Presents two brief language stories and critical literacy lessons to offer a space for considering the different literacies, knowledge, and power constructed through different language use. Demonstrates the literacies are made possible by more powerful discourses such as critical literacy. (RS)

Argues that a teacher's informed response to popular culture in the classroom requires consideration of how students use it in light of the economics of its production. Illustrates this through the classroom talk of 11- and 12-year-old boys discussing a horror series book. Discusses social uses of popular culture and the role of teachers regarding…

Contrasts classroom questioning with questioning functions used in normal discourse and suggests ways in which teachers can promote more normal questioning exchanges in the second language classroom. (Author/MSE)

Argues that second-language learners should be given the opportunity to listen to authentic discourse within the language classroom and practice forms of language that will facilitate successful exchanges beyond the classroom. Examines the main questions confronting the classroom teacher when integrating authentic spoken discourse into a language…

Examines the kinds of inquiry fourth-grade children accomplished in a cross-curricular unit involving various kinds of texts. Identifies the circumstances that accompany the best examples of student thought, talk, and questions. Describes procedures used as well as the talk that accompanied each type of text (biography, historical fiction, and…

Recommends that mathematics instruction should promote student discourse by orchestrating situations in which each individual's thinking is challenged and asking students to clarify and justify ideas. Provides a vignette of a heterogeneously grouped seventh-grade mathematics class to illustrate the process of mathematical discourse. (ASK)

Observations of 90 lessons reveal the limitations of the whole-class discussion, the dominant teaching method in elementary and secondary schools. In addition to producing a low percentage of student involvement, rarely more than 50%, teachers' questions and answer techniques do not usually stimulate critical thinking. Besides most often asking…

Introduces the concept of powerful/powerless talk for instructors interested in incorporating this construct in their classrooms. Provides a brief summary of powerful/powerless talk literature. Offers guidelines for introducing these research findings into the curriculum. (AEW)

Describes novice biology teachers' strategies to exert sociolinguistic control over conversations when teaching unfamiliar science content; illustrates discourse control strategies used in one teacher's lessons. Findings suggest that teacher knowledge influences how teachers begin instruction, structure turns at talk, question students, evaluate…

Concentration on the formal features of language and on developing speaking skills in a second language fails to provide the language student with the necessary level of conversational ability. The concept of communicative competence has resulted in a new emphasis on the nature of interaction and the rules of discourse. Interest has shifted from…

The handbook, arising from a research project on adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teaching, presents ESL teachers with ways to use authentic English as a teaching tool in the classroom. The purpose of this book is to: examine the connections between current theories of spoken discourse analysis and classroom practice; encourage language…

As a botanist uses specific, non-judgmental descriptions that are part of a conceptual framework to help see different varieties and characteristics of plants, so teachers can see more clearly what they do if they describe rather than judge what is done. If the purpose of using a framework or model to discuss lesson presentations and classroom…

Teachers should begin to think about how they mete out responsibility for spoken and written discourse in the classroom. Research indicates that most teachers initiate and sustain a question-answer-evaluation pattern. This pattern is doubly enacted in the composition course in writing as well as speaking. Unfortunately, this pattern may also…

Papers by teachers and teacher trainers address issues in bilingualism and related teaching techniques in the elementary school classroom in England. They are derived from an inservice teacher training project. Essays include: "Investigating Children's Discourse in the Primary Classroom: The Linguistic Demands of Classroom Tasks"…

Techniques for integrating English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction and mathematics instruction, particularly the language of mathematics, are discussed. Focus here is on mathematics instruction for limited-English-speaking students in the mainstream classroom. First, examples of the academic language of mathematics that students must…