As with most dynamic activities that are based on social and cultural contexts and rely on interactions, education is a complex and often ambiguous endeavor. Despite this complexity, scholars and educators are often required to find ways of defining and explaining what "good" teaching is and to incorporate these conclusions into teacher…

This edited volume brings together 10 cutting-edge empirical studies on the realities of English language learning, teaching and testing in a wide range of global contexts where English is an additional language. It covers three themes: learners' development of interactional competence, the organization of teaching and testing practices, and…

The chapters in this volume build on a growing body of ethnomethodological conversation analytic research on teaching in order to enhance our empirical understandings of teaching as embodied, contingent and jointly achieved with students in the complex management of various courses of action and larger instructional projects. Together, the…

This volume addresses the role of communicative interaction in driving various dimensions of second language development from the perspective of Vygotskian sociocultural psychology. Emphasizing the dialectical relationship between the external-social world and individual mental functioning, the chapters delve into a wide range of topics…

This volume examines the organization of second language and multilingual speakers' talk and pragmatic knowledge across a range of naturalistic and experimental activities. Based on data collected on Danish, English, Hawai'i Creole, Indonesian, and Japanese as target languages, the contributions explore the nexus of pragmatic knowledge,…

This popular guide offers a wealth of innovative, research-based strategies for making K-12 classrooms the best learning environments they can be. Easy-to-implement best practices are presented for establishing a classroom management plan, organizing procedures and materials, building a respectful community, fostering peer collaboration, and…

This book looks at an issue which is at the heart of every classroom, the role that talk plays in children's learning. Drawing on a substantial research base, the book provides useful suggestions to facilitate successful talk between teachers and children to improve learning and raise standards. Through analysing the talk that goes on in primary…

Edited by three authorities in the field, this "Handbook" presents contributions from experts across the world who report the cutting-edge of international research. It is ground-breaking in its holistic, evidence-informed account that aims to synthesize key messages for policy and practice in English, language and literacy teaching. A…

This book offers a generalized way of examining the moral significance of what occurs in classrooms, with a focus on analyzing classroom interactions from a symbolic/expressive point of view. The book's ideas were derived from the Moral Life of Schools Project, a 2-year study that investigated the ways in which moral considerations permeate the…

A discussion of classroom research on language teaching looks at what researchers have learned so far from attempts to study what happens in the language classroom. The discussion is based on the idea that it is not the currency of instructional method used that matters most, but rather a fuller understanding of classroom interaction. The first…

This book examines the relationship between teachers (facilitators) and students who are themselves education professionals and who are participating in professional development courses. The methodology, which is based on a combination of interaction and reflection, is outlined in Chapter 1. Examined in Chapter 2 are the roles of the didactic,…

The use of language in education is examined, and the ways in which recent research helps in the understanding of classroom language are explored. The relevance of such research to practicing teachers as well as to sociologists is also discussed. The volume is divided into nine chapters: (1) "Why Is Language Important in Education?"; (2)…

The papers include: "Applied Linguistics and Comunicative Language Teaching" (Christopher Brumfit); "Evaluation of the East Midlands Graded Assessment Feasibility Study" (Elaine S. Freedman); "Aspects of Standardisation within a Communicative Assessment Syllabus" (Nicola Lees); "Experimenting with…

Based on the realization that professors' cultural and personal backgrounds affect the way they transmit information and the way they interact with men and women students in their classes, this booklet is designed to help faculty members assess how they are presenting subject matter to their students. The first section of the booklet,…

How the processes of group interaction combine to help or hinder cognitive and affective learning in the classroom is discussed. Numerous concepts about interaction in the classroom along with the available research on those concepts expressed in practical terms are presented. Implications for teachers are emphasized. The book is designed to be…