Discusses a project which used menus from a local restaurant for teaching vocabulary and critical reading skills with fourth grade pupils. Both the students and the teacher judged the project successful in terms of pupils' increased interest and knowledge. (VJ)

Three essays discuss: (1) the use of word games in the language classroom, (2) the use of humor in correcting students' errors, and (3) using comic strips in the French language classroom. (AM)

Most learning centers for science are custom-made by enthusiastic teachers eager to experiment with a new way to make science come alive for students. Suggests a way to plan a science center for the classroom. (Author/RK)

Examines techniques of sexist role reinforcement in British and Malaysian newspapers. Features in the British press include modification, relexicalization, reductive language, puns, alliteration, and the classification of women as pin-up commodities or annexes of males. The less explicit sexist language in the Malaysian press shows an even greater…

Seven fables were read to 14 average learners and 14 children with learning disabilities (ages 10-13), and 4 possible moral choices were presented (1 correct, 1 related, and 2 incorrect). Children with learning disabilities less often selected the correct moral; and when they did, they were less capable of explaining their choice. (Author/JDD)

Examines the nature and structure of idioms and idiomatic language and offers suggestions for teaching them. Topics addressed include the relationship between idioms and erroneous language, idioms' appropriateness in context, proverbs, and metaphors. Some exercises are included. (Author/MSE)

Aspects of language that develop during the adolescent years are discussed in the domains of pragmatics, syntax, and semantics. Selected topics include complex conversational behaviors that adolescents employ, syntactic attainments associated with persuasive writing; and the understanding of proverbs and figurative expressions. Relevant…

Reviews literature on children's use of metaphors, focusing on how metaphorical language is used in the learning process and the implications for teachers in helping their students use metaphorical language and thereby build knowledge of the world. Asserts that teachers need to speak metaphorically and that conversation, writing, and literature…

One way in which the concept of sustainable development has been understood is through the metaphor of natural capital. This sees that the natural world has performing functions similar to those of economic capital. This metaphor is usually developed by applying to Nature standard economic techniques for capital valuation. However, where valuation…

In an investigation of 149 pre-service primary teachers' understanding of the terms "pure" and "natural," the participants were asked to provide definitions of the two words, and classify various substances including drugs of abuse, pharmaceuticals, nutriceuticals, and household substances as either natural or not natural, and…

As part of an ongoing research program, the authors investigated the use of single-voiced narration and multi-voiced characterizations/monologues in a formative evaluation study of an instructional lesson on information processing. That lesson employed a design based on the use of content-related metaphors and a metaphorical graphical user…

This paper explores the idea that conceptualizing academic supervision (at Honours or graduate level) as a fiduciary relationship can assist supervisors in enhancing student learning through quality decision-making. In this paper I reflect on my conceptions of supervision in the light of the growing scholarship on supervision. My conceptions of…

Around 5 or 6 years of age, children begin to recognize that speakers who make ironic remarks do not believe what they literally say, but children of the same age do not show appreciation for the humor function of irony (Dews et al., 1996; Harris & Pexman, 2003). We investigated 7- to 10-year-old children's interpretations of verbal irony and…

In policy-level discussion, the assumption is common that multi-faceted topics such as Health, Environment and Citizenship would benefit from (or "should" be experienced through) pedagogical approaches that bring together and draw on different curriculum traditions. While there is certainly some continuing interest in a range of such…