This paper is aimed to examine the effects of scaffolding on the development of higher-order thinking skills as evidenced in the academic writing of undergraduates at tertiary levels in the university education system. A lot of empirical research so far has examined the applicability of scaffolding in acquiring writing skills; however, few of them…

Knowledge of morphemes, the smallest meaningful units within words, contributes to word reading skills, vocabulary, and text comprehension. However, selecting which morphemes to teach can present a challenge for teachers. To date, researchers have not systematically analyzed morphemes in English words to determine which ones are most useful for…

This article explores the experiences of international students as they engage in independent learning through formulating dissertation proposals. It contributes new insights by focusing on the 'pre-supervision' stage, where students formulate a research project and write a proposal independently. The analysis draws on questionnaire and focus…

Drawing on conversation analysis (CA), this study examines reported thought (e.g., "you're like 'do I really have to do that?'") and its function in writing center talk. Previous related studies, which are informed by Goffman's (1981) notion of footing, have demonstrated how reported thought (RT) is a resource for modeling undesirable…

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore how experienced teachers use classroom talk to support their pedagogic goals in pre-sessional and in-sessional EAP lessons. Design: Data were gathered by video recording four teachers' EAP lessons. Two lessons were pre-sessional and two lessons were in-sessional. A framework which identified…

With young people increasingly learning and communicating through visual and social media, schools are looking for ways to tap into students' interest in digital media. In a school district in Southern California, a very promising approach to technology use has emerged that integrates digital storytelling into instruction. Findings from a…

Online discussions have emerged as one of the most popular practices of writing in academic contexts in the twenty-first century. Nevertheless, we know little about the rhetorical features and composition strategies employed by multilingual writers in these types of discussions. Using online discussions in the brainstorming phase of the process of…

To assess text comprehension and concept mastery, standards-aligned measures have moved from using multiple-choice questions to using source-based writing tasks (sometimes referred to as Reading-to-Write tasks). For example, it is now common for students to be asked to read a text and then to produce a written response, often a summary or…

This article presents an empirical evaluation of the validity and reliability of a peer-assessment activity to improve academic writing competences. Specifically, we explored a large group of psychology undergraduate students with different initial writing skills. Participants (n = 365) produced two different essays, which were evaluated by their…

This study consists of a categorisation of the vocabulary of chemistry, focusing on the terminological difficulties students face when learning this subject. Therefore, this classification intends to provide chemistry teachers an awareness of the language barriers students must overcome in their understanding of this scientific discipline. Two…

In formal education, the teaching of natural sciences begins when children are about 12 years old. Teachers justify this with the difficulty and abstraction of concepts in these sciences, and they refer to the theory of child development by Piaget. However, numerous examples from everyday life, from non-formal education, analysis of the…

Most U.S. educational reforms have narrowly focused on how to improve the ways in which students use language, and most specifically English. But in the last two decades, it is something called "academic language" that has permeated all education discourse. Here we discuss the development of the construct of academic language and the…

Peer response writing groups present several benefits in language learning classrooms. However, they are usually supervised by the instructor and thus become time consuming when carried out in class. This descriptive case study offers a model for extramural peer feedback and analyzes 12 meeting transcriptions of four undergraduate EFL writing…

This study examines blending of classroom- and family-based supports within a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS). The present study focuses on a sample of Head Start children who are both experiencing poverty and scoring below early language and literacy screening benchmarks. This study begins to explore which combination of resources are the…

The domain of literacy includes multiple strategies relevant to studying in college (Alexander, 2005). This thematic analysis examines how Generation 1 learners (adult-arrival immigrants who transition from adult ESL into college) demonstrate their emergent literacy domain competence and how their literacy strategy use aligns with their identity…