In Judith Richards' ethnically diverse third and fourth grade classroom, the morning meeting is a time for discussion. The functions these discussions serve range from sharing personal news to talking about problem-solving strategies. During these meetings, the teacher has a polyphonic role. She participates, moderates, and sometimes writes…

This paper describes how the principles of bilingual education were incorporated by an adult education teacher of English as a Second Language (ESL) into ESL instruction. This approach is seen as useful only when all the students have the same native language. The method is supported by evidence from the literature of minority student education…

Instructional conversation (IC) is a dialogue between teacher and learner in which prior knowledge and experiences are woven together with new material to build higher understanding. IC contrasts with the highly routinized and teacher-dominated "recitation script" of traditional Western schooling. IC varies in form in different cultures,…

This paper argues that classroom discussions are important sites of investigation, not for the purpose of identifying and prescribing effective discussion strategies, but for understanding why particular discursive strategies tend to dominate classroom talk and what might be done to alter such practices. The paper is grounded in feminist…

This paper describes the kinds of talk that children in three different preschools typically experience during storybook read-alouds and other interactions with print. The paper situates these experiences within everyday classroom life and describes the ways these contrasting experiences may be related to the development of literacy and literary…

The issue of whether English second language (ESL) instruction and mathematics instruction can be effectively integrated with each other in the elementary grades is discussed, and it is suggested that contrary to popular belief, mathematics has great potential for second language development. It is noted that the input hypothesis of language…

The guide describes classroom second language teaching techniques, based on materials developed for use in Peace Corps language training. They are primarily designed for listening and oral language skill development, but could be adapted for written language skill practice. The techniques are divided into two types: those for improving students'…

A study examined the classroom communication behaviors adult learners and traditional undergraduate students associate with highly effective and highly ineffective instructors. Subjects, 155 traditional undergraduate students (68 males and 87 females) and 95 adult learners (23 males and 71 males) at a large midwestern university, rated the…

Teaching is complex and layered. The premise of this paper is that teaching is worthy of being an object of systematic inquiry, and that such inquiry will help to clarify and potentially improve the character of teaching. It has also been assumed that a useful approach is to differentiate within teaching those aspects which can and usually are…

A study examined the relationship between teacher use of power and teacher effectiveness in samples of adult learners and traditional undergraduate students. The primary goal was to provide educators with practical information that may assist them in adapting their classroom communication styles to different student audiences. Subjects, 71…

Institutions of higher learning must focus on new ways to serve the at-risk student and the black male at-risk student in particular. By developing and implementing a plan, any teacher can foster retention of at-risk students, even in the absence of institutional support. Twenty effective techniques are: (1) learn students' names; (2) assign…

An assignment was developed that requires each student in a communication class to observe the dynamic of classroom communication. In this way, both the students and the professor receive feedback about various communication roles both can take. Systematic observation systems can be defined as part of classificatory systems that record certain…

A study explored the match between teachers' expectations for book reports and the outcomes their students exhibit. Subjects, 67 fourth graders, 61 seventh graders, and 56 tenth graders from low, middle, and upper income groups in 9 schools in 2 different school systems, completed a questionnaire that included questions concerning their…

As a radical supplement to multiculturalism a liberatory pedagogy is needed that explicitly challenges social conditions and ideologies that reproduce inequality. In training new teaching assistants of composition, a teacher used Jane Tompkins'"Pedagogy of the Distressed" to try an experiment in critical pedagogy. In her text, Tompkins…

This portrait of a high school literature classroom is one of a series of several such portraits which depict diverse classroom settings of high school literature, and which result from the second year of a teacher-research project in the greater Albany, New York area. This article portrays teacher Karen Dunne and her tenth-grade class of average…