A study of 68 children's contributions to dinner talk showed that, among Jewish American, Israeli, and American Israeli families, children have less access to the floor than adults. In the two Israeli groups, children were exposed more to topics raised by mothers than by fathers; the reverse was true for Jewish American families. (Contains 65…

It is proposed that negotiation of form can be effective in language immersion instruction. Students are pushed to produce ever more accurate and appropriate utterances, drawing on their own sociolinguistic resources. Examples are provided from an eighth-grade classroom where the teacher uses feedback, questioning, discussion, and…

Second-language teachers dealing with teenagers face a task of imparting communicative language skills to learners who think and speak in terms of a language of their own making. It is important that these teachers familiarize themselves with teen language in order to make their teaching relevant by making their classrooms more responsive to their…

Describes an introductory segment of a preservice course on teaching and learning in mathematics and language arts, highlighting a project using multimedia materials to explore the integration of the two. Examples of teacher candidates' insights about mathematics discourse are discussed. The larger implications of classroom discourse for…

Explores ethnic and gender differences in classroom conversational styles by comparing student involvement in face-to-face and computer-mediated discussions. Finds that white males participated more frequently than other groups in the face-to-face setting, and white women benefited more from computer-mediated communication. Notes Hispanic women…

Reviews topical and methodological trends in the past 85 years of research on language classrooms in "The Modern Language Journal." Focus is on empirical investigations into oral classroom instruction in post-secondary classes, which include comparisons of language teaching methodology, observational procedures in classrooms, examinations of…

Suggests that a grand reflection on the paradigms of reality and the predicaments of life is needed in order to deal with the current discontent of humanity. Asserts that people must act on the world and reconstruct it to make it moral, just, and humane. Offers an agenda for educational leaders to help meet the needs of their communities.…

To redress the perceived gap in the definition of effective language instruction, students at an intensive English program were asked to participate in interviews in which they were asked to respond to questions about classes they were attending and they defined as effective. A discourse analysis was performed on the transcripts of several…

Interviews with 23 deaf or hearing teachers of the deaf raised two questions concerning the use of narrative to understand teachers' thinking about teaching: namely, the limits of narrative as a data source and the feasibility of productive analysis of narratives. Results suggest that teachers do not store information about teaching as narratives…

A study examined specific word- and sentence-level features most frequently used in the expository writing of 87 college students with learning disabilities, 50 with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, 58 with both disabilities, and 92 controls. Very high correlations were found between verbosity, quality, and lexical complexity. (Contains…

Evaluates what has been learned regarding the impact of early close relationships on psychological development, by examining the origins of continuity and change in attachment security and its prediction of later behavior. Evaluates research on impact of changing family circumstances and quality of care on attachment security. Offers new…

Reports on a study exploring patterns of discourse organization in seminar-type discussions. Analysis was made of patterns of sequential organization in discussions between English for academic purposes students in university seminars in the United Kingdom. Analysis revealed two patterns of organization: simple exchanges of pre-formed ideas and…

A key feature of contemporary changes in globalisation is the increasing transnational flows of people. Evidence of the way in which these changes are impacting on education in Australia today is found in the presence of its immigrant teachers. Teacher shortages in Australia have led to increasing numbers of immigrant teachers from non-European or…

The role of social context and the nature of human interaction provide rich resources for the study of learning and human cognition. In order to understand these elements more fully, it is important to consider the language in use within these contexts. The early intervention Reading Recovery is grounded in the belief that the conversation between…

In traditional psychoanalysis, patients recline on a couch in a way that prevents patients and analysts from seeing each other's faces. This has been argued to have significant effects, both positive and negative, on patients' treatment. The use of the couch creates an unusual communicative situation in which both parties are physically but not…