Focused tasks engage learners in using language for communication and in addition have a specific predetermined linguistic focus in mind. The difficulty in designing focused tasks is that many meanings can be articulated using more than one language form, making it difficult to design tasks which induce learner use of a specific target form. This…

It is a fact that each individual is unique. This uniqueness can be physical, emotional, intellectual and/or spiritual. It follows then that in any given learning environment each learner has unique abilities and needs. Consequently, classrooms everywhere, even if they are streamed, are of a mixed-ability nature. Having recognised this factor in…

The present study analyses errors on present simple tense among adult Arab English language learners. It focuses on the error on 3sg "-s" (the third person singular present tense agreement morpheme "-s"). The learners are undergraduate adult Arabic speakers learning English as a foreign language. The study gathered data from…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a training package, which consisted of the Flex Grid Teaching Model along with adapted physical education consultation, on special education teacher instruction of functional motor skill acquisition instruction to secondary students with low incidence disabilities. Special education teachers…

This study investigated the effectiveness of a program designed to train paraeducators to use prompting strategies to teach students with moderate to severe intellectual and multiple disabilities. The paraeducator training program contained three components: a) an initial training on using task direction, time delay, most to least prompting, and…

This study analyzed how six Heritage language learners at the university level gained conscious awareness and control of the concept of modality as revealed in student verbalizations (Vygotsky, 1998) throughout five different written communicative events. This work took place in the only course designed for Heritage language learners at a large…

Many scholars have noted the disjunction between language instruction at the lower- and upper levels of FL study (Byrnes, 2002; Kraemer, 2008; Lord, 2014; Maxim, 2005; Schultz, 2000; Swaffar & Arens, 2005). Whereas lower-division courses tend to focus primarily on learning grammatical patterns and the "four skills," upper-level…

In this paper we aim to describe the process by which our personalised web-based collaborative teaching/learning methodology (CECIP--Collaboration--Evaluation--Critical thinking--Individual assessment--learner Profile) evolved originating from Vygotsky's theory and based on the (C) collaborative construction of student's knowledge, (E) developing…

This study explores how teachers understand and translate curriculum statements into concepts that are better suited to supporting student progress with rich mathematical problem-solving tasks. We report the actions of one experienced teacher of primary mathematics in charting the sequence of concepts and processes relevant to the above issue. We…

The article discusses the understanding of infinity in children, teachers and primary teacher students. It focuses on a number of difficulties that people cope with when dealing with problems related to infinity such as its abstract nature, understanding of infinity as an ongoing process which never ends, understanding of infinity as a set of an…

The research findings reported on here confirm the facilitative role of pre-task planning on fluency and of online task planning on accuracy of speech. This quasi-experimental research was conducted to examine whether learners could be trained to attend to the fluency of their speech while planning online and whether such training might compensate…

A frequent weakness of communicative approaches to foreign language teaching is a neglect of the intercultural dimension. Cultural knowledge is often treated as an addendum which focuses on learning facts about the target country. This article explores whether task-based language teaching (TBLT) can successfully address the intercultural…

We have used letter writing as a means for preservice teachers (PSTs) to develop ability to design effective tasks, in terms of eliciting high levels of cognitive activity from students. Studies on student-dependent task analyses, by assessing the levels of cognitive demand indicated in students' responses, have demonstrated significant growth…

In this study which was part of the DISUM-project, 224 ninth graders from 14 German classes from middle track schools (Realschule) were asked about their enjoyment, interest, value and self-efficacy expectations concerning three types of mathematical problems: intra-mathematical problems, word problems and modelling problems. Enjoyment, interest,…

This study examines the effect of two vocabulary instruction treatments on word retention by 56 EFL learners. In particular, it focuses on the differential effects of a message-oriented treatment (reading text and answering comprehension questions) and a vocabulary-oriented treatment (reading text and performing two vocabulary tasks) on learners'…