The subtle or overt ways in which women and men students are often treated differently are discussed, and actions that can be taken to create a learning climate that fosters the intellectual growth of all students are identified. Information was obtained from several kinds of sources, including empirical studies of postsecondary and other…

A concurrent validation analysis was conducted for the recently developed Test of Spoken English (TSE), using as an external criterion the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) direct proficiency interviewing procedure. Use-related validation data for the TSE were obtained as a predictor of the communicative effectiveness in English of non-native…

Ethnographic methods were used to study interactions between a college instructor and his class. The data collection methods included classroom observations, videotape recordings, interviews, and questionnaires. The focus of the study was on co-occurring behavior patterns in student-teacher interactions during a "subject matter loop" (when the…

Several studies have shown that teachers' locus of control orientations are differentially related to attitudes about teaching and classroom behavior. To investigate the relationship between teachers' locus of control and students' perceptions of classroom climate, academic responsibility, and grades, matched pairs of teachers from grades four…

A study was conducted to determine whether graduate teaching assistants in speech communication were aware of the affective components of their classroom behavior and of the student responses to them, and whether the instructors' awareness of the affective dimensions of instruction related to the student evaluative responses. Subjects were 640…

Data on one aspect of a year-long sociolinguistic study of participant perspectives of classroom discourse are presented in this final report. Second-, third-, and fourth-grade pupils in a lower socioeconomic, mutiethnic elementary school viewed videotapes of language arts lessons given earlier in the day. Each videotape was presented in three…

Part of a year-long sociolinguistic study of teacher and pupil perceptions of classroom discourse, this study presents data on pupil perceptions of discourse in play settings. Subjects were 165 pupils from six second, third, and fourth grade classrooms in a lower socioeconomic, multiethnic elementary school. In each of the six classrooms six…

This learning module was designed to familiarize community college instructors with the characteristics of nontraditional students and with strategies for providing these students with a positive learning environment. After introductory material offering a rationale for the module, Part I provides a list of key concepts, a statement of learning…

A study was conducted to determine whether and how children with diverse cultural backgrounds, including the cultural mainstream in North America, might differentially identify and acquire rules of discourse appropriate to becoming literate. This study examined the natural language used by teacher and students recorded within selected periods of…

This research provides a detailed analysis of the inner workings of a bilingual program implemented in San Diego, California. The children in the study divide their school day between two separate classrooms, one offering instruction in Spanish and the other in English. The same students were videotaped as they participated in reading lessons in…

This volume utilizes biography-social science research findings, classroom management techniques, and a language/communication analysis system to consider multi-ethnic interaction in the classroom. After defining ethnicity and making a case for "heritage ethnicity" and "scholastic ethnicity," the concept of stereotyping and its relation to…

This booklet describes a workshop dealing with various components of nonverbal communication, including environmental setting, proximity, physical appearance, and vocal manner, which influence the information conveyed to others. This workshop, designed for use with classroom teachers and school support personnel (N-12), presents activities which…

This publication features articles on school climate. Among the various concerns are: 1) the complexities of the educational environment, 2) low cost school climate programs, 3) implementation of changes for effective climates, 4) the roles of principals, teachers, and students in the educational environment, and 5) test anxiety and creativity as…

To test the hypothesis that if given a curriculum designed to develop cognitive functioning and taught by strategies designed to develop cognitive skills, students would then master more sophisticated symbolic thought earlier and more systematically than could be expected if this development had been left to the accidents of experience or if…

Research into teacher nonverbal behavior is needed. Although teachers are usually aware of their verbal behavior, they may be unaware of many nonverbal cues they express through gesture, facial expression, posture, vocal tone, or similar mechanisms. Such nonverbal expressions convey attitudes and impressions which may affect the teaching-learning…