Based on a variety of recorded classroom data, this article focuses on language teachers' classroom explanations and suggests that teacher talk in the form of explanations can be a source of valuable language input for learners. The article emphasizes that in language teaching, explaining is a central and difficult part of any teacher's work. (38…

Presents a description and qualitative case study of three high school classrooms, in two of which the teachers actively elicited student dialog and thereby improved writing. Draws on M. Bakhtin, R. Rommetveit and Y. M. Lotman to suggest that a combination of writing and dialogue (spoken interaction) lead to more chances to learn than either…

Describes teachers as often being in a place of tension between responding to students as persons and responding to students in their institutional-defined roles. Studies the significance of communicative ambiguity for responsibility, and explores what is ethically at stake for teachers in erotic form of communication. Contains 14 references. (JS)

Argues that achievement gains in literacy in the middle school classroom revolve around the three elements of "dialogic instruction" orchestrated to support "envisionment-building classrooms" centered around substantive and sustained "curricular conversations." Asserts that effective classroom practices that include…

Finds that a significant relationship exists between teachers' use of affinity-seeking strategies and student perceptions of classroom climate. Shows that 19 of the 25 strategies were correlated with classroom climate, and that communication teachers regularly used 19 of the 25 strategies. (SR)

Investigates what constitutes effective and ineffective tone management in English-as-a-Foreign-Language classrooms with specific reference to tertiary level context in China. Findings indicate that effective tone management is likely to lead to a more congenial and contingent pattern of classroom interaction, where students become symmetrical…

Describes the ethnography of communication as a viable, context- and culture-sensitive method for conducting research on classroom discourse. Provides an overview of the method and its role in applied linguistics research and then presents a study of discourse in mainstream high school classes with a large proportion of students who speak English…

Reflects on changes that information technology has made in higher education, particularly in the relationship between faculty members and students. Highlights include easier communication, via email; the lack of personal communication once interactions are more task-oriented; and possible ways to improve the quality of faculty-student…

Energy as an abstract concept is discussed, and the effect of using inappropriate language in the teaching of energy is considered. The storage of energy is illustrated using gravitation and the combustion of coal as examples. (CW)

Comparison of the effectiveness of presenting information to deaf college students by signing only, interpreter signing and teacher speaking, and teacher signing and speaking failed to show that any one method was superior to the others. (CB)

Describes the metaphors three student teachers use to describe their own teaching styles. Combines these metaphors into a "student-teacher" metaphor which preserves the complexity of teaching and suggests that teachers are guides and referees as well as learners and friends. (RS)

Compares teachers' estimates of spontaneous language with direct observations of performance of developmentally delayed preschool children in classroom situations. Teachers tended to be more accurate in their estimation of children with higher spontaneous language frequencies and to underestimate the frequency of spontaneous language in other…

To improve oral communication skills of their students, teachers should provide opportunities for students to talk in class. Teachers are advised to: begin early, be sensitive to the individuality of students' speech patterns, and stress that there are different kinds of speech patterns for different situations. (JDD)

The structural and practical sources of inefficiency in the second language learning and teaching environment are analyzed, and sources of efficiency are proposed. It is concluded that interaction or communication is a primary condition for efficiency, especially if efficiency is an objective. (MSE)

Second-language teaching styles are defined as specific configurations of student and teacher behaviors during the teaching episode that are further described by certain dimensions of teaching. Teaching styles are seen as useful conceptual tools, and their nature and complexity are considered at three levels: foundation, structure, and…