This volume reflects some of the disciplinary and interdisciplinary diversity found in the study of programs for young children, and its chapters cover a number of matters central to early childhood development and practice, including preparation for practice. The book has 11 chapters divided into 4 parts that cover family and community, adults…

Intended as a text for prospective primary through middle-school teachers in their professional year of training or for experienced teachers taking in-serivce courses, this book offers practical information, suggested activities, and theoretical background to help teachers learn how to structure, plan, and execute a whole-language program.…

The literature suggests that the U.S. system of higher education has developed and maintained conservative norms that govern behavior in the classroom and discourage open dialog by dictating what is and is not appropriate to discuss in academic settings. The question is raised of the appropriateness of these norms. Classroom dialog was analyzed to…

A study examined three examples of classroom reading conferences. Subjects (students and teachers) were in grades 4, 7, and 12. Conversations between the teachers and their students serve to illustrate the different learning environments in each classroom. Results indicated that all three teachers wanted to: (1) provide students an opportunity to…

This paper reports on an investigation into the communication activities in a multicultural elementary school classroom in England. In the first exercise, the whole class worked in groups of three, each group led by a bilingual child, to devise a doctor-patient dialogue in that child's foreign language. When the dialogue was presented to the…

A study investigated the adjustments made in classroom behavior and teaching techniques by western-trained English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teachers in Japanese universities. Subjects were 16 instructors at three institutions, all with native or native-like English fluency and all trained in Canadian or United States graduate programs for ESL…

Nineteen studies of the use of reciprocal teaching to help students improve their comprehension of texts are reviewed. The studies are grouped according to the type of instructional approach used, the type of student involved, and the type of outcome measure used. Two main approaches are identified: (1) reciprocal teaching only, in which the…

A survey of first-year high school students of English as a Second Language (ESL) (n=44) investigated their feelings about dialogue journal writing, including what they had learned, what they enjoyed reading and writing, reactions to teacher-generated questions, journal effect on oral English skills, desire to continue the journals, and other…

A study examined the positive effects that being a parent may have on communication teachers. Three major advantages that parenthood gives teachers (self-disclosure, use of humor, and the incorporation of games and activities) were considered. Several informal interviews with communication instructors who raise children were conducted. One hundred…

This study investigated the nature of students' discussion in peer response sessions in an English-as-a-Second-Language composition class in Taiwan. Subjects were 17 university students, divided into four writing groups. Half of the 16 peer response sessions were computer-mediated (CM), the other half in face-to-face interaction (FF). Analysis of…

This paper focuses on experiences with real-time communication in distance classes that contrast with the face-to-face setting from which teachers and students brought their teaching-learning perceptions and behavior. Observing the uncomfortable and unforeseen experiences that distance teachers and students have, the authors studied the reasons…

An analysis of classroom discourse proposes four frames, modeled as concentric circles. The inner most circle is the lesson frame, removed or sheltered from outside influences and most likely, in a language class, to maintain second-language usage. The next frame from the center is the lesson-support frame, an intermediate layer of classroom…

Middle school students can become fascinated with literature if they have a choice in selecting which trade book to read and the means of revealing comprehension. One student teacher (ST) developed a bulletin board to stimulate learner interest in reading for her sixth grade students. "Read and Digest" was the heading, with four…

This publication compiles a series of 18 articles originally published in 1989-91 in the Arithmetic Teacher on implementing the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) K-8 curriculum standards. The articles and references in the bibliography are organized into five groupings: (1) "Themes That Cut Across Mathematics," covering…

Foreign language listening comprehension instruction too often relies on brief selections read aloud or sporadic teacher talk interspersed with native language (NL) utterances, which fail to provide sustained listening practice. NL is overused for grammar-related talk, reducing target language exposure, encouraging translation, and hindering…