Discusses implications for bilingual educators of some of the more startling culture-bound linguistic characteristics of relatively primitive (often preliterate) peoples. Includes a description of the bilingual education program among the ethnic groups of Peru. (JB)

Reports on an experiment investigating the modifications in lexicon, grammar, and phonology, made by language teachers as they related to varying levels of proficiency, and are compared to "foreigner talk." (AM)

Explores the culture of a summer writing course (at the University of Texas) for first-year ethnic minority students that is designed to help induct them gradually into the academic culture and improve retention rate. Observes and records behavior and discourses of the class's African American students. Focuses on learning strategies displayed in…

Presents data drawn from an ethnographic study of a kindergarten journal-writing activity. Discourse analysis of moment-to-moment talk and interaction reveals that activity participants assume a variety of roles available in the participation framework. The role of the participation framework is emphasized as a key factor in the distribution of…

Videotaped 14 mother-infant dyads during book sharing to examine categories of information mothers provided when talking about the book. Found a substantial amount of discussion about the books. Mothers modeled information structures of varying levels of cognitive demand, most frequently modeling the simplest of labeling pictures, with decreasing…

Describes those features that distinguish human tutorial explanations from those produced by computer-based instructional systems utilizing natural language interfaces. This is illustrated through a study conducted on an intelligent instruction system, drawing comparisons between student interaction with a human tutor and the system feedback.…

Investigates target language variability between speaking and writing in the second language acquisition of non-native English speakers. Results reveal that as narrators advance in English proficiency, they develop more abstract content and reported style in speech and writing and that speech and writing become more interactive. (28 references)…

Describes an inservice training project designed to raise trainees' awareness, through the analysis of transcriptions of teaching sequences, of the degree of communicativeness in their classroom interactions. Findings indicate an increasing awareness by trainees of their noncommunicative ritualized teaching behaviors, an awareness leading to…

Examines teacher-student exchanges in three content-based language classrooms. Data reveal persistent archetypal patterns of classroom interaction; teachers speak most of the time, and they initiate the majority of the exchanges by asking display questions, whereas student-initiated requests are referential. (30 references) (Author/CK)

Examines the discursive structures and linguistic resources of the interactional environments influencing the development of individual communicative competence, with specific reference to providing speaking opportunities to students studying Spanish as a second language. Findings reveal that the ways in which topics are developed differ from how…

Explores the research paradigms found useful by Dr. Poole in her research of classroom discourse as well as her insights into cross-cultural classroom interaction and the differences between first and second language classrooms. She discusses the need for close interactional study of English-as-a-Second- Language classrooms as well as non-English…

Explores a discussion in a bilingual education class of Haitian students where a non-teacher-directed discussion format and an emphasis on the students' own questions encourage the use of the students' everyday ways of talking and exploring ideas. The article's analysis of a discussion shows what and how the students are learning in this context.…

This article draws on postmodern research approaches and Michael Foucault's views of "discourse" to examine theoretical perspectives previously applied to collaboration, and argues for the value of further theoretical diversity and methodological plurality. It introduces discourse analysis as a tool for helping to understand the notion of…

Presents a selected bibliography of 50 recent research articles (published between January and June 2002) in the teaching of English. Includes works on topics such as: assessment; bilingual/foreign language education; discourse processes; literacy; professional development; reading; teaching and learning of literature; teaching and learning of…

Compares and contrasts the technology talk of novice and expert teachers of English-as-a-Second-or Other-Language (ESOL) K-8 Language and literacy. Interview data with eight teachers illustrates the conceptual and practical differences between those who have adapted technologies as powerful teaching and learning tools and those who speak about it…