Experimental second language acquisition research typically investigates the effectiveness of instruction in terms of overall group gains. A particular instructional method may not, however, benefit all learners uniformly. This study, conducted in a New Zealand secondary school, establishes whether there is any relationship between the…

To investigate the use, or otherwise, of conversational adjustments (CAs), in a normal instructional setting, the quality of speech generated during meaning negotiation, and learner perception of the task under study, a quantitative and a qualitative analysis was carried out of language produced in a dyadic set-up in a one-way information task, a…

Teachers and teacher educators are faced with an urgent responsibility to support the learning of an increasingly diverse population of young children. Based on the sociocultural perspective of reading, a literature-based approach is outlined for early reading teachers. The implications of this approach to teacher education programs are further…

Courses on social group work have traditionally relied on in-class role plays to teach group work skills. The most common technological aid in such courses has been analog videotape. In recent years new technologies have emerged that allow the instructor to customize and tailor didactic experiences to individual classes and individual learners.…

The current work is the first article in a two-paper series exploring the role of explicit learning objectives in undergraduate mathematics instruction. A definition of student-learning objective (SLO) is introduced. We give examples of SLOs for topics from introductory college and university mathematics courses. We list potential advantages of a…

This article describes a theoretically informed methodology for eliciting the voices of adolescent boys identified by their teachers and parents as reluctant leisure time readers. Similar methods have also been used to draw out the voices of the boys' parents to understand their efforts to guide and maintain their sons' literacy practices, within…

In their review of evidence-based research entitled "A Review of Research on Outdoor Learning," Rickinson "et al." (2004) identify five key constraints that limit the amount of outdoor learning. This paper explores whether green school grounds might be a location where these constraints could be minimised. Specifically, it…

Since the publication of "Standards for Foreign Language Learning: Preparing for the 21st Century," the development of communicative competence both within and beyond the confined walls of the language classroom has become a national priority for the foreign language (FL) teaching profession. The literature on standards and proficiency suggests…

No one would dispute the claim that teacher training in the university and training colleges has long been in urgent need of reform. Even so, nothing is getting done. However, there are some efforts made in North-Rhine/Westphalia, where a committee of experts has recommended a double package consisting of six semesters of specialized studies…

This paper examines a preservice teacher initiative whose overarching goal is to begin to reverse the cycle of educational failure for students labeled "at-risk." Although research in teacher preparation has explored the ways in which preservice teachers learn to teach, few studies have focused on how teaching in an alternative high school…

Describing what cultural studies or what pedagogy is all about is very complex, because there are many contradictory perspectives and paradigms in both disciplines. There is no single object of study, no unified body of theory, no one-and-only methodology that defines cultural studies or pedagogy completely. In this article, the authors focus on…

This study examined the process of organizational learning in a small secondary school in a company town during a protracted period of turbulence, arising from the downsizing of the community's main employer. The hypothesis was that distributed leadership among school staff created a change in teaching practices from a limited repertoire of…

Claims made for the value of problem-based learning (PBL) as an effective method for professional education programmes draw on constructivist principles of teaching and learning to achieve essential content knowledge, higher order thinking skills, and a team approach to problem-solving through the interdisciplinary, student-directed study of…

One of the greatest challenges that general education teachers face is how to address the educational needs of an increasingly diverse student population. Perhaps what is most disturbing about this challenge is that many general education teachers seem unprepared to face it. Researchers investigating inclusive classrooms have found that general…

Despite the potential benefits of Web-based Instruction (WBI), not everyone welcomes online learning opportunities. This study examined the psychological processes underlying opposition to WBI by collecting survey data from 257 learners enrolled in a large southeastern university. Results supported the hypothesis that those with weak Internet…