Teachers of different languages diconnect themselves from one another, which fragments the profession. Secondly, the choice and use of language often has a disconnecting force. Theses of a book by Neil Postman are considered concerning ineffective communication and communication that has unreasonable or trivial purposes. (SW)

Methods used in studies of the classroom language of the English teacher are described in this paper and some results of the research are reported. The paper first describes three methods traditionally employed in the description of the language of the English classroom--live observation systems, coding systems based on transcripts, and…

True learning requires that students "make meaning" for themselves, but the patterns of verbal behavior that prevail in secondary classrooms tend to stifle rather than facilitate this process. Excerpts from tape recordings of lessons in three secondary classrooms show that, whereas the teachers display great autonomy and control over what they…

The patterns of moves in one type of teaching setting is very fixed: the teacher sets the stage for the learning, then sets tasks or asks questions for others to respond to and then comments on the performances. The problem with this pattern in language classrooms is that language is used differently in non-teaching settings. If students are…