Research in multilingual classrooms demonstrates education as a key site within which social and linguistic values are shaped. This study extends such research by investigating language use in a Scottish primary classroom. Scots is widely spoken throughout Scotland, figuring in a 2003 Scottish Parliament report as one of two indigenous heritage…

This article presents a qualitative case study of the pedagogical stances of high school English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers, and the subsequent responses of resistance or conformity by their English Language Learners (ELLs). The participants include three high school ESL teachers and 60 high school ESL students of Mexican origin. Findings…

This paper presents the findings of a qualitative research project set to investigate the piloting process of an innovative language program for university students. It challenges traditional English language teaching courses celebrating a view centered on learning; classes become spaces for students to understand the language they are learning…

As an EFL Student teachers' advisor, I had constantly perceived that they regarded using the target language with their pupils inside their classroom as a challenge. That is why I became interested in investigating how thirteen student teachers in Tunja public schools faced this issue. While participants were involved in a reflective teaching…

This article discusses how amusing mistakes can make for serious language instruction. The notion that close analysis of language errors can yield insight into how one thinks and learns seems fundamentally obvious. Yet until relatively recently, language errors were primarily treated as indicators of learner deficiency rather than opportunities to…

This study examined whether whether teaching scientific concepts using everyday language before introducing scientific terminology improves the understanding of these concepts. The research described in this article is consistent with What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards. Strengths: The study is a well implemented randomized…

Many corpus linguistic studies have investigated classification of texts into genres and registers, but relatively few of these studies have looked at linguistic features in educational registers. From a pedagogical perspective it is important to determine whether certain linguistic features behave differently across registers within particular…

Foreign language learning and science teaching can both be seen as examples of Davydov's "ascent to the concrete", because they begin from abstract definitions and proceed in the direction of concrete use. The microgenetic lessons that enable these ontogenetic processes can also be seen as examples of "ascent of the concrete" because they involve,…

The 2010 Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (CSCTFL) focused on exploring various ways to lead students to become part of an internationally competent workforce. Foreign language educators shared their experiences in investigating various modes of assessment, the use of technology, and techniques to motivate students to…

This case study focuses on two learners who took part in an intensive online German course offered to intermediate level students in the Department of Languages of the Open University. The course piloted the use of a Moodle-based virtual learning environment and a range of new online tools which lend themselves to different types of language…

Currently, public schools in the U.S. are experiencing dramatic increases in the number of English learner (EL) students they serve. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES, 2006), between 1979 and 2004, the overall number of school children in U.S. public schools increased 18 percent. While the nation has a long history…

Metaphor and metonymy are two ways people make meaning; two ways they perform transformations between thought and language and within both thought and language. In St. Augustine's language these two processes could be pictured as vertical or horizontal movements either from the world of signs to "reality" or within the world of signs itself. In…

Six pre-service teacher candidates TCs, each engaged in field experiences in Kindergarten or First Grade classrooms at an urban based elementary school compared the impact of interactive read alouds and simple read alouds on children's Tier two vocabulary meaning acquisition and usage. Each TC read a different trade book that contained at least 8…

This paper analyses discourse produced in a larger study aimed at encouraging students in Lesotho to talk the language of science as a meaningful way of learning. The paper presents a semiotic and activity based analysis of discourses of students learning to talk physics while enrolled in a pre-tertiary access programme. Prior to the access…

This in-depth case study of classroom interaction illuminated how a white female teacher and African American students used talk to build positive authority relationships across their racial difference. Racial difference in classrooms can engender cultural misunderstandings between teachers and students around behavior, communication, and learning…