Presents ideas for increasing the level of student interaction in "tele-teaching" (distance learning) courses. Highlights include icebreakers; daily activities for review or class preparation; student-centered activities to replace lectures; and handouts incorporating interactive learning. (AEF)

Examines one child's reconstruction of identity in the transition from preschool to school-based patterns of play in the early weeks of schooling. The study's approach uses detailed linguistic interactional data showing identity as unstable and multiple, and draws attention to the crucial role of peer culture and play in children's experiences of…

Gender and group composition variables in a computer-mediated communication context are examined. Subjects were 36 undergraduate male and female psychology students. Findings are analyzed in terms of choice of language; participation; satisfaction; and interpersonal conflict. Ten tables present study results. (Author/AEF)

Illustrates how to use ethnographic techniques to acquire a better understanding of classroom dynamics. The article focuses on the characterization of "success" in an Italian class through analysis of interaction patterns and purposes of the participants. Findings reveal the need for a continuity of teacher and students' goals, methods, and forms…

Outlines class activities promoting free oral interaction for intermediate English-as-a-Second-Language students in Turkey. The article recommends an initial stage of individual preparation. Suggested materials include newspapers, short articles, poems and scenes from plays, all providing an authentic language medium. The teacher's function is to…

A brief history of developments in the assessment of the reliability of credentialing examinations is presented, and some new results are outlined that highlight the interactions among scoring, standard setting, and the reliability and validity of pass-fail decisions. Decision consistency is an important concept in evaluating credentialing…

Describes the interactions among deaf and hearing students at the Kinzie School, Chicago (Illinois), an innovative elementary school where deaf and hearing students learn in inclusive classrooms with shared activities. The program evolved from two schools sharing one building to an integrated program that continues to acknowledge deaf culture.…

Observed the influence of gender on communication patterns and reciprocal alliances within the context of a controlled problem-solving task. Found that families with boys engaged in more active bargaining than families with girls. Sons made offers for alliances to mothers at almost twice the rate of daughters. (RJM)

Parents (N=239) of preschool children with either a speech-language impairment, different disability, or no disability completed a survey of home literacy experiences. Significantly different activities and interactions with print were available to the children with speech-language impairments. Results suggest these children are exposed to print…

Examines how the parents of a 2-year-old child elicit and sustain the child's attention during mundane activities such as playing an educational game and telling a story. Notes that triadic interactions are fostered by the arrangement and blending of artifacts, the parents' complementary roles, the use of affective morphology and of nonvocal…

Focuses on teachers' group identity, seen as a process of co-construction of their group voices within the context of large-group dialogs. Findings identified three types of dialogs: conversation; discussion after a presentation; and interactional dynamics. Findings also indicated four types of teachers' voices: pragmatic; multiculturalist;…

Former candidate for U.S. Assistant Attorney General Lani Guinier is attempting to make law school and the legal profession more welcoming to women, in part by rejecting use of the Socratic method in classroom discussion, which she feels is intimidating, combative, and discriminates against women. Others say the Socratic approach encourages men…

Reports on a pilot study examining the effects of reading and interactive vocabulary instruction on the vocabulary development of English-as-a-Second-language students attending a U.S. university-preparatory intensive English program. Findings suggest that such instruction combined with self-selected and course-related reading can improve…

Discusses work on age in interaction in terms of constructivist epistemologies, relating research on ageism to work on adult-child interaction in a cultural comparative perspective. By focusing on identity in interaction, applied linguistics combines constructivist developments with close textual analyses and maintains that it is possible to avoid…

Describes a study conducted at Seattle Pacific University that developed an attitude scale to measure student perceptions about online courses; explored relationships between student perceptions and demographic and other variables, including age, gender, online course experience, Internet experience, and computer skills; and investigated…