Scripted instruction (SI) programs, which direct teachers to teach, even to talk, from a standardized written script, are roundly criticized for inhibiting teacher creativity and teacher learning. In fact, such programs utilize scripting for exactly that reason: to reduce teacher interference with (and presumed weakening of) the prescribed…

We suggest that recent concerns about young people's excess body weight have generally been treated quite separately to longer standing concerns about young people (particularly, young women) and eating disorders. The few papers that have addressed this connection directly have focused on how practices motivated by the obesity discourse have had…

Maori, the indigenous peoples of New Zealand, experience a range of negative outcomes. Psychological models and interventions aiming to improve outcomes for Maori tend to be founded on a "culture-as-cure" model. This view promotes cultural efficacy as a critical resilience factor that should improve outcomes for Maori. This is a founding…

The investigation of infants' and young children's early musical engagement as singers, song-makers, and music-makers has provided some insight into children's early vocal and musical development. Recent research has highlighted the vital role of interactive vocalization or "communicative musicality" in infants' general development, including…

This qualitative instrumental case study explores various factors that might influence upper-intermediate-level English as a second language (ESL) students' summarizing from a sociocultural perspective. The study was conducted in a formal classroom setting, during a reading and writing class in the English Language Institute at a university in the…

This paper presents interview data from a case study of "Lemontyne College"; a large government school situated in a "master planned community" (MPC) in Australia. The paper draws on Ball's (2003) theorising of performativity and fabrication to analyse this school's take up of the status-oriented corporate discourses of…

This study of 134 college-level learners of German, enrolled in four years of instruction, showed them to "essentialize" German grammar when asked to describe it to a hypothetical friend. Kubota defined the term essentialization to capture learners' views of the target culture. Its main characteristic is the presupposition of "essential, stable,…

Studies on the human language system have brought to the fore two key aspects. First, the prime function of language is communication. Second, language exists in the social world. The language learning process takes place within the sociocultural context and the relevant macrostructures that influence language use and development. According to the…

This article examines the inclusion of a culturally relevant curricular practice of social identity papers within teacher education in the USA that incorporates the transnational lifeworlds of teachers. Using tenets of feminist interdisciplinary frameworks, we highlight how this curricular practice allows teachers and teacher candidates in urban…

When the author introduces the unit on job hunting in his business communication course, he begins by relating his experiences searching for his first "real" job. He points out that the deciding factor for him in accepting a position at Bell Labs, instead of IBM, was Bell Lab's casual dress code. When he decided to retire from the former Bell…

In an effort to understand Christian college professors' levels of awareness to the needs of English Language Learners (ELLs) in content-based classrooms and to identify effective practices for language learning that are being implemented, a quantitative study using descriptive research was carried out. A survey was used to collect data to…

This article examines the sociocognitive context of two international students in academic programs in the United States. Bandura (2001) defines sociocognition as the interaction between an individual and the sociocultural elements that comprise his or her learning environment. Research in English for academic purposes has included more focus on…

This short-term longitudinal study sought to identify the issues faced by a group of international Chinese students undertaking study in an Australian university. While the focus was on educational issues, socio-cultural and personal factors were also examined in an attempt to identify the sorts of strategies students used in settling into a new…

In this paper, both a cognitive and a sociocultural theoretical perspective are used to bring together findings from two studies that investigated the effects of instruction designed to enhance the potentially positive effect of peer interaction on L2 development. Despite differences between the studies' learning contexts, participants' age, and…

Viewed through a sociocultural lens, this work examines two fourth grade teachers and their newly acquired teaching practices in balanced literacy. With a strong Vygotskian influence and sociocultural perspective, I look at how these practices promote teacher growth and influence student achievement. I argue that method does matter. Therefore,…