Contrasts classroom questioning with questioning functions used in normal discourse and suggests ways in which teachers can promote more normal questioning exchanges in the second language classroom. (Author/MSE)

Interpersonal problems in the classroom are usually teacher-owned, student-owned, or mutual. This article describes communication skills for dealing with each type of problem. (LHW)

Discusses how to use homework as an effective teaching method and offers creative sample assignments. (SRT)

Suggests that the school classroom is an optimal place for mediating school and student intentions which may be facilitated by ensuring that the languages students use to discover and understand the world are directed toward accomplishing the tasks required by the educational setting. (DF)

Examines a discourse model of classroom interaction to establish the possibility of setting up genuinely communicative situations in foreign language classrooms. Asserts that simulation probably provides the most realistic context that can be established in a classroom and can help bridge the gap between controlled language learning and the…

Describes a study done to determine if higher frequencies of referential questions (questions which request information not known by the questioner) have an effect on discourse in an adult English-as-a-second-language classroom. The differences in the language produced by learners in response to the two question types were pronounced. (Author/SED)

Humor in teaching can promote a positive and cohesive class atmosphere but can also have unintended negative results if the teacher does not first develop a supportive relationship with the students. (Author)

Describes results of a study of over 100 elementary and secondary school classrooms that analyzed how teachers interacted with boys and girls. At all grade levels and in all subject areas, researchers found that male students had more opportunity to interact in classrooms. (CT)

The authors review some of the constructs provided by recent classroom language studies. By employing constructs from these studies to describe part of a classroom lesson, the authors illustrate one way to explore how classrooms work. They then list some cautions and recommendations about the use of classroom research for making policy decisions.…

Uses research findings to show when educational leaders can use humor to increase their effectiveness and how they can use it more effectively. (FL)

Describes a study which addressed three questions: (1) Do Hawaiian-English children have the same general ability to understand connected discourse as their standard English-speaking peers? (2) Do they have more difficulty understanding standard English than their own dialect? and (3) Can they more easily understand standard English by making…

Analyzes communication barriers in teaching methods such as lectures, prepared and live case studies, experiential exercises, and computer simulations. Concludes that the most serious barriers were the instructors' and students' tendency not to listen, instructors' hostile attitudes, personality conflicts between instructors and students, and an…

Provides ideas for sharpening the focus of teacher-moderated discussions in history classes. Asserts that students must be presented with a question that elicits solution of a problem ("Why did Lincoln wait so long before issuing the Emancipation Proclamation?") rather than factual recall ("What is the Emancipation Proclamation?"). Includes model…

Explains how to interpret signals students send and how to deal with discipline problems by counteracting the harmful and predictable games that students play. (EL)

Introduces the notion of a "discourse world," that is, a set of elements against the background of which a unit of talk makes sense, and claims that several discourse worlds coexist in classroom discourse. The notion is interpreted in terms of frame theory and applied to classroom language learning. (SED)