Examines how college-level intermediate English-as-a-Second-Language students modify interaction when engaged in small-group versus pair work, and whether task type (optional versus required information exchange) affects amount of language and interaction individual students produce. Results suggest "negotiation of meaning" is not a…

Examines two sets of classrooms in Mexican preschools over a period of a year to see why one set of classes improved significantly in independent problem solving when compared with children in matching classes. Differences in two sets of data were explored with a method for investigating classroom talk that combines qualitative interpretation with…

Discusses the implications of research findings that responsive teaching techniques improve the classroom interactions of preschool children with learning disabilities for classroom-based early intervention. Considers the use of responsive strategies in writing Individualized Education Plan and Individualized Family Service Plan goals and…

Reviews early research on innovative use of networked computers in language learning, focusing on a study of computer-mediated discussion that examined student/student and student/teacher interactions in a college French course. Due to rapid nature of computer-mediated exchanges, the "conversation" is a hybrid somewhere between writing and…

Examines formal classroom encounters among Laotian refugee and at-risk American students and their teacher in a lower-track literature course and the influences of community context and school culture. Highlights linkages between student perceptions of self-competence and peer worth, the teacher's role in the social organization of work-related…

College physics teachers describe their experience using a computer-based classroom communication system that facilitates presentation of questions for small-group work, collection of student answers, and display of histograms showing how the class answered, all feeding into classwide discussions. The technique engages students in active learning…

Discusses ways to interpret student silence, highlighting a black professor's experiences teaching white students. Student silence is likened to political situations in which people who feel disenfranchised by the process do not vote, which is a political statement in itself. The importance of not ignoring student silence is emphasized. (SM)

The interactive science notebook (ISN) is a perfect opportunity for science educators to encapsulate and promote the most cutting-edge constructivist teaching strategies while simultaneously addressing standards, differentiation of instruction, literacy development, and maintenance of an organized notebook as laboratory and field scientists do.…

Current approaches to oral assessment of English in English secondary schools tend to concentrate more on "confidence" and "participation" than on the quality of children's thinking. This undermines the rich possibilities in classroom talk for cognitive development. Behavioural assessment approaches deny the essentially…

This study juxtaposes current approaches to intercultural communication competence (ICC) with Chinese students' learning and communication experiences in a New Zealand pluricultural classroom. Fifteen first-year Chinese university students were interviewed and participated in focus groups. The findings indicated that the Chinese students' rules…

What occurs when male and female teachers violate accepted conventions of the writing classroom by assuming untraditional roles? Numerous studies have shown that when people exhibit behavior contrary to the normal gender-based expectations, the results are less than positive. For the college professor who does not act according to the usual…

This set of working papers concentrates on reading issues. This collection contains the following papers: "Literacy: The Needs of Teachers and Learners" (Christopher Brumfit); "Eight Lessons from Research into Literacy" (Henrietta Dombey); "'The Disqualified Half': Gender Representation in a Children's Reading Scheme" (Simon Williams); "Reading to…

A study investigated beliefs, attitudes, and values upper-division college students have about gender and sexuality and how language is a medium by which these ideologies are created, challenged, and maintained. Further, it looks at how these ideologies are interdependent and interrelated, how symbolic systems of the campus interact as students…

This paper discusses inequities and injustices toward women and advocates remedies through education. Practical suggestions based upon expectations theory and the Teacher Expectations and Student Achievement Test (TESA) program offer teachers ways to reduce discrimination and improve achievement in classrooms, especially for those denied an equal…

This book presents nine studies conducted by teacher researchers who explore the oral and written discourse of learning communities--communities of students, communities of teachers, and communities in which students and teachers learn together. The studies focus on journal writing, conversation, story telling, geometry, computer technology, and…