Guided by Vygotsky's zone of proximal development, this article examined whether characters in emotion picture-books express and talk about emotions in ways that are consistent with theory and research on children's emotions. In general, we found that picture-books recommended by experts in social-emotional development contain content that is…

This article uses an existing evaluation framework to exemplify how an organic chemistry program for high school teachers facilitated their professional development. Chemistry teachers from 6 different high schools participated in the program. The professional development program was informed by a constructivist theoretical background in which…

The number of international students attending U.S. colleges and universities has increased considerably over the past decade, and the adaptation of these students is an important concern in cross-cultural research. Using survey data collected from a sample of 169 international students attending a U.S. university, this study examines the temporal…

Mediation in general, and teacher and peer mediation in particular, whose genesis are Vygotsky's sociocultural and Feuerstein's mediated learning experience theories, is a novel approach aimed at teaching low level learners by an experienced instructor or peer. The main objectives of the present study, however, were to investigate the effects of…

Many universities integrate leadership as a core component of agricultural education. Interestingly, little research has been conducted on the impact of leadership courses comparing the perceived leadership skills and abilities of students with and without prior leadership experience. Socio-psychological measures of flow or optimal experience…

This article highlights the main ideas that underlie the differences in potential pragmatic knowledge constructs students experience when solving problems, between the zone of proximal development (ZPD) and the zone of potential construction (ZPC). This qualitative research is based on a phenomenological approach to finding the meaning of things…

This study recentres the sociocultural in culturally transforming pedagogic settings whilst foregrounding culturally responsive teaching (CRT). Through a protracted anthropological excavation, teachers' experiences in a culturally diverse integrated high school were explored and interpreted vis-à-vis tenets and precepts of CRT. Findings from…

Success in diverse educational and work environments requires intercultural competence, positive attitudes towards difference, and willingness to interact across cultures. Consequently, study abroad participation has increased as universities aim to internationalize; yet we lack clear evidence of study abroad providing students with skills and…

World language classrooms in the United States have been significantly impacted by the physical and ideological disruptions experienced in recent history. Such disruptive times call for the reform of pedagogical practices to raise awareness of social justice issues and ignite real change both in and out of language classrooms. This essay outlines…

This article presents an exploratory study aimed at analyzing the instructional design of learning personalization practices in three secondary education centers that promote connections between students' learning and/or their learning experiences in and out of school. We propose three dimensions for analysis, according to a constructivist and…

Drawing on sociocultural theories of language and literacy practice and Curdt-Christiansen's theoretical framework of family language policy (FLP), this multiple case study investigates the perceptions, practices, and challenges regarding heritage language maintenance (HLM) of Chinese immigrant families in a mid-sized Midwestern American city. The…

Inference-making is integral to reading comprehension, defined as information 'retrieved or generated during reading to fill in information left implicit in a text'. However, there are few studies regarding the inferencing of young emergent multilinguals that account for multilingualism and culture, attend to the learning processes influenced by…

This article focuses on authenticity of second language identity which has been at issue. Previous research of the authenticity of second language identity has revealed that second language identity may be inauthentic due to the impact from social context and the individual's competence and desires. The discussion in this article aims at exploring…

As teacher educators (TEs), we have a unique and remarkable opportunity to mentor the next generation of teachers. Over the years, our teacher candidates (TCs) have reported a sense of cognitive and affective dissonance while engaging in their culminating master's research requirement as part of a research seminar course. Cognitively, this…

This article reports on a study investigating the role of scientific concepts in the metapragmatic awareness of Norwegian primary EFL learners following a four-week instructional intervention on requesting informed by sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 2012/1934). Through introducing pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic dimensions of requesting, the…