Two eye-tracking experiments examined the effects of sentence structure on the processing of complement coercion, in which an event-selecting verb combines with a complement that represents an entity (e.g., "began the memo"). Previous work has demonstrated that these expressions impose a processing cost, which has been attributed to the…

This essay proposes a reflection on the learning difficulties and teaching approaches associated with arithmetic word problem solving. We question the development of word problem solving skills in the early grades of elementary school. We are trying to revive the discussion because first, the knowledge in question--reversibility of arithmetic…

In this article, we discuss "heliaki," the use of metaphoric language in Tonga (Kaeppler, 2007), and its relationship to literacy. Viewing "heliaki" through the lens of critical literacy (Freire & Macedo, 2005), we argue that performances of "heliaki" not only represent an indigenous approach to reading and…

When teachers engage student confidence in discerning visual metaphor and when they make students aware of their skills, they can teach them how to transfer the reading of the visual to the reading of text. This article details some activities for facilitating that transfer. Engaging and challenging visual activities can lead to an enhanced…

The purpose of this study is to identify the metaphors that primary, secondary and high school students and classroom teacher candidates and the classroom teachers have regarding their primary school classroom teachers. The phenomenology pattern as one of the qualitative research methods was used in the research. The study group was determined by…

In Romanian preschool settings, there is a tendency to use abstract strategies in language-learning activities. The present study explored if strategies based on an embodied cognition approach facilitate learning more than traditional strategies that progress from concrete to abstract. Twenty-five children between 4 and 5 years of age listened to…

This study aims to investigate how Turkish Teacher Trainees of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) interpret implied meanings, which is an integral but lesser-studied component of pragmatic competence. The conduct of the study began with the development of an online multiple-choice discourse completion test (MDCT) through two piloting phases.…

The advent of motion-controlled technologies has unlocked new possibilities for body-based learning in the mathematics classroom. For example, mixed-reality learning environments allow students the opportunity to embody a mathematical concept while simultaneously being provided a visual interface that represents their movement. In the current…

This study investigates how 6- to 7-year-old children in a bilingual preschool together with their teachers take on the challenge of translating the lyrics to a children's song from Finnish to English. With an interest in how translation activities can engage children in communication and metacommunication, and facilitate the development of…

There is little research available on the incidental learning of figurative language from reading (e.g., Webb, Newton, & Chang, 2013). This study looked at collocations with both literal and figurative meanings, that is, duplex collocations (Macis & Schmitt, 2017a) and whether reading could enhance lexical knowledge of the figurative…

This study explored the experiences and language gains of Chinese-background English language learners living in homestays during a short-term study abroad (SA) programme in Australia. Forty-one learners took part in listening dictation pre- and post-tests to assess their acquisition of idiomatic phrasal verbs, and also completed weekly journals…

Issue framing is a powerful way for advocates to appeal to the value systems of constituency groups to evoke their support. Using a conceptual framework that focused on radial frames, metaphors, and lexical markers, we examined the linguistic choices that Common Core opponents used on Twitter to activate five central metaphors that reinforced the…

In the face of land confiscations and other forms of imperialism characteristic of the 19th century in Aotearoa/New Zealand, the second Maori King Tawhiao devised a number of sayings that seem at first glance to be entirely mythical. Highly metaphorical and poetic, they appear to refer, as Bakhtin would have it in his discussion of the epic, to a…

Creativity is commonly assessed using divergent thinking tasks, which measure the fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration of participant output on a variety of different tasks. This study assesses the degree to which creativity can be identified based on linguistic features of participants' language while completing collaborative…

This paper presents three stories-over-time of the secondary schooling experiences of New Zealand's rangatahi Maori--or Maori youth. The stories span fifteen years of New Zealand schooling and are told from three perspectives: the experiences of the students as told in their own words; the voices of youth within the prevailing political contexts…