Achieving higher levels of proficiency in a foreign language depends on more than an extensive knowledge of grammar and vocabulary. Evidence is mounting that true proficiency depends on cultural awareness about how and when language is used. This suggests that teachers in foreign language classrooms must incorporate explicit cultural lessons into…

Frequent use of common words in teaching Turkish to Kyrgyz helps to increase students' attention to the lesson. However, some words may cause translation problems because their spelling and pronunciation are the same but their meanings are different. In this framework, it is important to take into consideration the false equivalents between…

For English language learners (ELLs) to productively engage in classroom discussions that foster language development, content knowledge, and analytical practices, teachers must create a trusting classroom culture. How do we ensure that all ELLs have opportunities to productively use oral language in academic settings? And how do we ensure that…

How does one look for mathematical structure? Finding structure is a challenging yet accessible activity for all students. This article describes a lesson in which seventh graders engaged with mathematical structure. The setting was a seventh-grade prealgebra classroom in a suburban school. The classroom teacher was co-author Tatyana Finkelstein.…

The Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Southeast developed a Professional Learning Community (PLC) Facilitators Guide to support educators in the implementation of recommendations from the What Works Clearinghouse's. The practice guide focuses on the foundational reading skills that enable students to read words, relate those words to their…

The Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Southeast developed a Professional Learning Community (PLC) Facilitators Guide to support educators in the implementation of recommendations from the What Works Clearinghouse's. The practice guide focuses on the foundational reading skills that enable students to read words, relate those words to their…

This guide is meant to aid teachers and parents with explanations and activities that they can use to help students understand and clarify their use of English. The guide discusses, for example: how language develops and grows; how to use a dictionary to answer questions; how words have formed in the past and continue to form; changing the content…

Children enjoy listening to bouncy rhythms and reciting catchy rhymes. Poetry provides a rich vehicle for helping children explore how language sounds and works. Such exploration helps develop skills related to language usage, listening, vocabulary acquisition, and auditory memory, while also fostering an understanding of thematically related…

This publication includes a study essay that discusses numerous ways in which the English language reflects and promotes racism. Among the topics discussed are black/white color symbolism, terms that reflect obvious bigotry, terms that reflect ethnocentrism on the part of white people, politics and terminology, and "loaded" terms that are used to…

This instructional unit is intended for use in helping secondary and postsecondary business students develop their communications skills. The course is designed to be taught in six weeks in conjunction with the sixth edition of "Business English and Communication," a textbook published by McGraw-Hill. Chapters addressing listening, speaking,…

This teacher's guide is designed for use in presenting a five-unit course in effective communication that is part of a life skills series intended to help students become more self-sufficient in their personal and professional lives. The course's five instructional units cover these topics: understanding communication, improving communication,…

This handbook provides basic information about adult learning as it relates to acquiring another language. It is intended to serve as an introduction to more comprehensive study for instructors and tutors. The guide provides some information on the following subjects: (1) an outline of reasons for adapting existing textbook material and…

This curriculum guide consists of materials for use in teaching a course in business English for high school students. Addressed in the individual units of the guide are the following topics: the fundamentals of communication, listening skills, oral communications, telephone communications, information resources, reading and vocabulary, the…