Graphic novels are a form of authentic text that have started to gain widespread acceptance in the English language arts field and have been shown to increase students' motivation to read and engage deeply with texts. By integrating text with pictures, graphic novels have the advantage of requiring a lighter cognitive load than traditional…

Take the next step in reflective practice! Operationalize reflective practice and overcome the "reflection bubble" with an approach designed for the field of TESOL. Learn how teachers, teacher educators, supervisors, administrators, and other stakeholders can implement reflective practice. Expanding upon the original aspects of…

Cognitive research has shown that the human brain processes images quicker than it processes words, and images are more likely than text to remain in long-term memory. With the expansion of technology that allows people from all walks of life to create and share photographs with a few clicks, the world seems to value visual media more than ever…

Classrooms are increasingly multicultural in their social composition, and students are increasingly connected, through digital media, to local and global networks. However, pedagogy has failed to take full advantage of the opportunities these resources represent. "Multilingual Digital Storytelling" draws attention to the interfaces…

This edited volume brings together large-scale research as well as case studies from a range of geographical contexts and represents a variety of educational settings involving second language learners and users. Its aim is to explore the interrelated issues of psychology and technology use in second language learning settings as well as in more…

Some of the cognitive and affective factors influencing second language reading comprehension are reviewed, and an instructional technique designed to both guide the reading process and develop comprehension at several levels is described. Teachers are urged to develop process-oriented reading comprehension activities in collaboration with…

The design of instructional materials for second language listening comprehension is discussed, based on the premise that such materials must reflect a view of the nature and processes of listening. Two distinct kinds of cognitive processes involved in listening are examined: bottom-up processing, or the use of incoming data as a source of…

Five classroom strategies for improving the comprehension of the content areas by students of English as a Second Language (ESL) are described. The strategies encourage students' processing skills of comprehension rather than emphasizing the products of comprehension. The strategies can help students learn English and also prepare them for…

Theories of reading emphasize the cognitive processes and metacognitive skills that readers employ to read with comprehension and insight. Teachers are referred to a resource book, "Enhancing Reading Comprehension," and a five-volume series of coursebooks, "Focus." Each is described briefly. (LB)

A technique for "warming up" a class in English as a second language involves writing a non-threatening, noncontroversial but thought-provoking word related to the day's general topic on the board and giving students time to write down as many related words as they can think of. Students are asked to volunteer their words, one at a time, to be…

Outlines principles that computer-assisted language learning (CALL) educators can follow in designing effective input-oriented tasks targeting grammar instruction, drawing on the latest advances in understanding of the interaction between internal cognitive processes and foreign-language learning. A prototype CALL application using these…

An analysis of the skills involved in listening comprehension and techniques for developing them in students looks first at elements of the general process of interpretation, showing the essential importance of the interpretative functions as contrasted with simple comprehension of sounds and decoding of meaning. The first section looks at…

The paper describes a research project which observes the teaching practices of trainers working in three non-linguistic skill ("other-skill") areas--music (classical singing), table tennis, and flight simulation. The aim is to compare these practices with those of the language teacher and to consider whether the latter has anything to learn from…

A lesson in essay planning designed for college and graduate students of English as a Second Language is described. The intended audience is a group with varied linguistic backgrounds and levels of English proficiency. The lesson's objective is to develop metacognitive skills for planning well-organized essays. A computer program using graphics,…

The concept of transfer, which refers to the brain's ability to generalize or situations in which perceptions and behaviors are generalizable, can be of use to teachers of English as a second language (ESL) students and basic writers. What is called "writing across the curriculum" and most classroom writing instruction are based on unexamined…