This study developed, delivered and evaluated an interactive intervention, which targeted three- and four-year-old children's oral language. The intervention was carried out over twice-weekly sessions, for ten weeks. The first weekly session was a group shared storybook reading session with a puppet and the second weekly session consisted of…

Purpose: The study examined the contributions of Spanish and English oral narrative skills to English reading among 95 early elementary dual language learners (DLLs) from Spanish-speaking homes in the United States. This sample of first- and third-grade DLL children attended Spanish-English dual language immersion programs and received language…

This activity uses podcasts to model narrative writing techniques. The challenges students face when exercising narrative writing skills are unique when compared to those of persuasive and expository writing; my students have repeatedly expressed their qualms with articulating experiences that engage their audience. Although students have…

Early childhood educators are regularly confronted by dominant discourses (e.g. ensuring children are prepared for school) and the politics and pedagogy that are embedded in their practice and early childhood contexts. These discourses impact on ways of thinking and engaging with others, and professional behaviour, as well as shaping curriculum…

The use of video games as an educational tool initially causes a higher degree of motivation in students. However, the inclusion of educational activities throughout the game can cause this initial interest to be lost. A good way to maintain motivation is to use a good story that is used as guiding thread with which to contextualize the other…

How do older adults learn to tell a "new" story about, through, and with the body? We know that narratives are embodied, lived and central to the process of meaning-making--and as such, they do not lie in the waiting for telling, but are an active part of everyday interaction. Telling stories about ourselves to others is one way in which…

In order to provide a transforming way of knowing for teachers' professional learning, this paper uses narrative to present the knowledge emerging from teachers as participants in a concept study derived from complexity science. There are three components in the narrative: what knowledge emerged from concept study; what has been changed for the…

This study aimed to describe the narrative retell performance of dual language learners (DLLs) in the fall and spring of the school year and examine predictive relationships. Participants included 74 DLLs in kindergarten and first grade from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Microstructural measures included number of different words (NDW), words per…

As qualitative research undertakings are not independent of the researcher, the "indissoluble interrelationship between interpreter and interpretation" (Thomas & James, 2006, p. 782) renders it necessary for researchers to understand that their text is a representation, a version of the truth that is the product of writerly choices,…

This paper explores the complex and changing nature of adventure as a form of cultural practice. Borrowing from Joseph Conrad's memoirs "The Mirror of The Sea" (1907), sea kayaking is contextualized here as a journey that takes place just as much between "landfall and departure" as it does between the paddler's ears (i.e., in…

The incidence of co-occurring language and behavior problems has been described and explored for more than 25 years. As many as 62% to 95% of students with emotional or behavioral disorders (E/BD) have undetected language impairments (LI). Without recognizing language and behavioral challenges, serious learning consequences may result. Solely…

This study investigated the impact of different lengths of pre-task planning time on performance in a test of second language speaking ability for university admission. In the study, 47 Turkish-speaking learners of English took a test of English language speaking ability. The participants were divided into two groups according to their language…

Socially inclusive strategies encourage empowering, progressive and sustainable responses to social challenges and needs. These strategies are made possible through inclusion and equitable consideration of diverse contributions of those affected by the problems, and who feel obliged to find solutions to the problems. In this paper, the principles…

An animated concept map represents verbal information in a node-link diagram that changes over time. The goals of the experiment were to evaluate the instructional effects of presenting an animated concept map concurrently with semantically equivalent spoken narration. The study used a 2 x 2 factorial design in which an animation factor (animated…

Purpose: In this study, we examined syntactic complexity in the spoken language samples of young adults. Its purpose was to contribute to the expanding knowledge base in later language development and to begin building a normative database of language samples that potentially could be used to evaluate young adults with known or suspected language…