher preparation. Nuanced racialized understandings of language that include multimodal and multilingual realities, however, complicate the potential for educators to make sense of the language they…

The language practices used by teachers in schools directly impact the language development and reading performance of multilingual children. Despite the important effect of teacher language choices on children's language learning, there is a considerable need to better understand what constitutes effective multilingual language practices for…

This article challenges the widely held assumption in monolingual English as a foreign language (EFL) settings that students prefer their teachers to rarely use their mother tongue (MT)--the language children initially learn in order to communicate. Through an examination of data derived from eight classrooms in four private language schools in…

Technology today plays a significant role in the lives of many students who are part of a technology-driven culture that they have grown up with. It would seem unimaginable for young adults today to communicate or exchange ideas without using technology. The plethora of devices competing with the computer, from smartphones to tablets, just to name…

Calls to integrate media literacy into K-12 language classrooms appear to have gone largely unheeded. However, media literacy skills are seen as crucial for 21st-century learners. This article answers the calls for a focus on media literacy in the language classroom by addressing both why and how systematic attention might be brought to this issue…

Despite the proven benefits of multimodal teaching and learning (i.e., through visual, sound, movement, print-based text, and technology) for students, little is known about how teachers of English language learners (ELLs) integrate multimodality into their existing curriculums. In this study, the authors examined how two teachers who had limited…

Elementary school English teachers in Taiwan face classes of students with differing levels of English proficiency, to the point where about one-third of the students may have never learned English before, and another third may already have read Harry Potter in English. A successful teacher recognizes that diversity may affect learning and works…

Because English language teachers should take into account the social-psychological situation of the students they teach, they must be sensitive to the effects of traumatic stress among learners. Refugee and immigrant children are frequently survivors of trauma, along with their peers in crisis-torn English as a foreign language settings around…

After introducing new curriculum guidelines during education reform, the Taiwan Ministry of Education has taken the lead in integrating a communicative approach into the new English language curriculum. Task-based language teaching (TBLT) is viewed as a realisation of communicative language teaching and is one of the most popular English language…

This classroom tip focuses on sustained-content language teaching. The game described--content wizard-- illustrates a practical technique for incorporating a range of language and academic skills into subject matter lessons for English-as-a-Second-Language learners. (Author/VWL)

Discusses setting up conversation tables on campus in cross-cultural interaction among native and nonnative speakers, presents ways to teach proverbs in the advanced classroom, describes how to use Aesop's fables to integrate all learning skills, tells how to teach make/do, and suggests ways to improve communicative skills for better accuracy and…

Four classroom techniques are presented for teaching English-as-a-Second-Language. They focus on analysis of conversational styles, debate, mystery personalities, and learning styles. (Author/VWL)

Tips for English-as-a-Second-Language classes include collecting passport stamps in an oral skills class (R. Kay Hart); turning process essays into treasure hunts (Margaret Moulton); using icebreakers (Beverly Williams, David Rutledge, Brent Green); and techniques for understanding course syllabi (Ruth Overman Fischer). (LB)

Four articles provide English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teachers with advice on how to ensure success with alternative assessment, having students use art and words to tell about their experiences, entertaining test review activities, and how to assess students' knowledge of expressions of gratitude. (Contains seven references.) (MDM)

The value of student dialog journals written to another student (unknown) rather than to the teacher is described. Thirteen practical tips for implementation are offered. It is noted that the technique is not suitable for all students, nor is it meant to be the only component in a writing program. (Contains 14 references.) (LB)