The purpose of this study was twofold. First, this study was conducted to compare English communicative competency achievement between two different models of instruction. Adult English language learners (AELLs) participated in either the communicative task-based (CTB) or in a more traditional (MT) language instructional approach. The goal of the…

As the growing popularity of podcasting and its application in education become more apparent, there have been a number of studies on the academic use of podcasts. A podcast is a digital file that can be delivered automatically to a device such as a portable media player or a computer via the Internet. However, the majority of research studied the…

Example-based learning has been studied from different perspectives. Cognitive research has mainly focused on "worked" examples, which typically provide students with a written worked-out didactical solution to a problem to study. Social-cognitive research has mostly focused on "modeling" examples, which provide students the opportunity to observe…

Introduction: From a socioconstructivist and situated perspective of teaching and learning processes, the authors analyze how one teacher and her group of 19 sixth-grade pupils use ICT. The study focuses on the way these tools mediate their activity, and evaluates the tools' potential for teaching and learning innovation. Method: A case study…

Nowadays, preparing learners to communicate successfully in language classes is of utmost importance. But teachers face a lot of difficulties in teaching English in EFL contexts. One of the major problems is students' unwillingness to take part in reading classes. Reading classes seem boring for students who find no occasion to show their ability…

The fact that language teaching can be operationalized through computer-assisted language learning (CALL) has directed researchers' attention to the learning task, which, in this case, is considered to be the unit that demands analysis of the communicative processes in which the learner is involved while working with CALL. Research focuses on…

In response to Leaver, Rifkin, and Shekhtman (2004), Wong and VanPatten (2004) challenged instructors of Russian to present evidence for the claim that mechanical drills (Traditional Instruction) were necessary for second language learning, and to demonstrate empirically the claim that Processing Instruction would not be an effective intervention…

This study investigated how English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' types of language for thinking and types of oral elicitation tasks influence their lexical collocational errors in speech. Data were collected from 42 English majors in Taiwan using two instruments: (1) 3 oral elicitation tasks and (2) an inner speech questionnaire. The…

Task-based learning has been recommended in immersion classes in order to provide relief from the usual teacher-fronted lessons and increase the opportunities for student output. This paper presents one aspect of the data collected during the on-going evaluation of a late partial immersion French programme in an Australian school. It presents the…

Cooperative learning has broad support as an instructional strategy to improve achievement. If the social behavior of students at risk for ADHD could be documented, cooperative groups could also provide a context for intervention. To this purpose, we observed 22 same-gender triads, with or without a member at risk for ADHD during problem-solving…

Swain's Output Hypothesis proposes a facilitative effect for output on the acquisition of second language morphosyntax. In the context of classroom instruction, a number of studies and reviews suggest that explicit instruction in pragmatic elements promotes development. Other studies have offered less conclusive evidence of the effectiveness of…

After introducing new curriculum guidelines during education reform, the Taiwan Ministry of Education has taken the lead in integrating a communicative approach into the new English language curriculum. Task-based language teaching (TBLT) is viewed as a realisation of communicative language teaching and is one of the most popular English language…

How can educators and their students interrogate the ethics and politics of suffering in ways that do not create fixed and totalized narratives from the past? In responding to this question, this essay draws on J. M. Coeetze's "Disgrace," and discusses how this novel constitutes a crucial site for bearing witness to the suffering…

This classroom study focused on modeling a hands-on approach for understanding classroom applications of multiple intelligence theory through arts-based integration. Thirty-five preservice teachers enrolled in Educational Psychology classes participated in an interdisciplinary geometry lesson modeling Artful Learning[TM], experiencing an…

This article reports a comparative study of first language (L1) Chinese and second language (L2) English lessons in Hong Kong secondary schools. Aiming to explore how to take advantage of L1 academic proficiency for the benefit of L2 development, the study asked how Chinese and English lessons compare in terms of the content knowledge covered and…