'Listen to the scientists.' It is a refrain that Greta Thunberg has used on a number of occasions to impress upon us that we are running out of time if we want to halt the slide towards catastrophe. Now is the time to discuss the findings of science, and science education is the natural place to do so. And yet, there is no obvious, designated…

Coalson, Peña, and Byrd published a systematic review that demonstrated significant limitations in the language profile descriptions for multilingual participants who stutter for studies that were completed through September 2011. Given the average number of investigations of multilingual speakers who stutter has shifted from one study every 5…

In this opinion piece I reflect on an inspiring 2019 Advance HE STEM conference in Birmingham. In doing so I identify the term pedagogy as one aspect which ran contrary to the noble aspirations of the conference. I outline my own perspective as both an insider and outsider in my role of a Teacher-Practitioner. I use this vantage point to outline…

This paper sets out to explore the nature of the humour generated when pairs of young children talk and draw together. Emphasis is on children's use of language since most of our humorous instances are expressed verbally rather than visually. Humour's various features proved to be highly complicated, however, as examples often transcend…

Social network structure has been argued to shape the structure of languages, as well as affect the spread of innovations and the formation of conventions in the community. Specifically, theoretical and computational models of language change predict that sparsely connected communities develop more systematic languages, while tightly knit…

The present work presents a critical assessment of claims in recent literature that moribund language varieties exhibit accelerated language decay, and that attrition in individual grammars has a causational relationship with language shift to the majority language. We show these claims to be unfounded. Based on two empirical points taken from…

Carelessly used language can create offense and miscommunication, so it's important for students and teachers alike to pay attention to the language they use. Betsy Rymes advocates adopting a practice of citizen sociolinguistics, which involves curiosity about the differences in the way people use language. She encourages teachers to build on…

This exercise introduces students to reality creation processes in organizational life (e.g., self-fulfilling prophecy, Pygmalion effects, etc.) as a theoretical perspective that must be understood to design transformational organizational change. By comparing the differential effects of conventional and appreciative questions, the experience also…

One of the missions of language education internationally is to enable students to use language in a context-appropriate manner. Against this backdrop, students' ability to linguistically encode formality emerges as an important issue. Using extracts of writing produced by 16-year-old students in 2004 and 2014, this study sought to investigate…

This article uses an analysis of the language used in the Teacher Performance Appraisal Technical Requirements Manual in Ontario to highlight some procedural issues. Arguably, the existence of flaws in the teacher evaluation system is not only limited to evaluation practices but is also embedded in evaluation regulations. Furthermore, the article…

This paper analyses the psychometric paradigm for understanding educational measurement and standard setting by considering the extent to which that understanding is based on metaphors. I argue that through the metaphors 'more is up' and 'good is up' we spatialise concepts that are not intrinsically spatial. Human abilities form a distinct…

Metaphors and similes have been treated as the same comparable types of figurative speech since Aristotle. In early theories, metaphors are interpreted as corresponding similes by paraphrasing. Based on this theoretical framework, some experimental studies interpret simile understanding as evidence for metaphor understanding. However, according to…

Purpose: Right-hemisphere brain damage (RHD) can affect pragmatic aspects of communication that may contribute to an impaired ability to gather information. Questions are an explicit means of gathering information. Question types vary in terms of the demands they place on cognitive resources. The purpose of this exploratory descriptive study is to…

In this literature review, I examine the importance of using nonverbal communication in the music classroom. I first offer insights from the general literature on communication, which has highlighted how nonverbal skills help people to connect and communicate more effectively with others. I then make connections to music education, where we…

The contribution gives insights into a comparative linguistic textbook analysis of two Austrian Catholic Religious Education (RE) textbooks for colleges for higher vocational schools ('BHS') and vocational schools for apprentices ('VocEd'). Gender constructions are still a desideratum in RE textbook research in Austria. Previous gender-oriented…