Globalisation and the global spread of English have led nation-states to introduce English into the early years of schooling to equip their citizens with communicative competence in order to compete within a global economy for individual and national development. In teaching English as a Second/Foreign Language, nations have adopted…

This article shows how various dialogic discourse strategies were used in read-alouds of English science information books in a 2nd-grade bilingual classroom. Using a variety of discursive strategies, Ibett encouraged her Spanish-speaking students to provide explanations and reasoning related to science ideas. Similarly, she used intertextual…

Increased immigration in Europe and worldwide has led to more pre- and primary school students being educated through the medium of a second language, and there is considerable research, much of it coming from Australia, to suggest that in order to cope with this situation, children will need to begin to acquire, from their earliest years in…

A study examined the strategies used by a fourth-grade teacher in a two-way bilingual immersion program (English/Spanish) that contributed to students' development of academic language in Spanish. Analysis of a science lesson highlighted the use of an appropriate Spanish-language textbook and the teacher's use of visual elements, repetition,…

Asserts that observation is the key to discovering what non-native students already know about English and what their inclinations and abilities are when they enter the classroom. Documents a first-grade teacher's experiences with second-language learners in her classroom. (MM)

Discusses an approach to the study of interlanguage that challenges prevailing models of second language acquisition that assume negotiation of meaning is the only causal variable. Examines two notions of language play: ludic language play and rehearsal in private speech. Analysis of classroom interactions among children in a Spanish immersion…

Classrooms in two schools were observed to assess opportunities for language learning in the total classroom environment. Observers found that most classroom language is neither spontaneous nor purposeful. (Author/MLF)

Reports the results of a three-year qualitative observation study of a Japanese foreign language in the elementary school (FLES) program. The observation was analyzed from the sociocultural point of view led by Vygotsky, which treats learning through social guidance and motivation as central to an account of language development. (Author/JL)

Seeks to understand literacy as sociocultural practice and to understand how beliefs about attitudes towards literacy are constructed in and through classroom discourse. Explores what literacy is valued in one multi-ethnic primary classroom and the ways in which the pupils are coming to know and display the version of literacy that counts.…

This book is the story of four nonnative children's acculturation into an American elementary school, as seen by the author, the teachers, the parents, and the children themselves. The book states that some of the challenges stem from linguistic barriers, but that others are cultural issues so endemic that neither the teacher nor the student is…

Presents findings from a 9-month ethnographic study of cross-cultural learning for the purpose of helping teachers better understand classroom conditions and behaviors that support and hinder students' comprehension of teachers' spoken language. Follows an 8-year-old native English speaker in an Icelandic classroom. Suggests that…

Examines how students in a second language classroom deploy linguistic and cultural resources to both resist and appropriate aspects of the teachers' voices. A key episode is analyzed to show the nuances of students' ventriloquation of diverse voices to construct a complex social order and shifting strategic identities. (Author/VWL)

Explores the amount of talk used by girls as opposed to boys in a Grade 2 English-as-a-Second-Language classroom located in British Columbia. Focus was on the amount of language used by the girls in teacher-led lessons. (Author/VWL)

Examines aspects of communicative classroom discourse that may affect the potential of recasts to be noticed as negative evidence by young second-language learners. The database comprises transcripts of over 18 hours of interaction recorded during 27 lessons in four immersion classrooms at the primary level. (Author/JL)

In this article, we examine the construction of word meaning by students during collaborative activities in a multicultural classroom at a Dutch primary school. The analysis is based on recordings of student talk in small groups of four or five students during mathematics lessons. Difficulties with specific terms and expressions frequently arose…