Difficulty in comprehending mathematical concepts is a consequence of the system of knowledge acquisition prevailing in schools, and more specifically, of the typical pattern of classroom interaction. In the common task-setting/task-solving pattern, the teacher divides the subject matter into segments. Students are involved interactively in…

The necessity for maintaining and extending the public space within which argumentation may appear, whether or not represented in the classroom, stems largely from pressures which have increasingly restricted that space. To function as public spaces, classrooms must enable students as citizens to confer in an unrestricted fashion about matters of…

A study examined the relationship between communication apprehension (CA) and academic achievement among elementary school students and whether that relationship was different for males and females. Subjects were 144 (74 females, 70 males) students enrolled in grades 2-5 at a laboratory school on the campus of a midwestern university. Academic…

Even for gifted students, the writing process resulting in an effective composition is a complex one, often overlooked in gifted education. The process begins with expressive writing, wherein the writer explores ideas and tries to find a focus. Subsets in the writing process include inventing, gathering outside materials, drafting, and revising…

Within the field of linguistics there are several very different approaches to discourse analysis. Sociolinguists look at the structure of social interaction as manifested in conversation. Psycholinguists are concerned with aspects related to language comprehension. Philosophical and formal linguists are interested in the semantic relationships…

Research has shown that communication apprehension (CA) has an impact on academic achievement over and beyond intelligence, type of performance-oriented class, language proficiency, and amount of verbal activity. A study explored the idea that this relationship is context-based by examining the impact of CA in the generalized contexts of small…

A study of communication in a culturally diverse first grade classroom focused on one discourse device, conversational repair, and its use with one kind of conversational difficulty, protest sequences, or arguments. The data collected concerned the children's use of either non-response or conversational engagement following a fellow student's…

This paper examines possible applications of confluent education to the foreign language classroom. The confluent approach creates an opportunity for integration of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and extrapersonal components in the process of learning. Confluent curriculum has been designed in three broad goal categories: to achieve traditional…

Using W. Brockriede's model of constructs, experience, and argument, this paper shows how teacher-student communication can be enhanced through the application of the principles of rhetoric. Following a brief introduction, the first part of the paper deals with the centrality of rhetoric to the education process, then discusses rhetoric as method.…

The leadership component in a teacher certification course for teaching English as a second language (ESL), adapted from an administrator development course, was designed to encourage teachers to think of themselves as leaders within their present classroom roles. Techniques include such activities as introductions and the sharing of varied…

Six captioned illustrations present humorous situations for classroom discussion. A list of appropriate German vocabulary words and phrases (and English translations) accompanies each illustration. (MSE)

Linguists have recognized the need for appropriateness, sincerity, non-obviousness, and cooperation between speakers in naturally occurring conversation. It is assumed that the speakers listen to each other and in some sense "care" about one another at the time of interaction. In the second language classroom such a sense of mutual concern may not…

An experiment investigated the effectiveness of communication games in monolingual classes in English as a second language (ESL). It studied the reactions of both teachers and students to the regular use of the games, and the ways in which the games fostered language learning. Four Hungarian teachers of English used the technique with seven groups…

A class can be seen as forming a larger unit of mind, a unit that becomes its own context, and this context can become the scene not only for an error-correcting but also a growth-producing process. Perception is always a comparison between at least two messages, and what is perceived is the difference between them. This principle is critical to…

This annotated bibliography contains references to articles and books that provide teachers with specific techniques to use in class to develop their students' oral proficiency. The items cited can be obtained from any good college or university library. Most of the publications have appeared since 1970, and the works cited pertain directly to the…