Research shows that young children ask a multitude of why and how questions. And when they do, they're not simply trying to get adult attention; instead, they're actively seeking information. In this article, Paul Harris describes the findings of a number of research analyses based on extensive transcripts of children's natural speech. Some of the…

Research on the linguistic characteristics of university classroom discourse highlights the salience, in this register, of non-informational and subjective aspects of discourse. This dimension of classroom discourse, however, has not been studied systematically. Taking a corpus-based approach, this study investigates the non-informational…

Purpose: Mastery of spoken English is a priority for many learners of English in Iran. Opportunities to acquire spoken English through the public school system are very limited, hence many students enroll in "conversation" courses in private institutes. The purpose of this paper is to report a study of how institute teachers address the…

The purpose of the study was to investigate practicum students' perceptions of their experience with an online practicum course in an Applied School Psychology graduate program. With the use of synchronous and asynchronous communication technology, the instructor and students met in the online environment to engage in discussion with regard to…

How does teachers' target language proficiency correlate with their ability to use the target language effectively in order to provide optimal learning opportunities in the language classroom? Adopting a conversation analysis approach, this study examines the extent to which teachers' use of the target language in the classroom creates learning…

Leadership theory can provide a route for investigating teaching via the concept of instructor leadership. Instructor leadership is defined as a process whereby instructors exert intentional influence over students to guide, structure and facilitate classroom activities and relationships in a class. Instructor leadership in higher education…

This study is an attempt to provide an in-depth understanding of the teaching practices of Indonesian vocational English master teachers, focusing on their use of questioning strategies. Using a qualitative approach, this study was carried out in three vocational schools and involved three selected master teachers. Data were collected through 23…

Effectively engaging students in mathematics discourse is challenging, especially in a language other than the one in which you learned mathematics. Teachers must manage the academic as well as social function of language. In Spanish-English bilingual classrooms in the U.S., changing the language of instruction to Spanish may not be enough to…

Pre-service teachers need support in developing their teacher identities as they navigate the uncertain and complex terrain of student teaching and face the pressures of high-stakes accountability. This support is particularly important for bilingual pre-service teachers as they negotiate the many complexities of the bilingual classroom, and as…

This study focuses on teacher talk in the context of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching in China. Framed against China's current focus on "thinking, imagination and innovation" as stated in the National English Curriculum Standards (NECS), this paper reports the findings of a qualitative study aimed at understanding how the…

Reasoning words are linguistic features associated with classroom exploratory talk as students talk-to-learn, explore ideas, and probe each other's thinking. This study extends established research on use of reasoning words to a fourth- to fifth-grade literature-based English language learning context. We examined frequency and patterning of…

As linguistic diversity is increasing in schools worldwide, research is needed to examine how to modify teaching and learning contexts in response to emerging multilingual students' different needs. Grounded in sociocultural theory, this study examined how teachers used discourse differently to respond to diverse students' needs as they…

This paper presents findings from a comparative study of peer- and teacher-led Sex and Relationship Education (SRE). One lesson delivered by a peer educator, and one lesson delivered by a teacher was observed with the aim of exploring the communicative process between educators and students within SRE. It is claimed that open communication between…

This collected papers dissertation explores students' academic interactions in an active learning, introductory physics settings as they relate to the development of physics self-efficacy and interest. The motivation for this work extends from the national call to increase participation of students in the pursuit of science, technology,…

As two teacher educators, we conducted a collegial action research study and investigated how collaborative lesson preparation and reflection that focused on prospective teachers' thinking supported our perspectives on teaching and learning. We conducted this action research to provide more equal education opportunities to the prospective teachers…