Formality has long been of interest in the study of discourse, with periodic discussions of the best measure of formality and the relationship between formality and text categories. In this research, we explored what features predict formality as humans perceive the construct. We categorized a corpus consisting of 1,158 discourse samples published…

This qualitative study investigated a 'personal education' program that operates in some middle schools in Israel. This article focuses on three teachers in three different Jewish Israeli middle schools, and their students, and the intrapersonal and interpersonal teaching and learning processes in their classrooms. The theories of Dewey, Piaget…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a set of generic prompting principles and a framework of prompts that have the potential to foster learning and skill acquisition among adult novices when performing complex, ill-structured problems. Design/methodology/approach: Relevant research in the literatures surrounding problem structure,…

David Bleich's exploration of language conflicts in the university in "The Materiality of Language: Gender, Politics, and the University" helps explain the ongoing struggle over basic writing as between two radically different understandings of language. Progressive educators and writing teachers see language as rhetorical and…

This study examines the online writing practices of adolescent emergent bilinguals through the mediating lenses of dialogic interaction and intertextuality. Using a multimodal discourse analysis approach, the study traces how three students develop online academic texts through intertextual moves that traverse modal boundaries. The analysis…

Bullying continues to be common, despite extensive research and policy focus. With few studies concentrating specifically on early childhood, there are indications that more research is needed to establish the different mechanisms related to direct and relational victimisation in young children. The current paper sets out to analyse parents' and…

This study, entitled, "Texture and textuality in Political Discourse: A Study of Cohesive Devices in President Goodluck Jonathan's Inaugural Address-May, 2011" was an analysis of the lexical cohesive devices employed by Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan in crafting his May, 2011's Presidential Inaugural Address (PIA). Guided by the…

This article focuses on the possible ways in which the standards movement and the assessments and curricular interventions that come along with it, draw on inherently religious (Judeo-Christian) language and traditions. Contributing to a larger critical conversation about standards and impact on education, and building on an emerging scholarly…

Relationships matter in learning and in particular they matter for pre-service teachers engaged in learning how to teach in Midwest University, USA. This article reports findings from an 18-month long study that investigated how relationships supported and constrained four elementary pre-service literacy teachers' professional identities as…

Incidental grammar acquisition involves learners "picking up" a grammatical feature while their primary focus is on some other aspect of language--either message content or another language feature that is taught directly. This article reports a study of children's incidental grammar acquisition of two grammatical features--plural…

A feature of HE reform discourse is the tendency to construct the rationale for reform in terms of averting calamity and risk. We refer to this risk talk as "crisis discourse." This study examines the formulation of PhD crisis discourse internationally and in Australia. We find that a key feature of PhD crisis discourse is that…

Since about 2003, the notion of threshold concepts--the central ideas in any field that change how learners think about other ideas--have become difficult to escape at library conferences and in general information literacy discourse. Their visibility will likely only increase because threshold concepts figure prominently in the Framework for…

In recent times, a growing consensus has emerged, among researchers and policy-makers, that a well-educated, competent and adequately supported workforce is crucial for the quality of early childhood education and care (ECEC). Despite governmental initiatives aimed to enhance the professional preparation and continuing development of early years…

Background: The body of literature on narratives of bilingual children with and without specific language impairment (SLI) is growing. However, little is known about the narrative abilities of bilingual preschool children with SLI and their patterns of growth. Aims: To determine the similarities and differences in narrative abilities between…

This study considered the linguistic forms used by 63 English-speaking Canadian children from kindergarten to second grade (ages 5;6-8;8) to introduce, maintain reference to, and reintroduce primary and secondary characters throughout their narratives The expected referring forms were used more frequently for the best-matching referential…