This paper uses conversation analytic research on a particular practice of organization in talk--pre-sequences--to evaluate English as a Second Language (ESL) textbook dialogues and make recommendations for their improvement. Pre-sequences, such as pre-invitations (e.g., What are you doing on Friday night?) and their responses are used to show…

This study was undertaken in response to the need for research on alternative teaching and learning approaches in higher education. It focused on the experiences of 14 adult learners in a nontraditional classroom environment, as perceived by the learners themselves and by outside observers. The study also focused on a particular mode of classroom…

Describes a model for language learning where an illustration treating the dialog under study is given to all students. One student acts as teacher in preparing questions and statements concerning the illustrations. The other students must answer the questions based on the dialog. The teacher oversees the student teacher. (PJM)

Introduces a recorded skit entirely based on the responses of one speaker, the lines spoken by the other being suggested by the context or left to audience's imagination. Suggests this material for use with advanced students and proposes various classroom activities leading to a reconstruction of the dialogue. (MES)

Three text examples from a newspaper are given, and teaching procedures, aimed at developing communicative skills, are described in detail. Short dialogues are used, based on series of slide pictures. Students' real-life needs are kept in mind as the overall teaching goal. (IFS/WGA)

Draws on Bakhtin's work on dialogism and research with a group of non-traditional student writers and their specific experiences of academic writing within a number of academic disciplines. Maps out different levels of dialogism in Bahktin's work and illustrates the way these are and are not to be the center of an academic literacies stance.…

Discusses problems associated with teaching non-recursive binary searching in computer language classes, and describes a teacher-directed dialog based on dictionary use that helps students use their previous searching experiences to conceptualize the binary search process. Algorithmic development is discussed and appropriate classroom discussion…

Disfluent phenomena such as pauses, hesitations, and repairs are investigated in 42 short samples of spontaneous speech of native French speakers and learners of French. It is found that native speakers attend to the construction of the referent, whereas learners are more concerned with syntactic construction. (Contains 14 references.) (Author/LB)

Provides an overview of the most widely used methods of classroom oral testing, as well as evaluations of their practicality and conformity to the goals of communicative teaching and testing. Also described are ways the video camera and task-based activities have successfully been used to make oral testing a more realistic communicative…

Presents conversations from three seven-year olds talking with their teacher, drawn from a longitudinal study of primary school students. Examines the conversations as a piece of scripted drama to highlight the implications of classroom dialogue for teaching and learning. (HTH)

Trainers using dialog, critical thinking, and problem solving were challenged in training teachers in a ministry based on charismatic prophecies and unquestioned dogma. They questioned whether it is possible to change attitudes of those who believe in education for domestication in a context hostile to dialog and ambiguity. (SK)

This article examines and illustrates four assumptions of the sociocultural perspective for writing instruction of students with learning disabilities: writing is a holistic cognitive activity; cognitive processes are learned in dialogic interactions with others; cognitive development occurs in students' zones of proximal development; and…

Discusses the integration of Fluent 2, a two-medium immersive conversational language learning environment, into the pedagogical environment. The article presents a strategy to provide teachers and other designers of language lessons with tools that will enable them to produce lessons they consider appropriate. (seven references) (Author/CK)

Describes a controlled experiment conducted to determine the differences between native and nonnative speakers' strategies for transcribing dialogs, from the simple to the complex. Results confirmed that there were significant differences among three categories of the users' interactions with a computerized transcription system. (seven references)…

This article explores the work of theorist and philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin and acknowledges him as a new voice to social work. In a larger context his ideas can help the profession in the transition to postmodernity. In particular, the authors explore two of his key concepts--dialogue and carnival. (Author)