In view of the growing body of research on humor and language play in computer-mediated communication (CMC) which--more than any other medium--has been associated with goofing off, joking, and other nonserious communication, this paper compares spontaneous foreign language play (L2 play) in text-only synchronous computer-mediated versus…

This study investigated the strategies used by advanced learners of English while reading a hypermedia document in order to determine whether they are essentially different from those reading strategies reported in the literature for printed texts. Moreover, the role of prior knowledge about the topic was explored in relation to strategy use. Data…

This study investigated the use of discourse markers (DMs) by college learners of English in China. It compared the use of DMs for four discourse functions by students at different proficiency levels. An audio-video instrument called Video Oral Communication Instrument was conducted to elicit ratable speech samples. Fraser's (1999) taxonomy was…

Due to the complexity of the legal domain, reasoning about law cases is a very complex skill. For novices in law school, legal reasoning is even more complex because they have not yet acquired the conceptual knowledge needed for distilling the relevant information from cases, determining applicable rules, and searching for rules and exceptions in…

In a professional development project, six teaching practices were posited as necessary for improving affective and cognitive outcomes for identified advanced readers. These practices were identification, organization for instruction, content, instructional strategies, continuous improvement assessment, and ambassadorship. Sixty-one teachers…

Building on contemporary to approaches to narrative theory and analysis, this article examines how university students enrolled in an advanced Spanish-as-a-foreign-language course textually position themselves and are positioned by others as legitimate or illegitimate users of Spanish in the stories they tell about speaking the language outside…

Writing assistance systems, from simple spelling checkers to more complex grammar and readability analyzers, can be helpful aids to nonnative writers of English. However, many writing assistance systems have two disadvantages. First, they are not designed to encourage skills learning and independence in their users; instead, users may begin to use…

The needs of academically advanced/high-ability students may not be met in today's schools. When educational needs are not met, students may not reach full potential, may lose intrinsic motivation for learning, and may develop poor work and study habits. The rural school district involved in this study lacks a formal gifted and talented program.…

As New Orleans began to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina, Tulane University also began its recovery process. A new initiative in the recovery was the establishment of a public service graduation requirement for undergraduate students. Attitudes toward the requirement were assessed for 290 first-year and 257 advanced students in fall 2006. The…

This article presents the findings of a study that investigated (1) the extent to which written corrective feedback (CF) can help advanced L2 learners, who already demonstrate a high level of accuracy in two functional uses of the English article system (the use of "a" for first mention and "the" for subsequent or anaphoric mentions), further…

In China many non-English majors, who often score high on English exams that emphasize reading comprehension and grammar, have difficulty finding the English words they need to express their ideas in speaking and writing. This problem is not unusual, and it is often difficult for students to use their receptive reading and listening vocabulary for…

The following article reports the findings of a qualitative evaluation of an online extensive reading program in German as a foreign language. Designed for advanced learners, it differs from traditional extensive reading programs in two important aspects: students read online instead of printed materials, and there was no teacher preselection to…

Several decades ago, V. A. Krutetskii conducted a multiyear study to investigate the various types of thinking that academically advanced, or as he called them, gifted mathematicians used. Following an in-depth look at Krutetskii's nine ways of thinking, a model is proposed that will provide direction for teachers in selecting problems. The model…

The article discusses the results of a longitudinal study of how the use of conjunctions, as an aspect of spoken discourse competence of 13 selected advanced students of English, developed throughout their 3-year English as a foreign language (EFL) tertiary education. The analysis was carried out in relation to a number of variables, including 2…

High-stakes assessments have encouraged educators to ignore the needs of the top performers. Therefore, the Oakwood School District decided to implement a mathematics pilot enrichment program in order to meet the needs of the advanced mathematics students. As a result, this study used quantitative data to determine if there was a significant…