''Rhythm is one of the most pervasive aspects of the human condition; it is in the world around us and in the world within us, in our bodies and our minds, our living and our thinking'' [Auer, P., Couper-Kuhlen, E., & Muller, F. (1999). "Language in time: the rhythm and tempo of spoken interaction." New York: Oxford University…

This article analyses factors affecting L2 learning, using Regression and Correlation Analysis. Some of the the results are in line with those reported in the literature: for example, the positive role of "Reading" and the negative role of "L1" transfer. Other results, however, are surprising, such as the current use of…

The literature suggests that teachers may rely more often on intuition when making course planning decisions than on informed assessment of learners' needs (Barkhuizen 1998; Spratt 1999). This article proposes a more principled alternative to the intuitive approach, based on the use of teacher-designed class-specific questionnaires intended to…

Today, teaching and learning tend to be viewed from a constructivist perspective. Learning is regarded as a self-directed process of constructing meaning, which takes place in interaction. The teacher supports the learning process by selecting input and approaches that can scaffold the learning process and guide learners towards independent…

This paper looks at the employment of metalanguage by advanced English L2 users engaged in Dictogloss, a form-focused collaborative writing task, and compares it with that in an earlier study of intermediate learners. First, three commonly employed types of metalinguistic terms are recognised, listed and compared with those reported in a study of…

This essay describes how interclass collaboration in the context of an in-depth interdisciplinary discussion and analysis of global problems can yield significant benefits in the development of ESL students' sense of efficacy, their literacy, and their critical thinking skills. Collaborative lessons expose the students to new and varied…

This paper analyses classroom discourse in Finnish EFL classrooms where English is the object of study and content-based (Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)) classrooms where non-language subjects are taught in English. The students in both groups are Finnish teenagers. Approaching the data from a discourse-pragmatic perspective, the…

Sixth and eighth grade students who are English language learners must be able to read and interpret 39 math word problems in order to successfully calculate the answers on the Massachusetts state math assessment (MCAS). The first year that MCAS was administered, many ELL students read the questions, found them confusing, and left them blank,…

Csikszentmihaly's (1997) concept of flow describes a mental state resulting from peak experiences in which the level of challenge is high, but manageable given a person's skills. Because flow occurs at peak moments, these moments can motivate teachers, possibly shaping their classroom practices and giving them insight into their teaching beliefs.…

A great deal of research has been carried out over the past two decades related to the effectiveness of computer-assisted teaching and learning. This large body of work, however, has not produced unequivocal findings, especially in the area of CALL. Our study takes a systematic look at what dedicated meta-research since 1991 might have contributed…

Four teachers and their eight classes of 179 fifth-grade (10-11-year-old) students participated in this quasi-experimental classroom study, which investigated the effects of form-focused instruction (FFI) and corrective feedback on immersion students' ability to accurately assign grammatical gender in French. The FFI treatment, designed to draw…

This article discusses a small-scale study that explored students', teachers', and university lecturers' beliefs about the value of studying English grammar in foreign and second language learning. A major debate in second language acquisition literature has been concerned with experiential (implicit) learning as opposed to analytical (explicit)…

Metacognition, an awareness of one's own thought processes, plays a central role in explaining and describing the learning process. As it shapes learners' beliefs about and attitudes toward learning which in turn affect their behaviours, it directly relates to language learning and teaching as well. Thus, cautious teachers should understand and…

This paper introduces a pedagogical approach to integrating intercultural communication into language learning. The focus is on the development of competence in discovering and interpreting cultural meanings when communicating in English as an international language. The analyses of data which students produced illustrates how discovering implicit…

Seeking renewed articulation of praxis in cross-linguistic on texts, I turn to postcolonality, social theory, and feminism to illuminate and critique common practices with language--learning, teaching, and writing. Additionally drawing on my experience teaching immigrant youth and adults in the US, I reiterate and attempt to answer Gayatri…