Authors Kevin McCaughey and Rick Rosenberg demonstrate techniques for using board games to stimulate student-centered language practice that is flexible, productive, engaging, and fun. The article includes tips for efficient game play and for using games with a variety of levels and class sizes. The authors show that playing board games for…

Providing students with opportunities for peer interaction is considered best practice in classroom teaching. However, facilitating peer interaction as part of distance education represents a new challenge for some teachers. The present article raises eleven questions for teachers to consider when infusing cooperative learning (thoughtfully…

Classroom instruction in China and in the United States have sharp differences. Typically, constructivist learning theory shapes American classroom instruction whereas Confucian educational culture shapes Chinese classroom instruction. Furthermore, typically, Chinese classrooms adopt a direct instructional approach whereas American classrooms…

Achievement gaps between groups of students (minority and white, rich and poor, English speakers and English language learners) are complex and intractable. Increasingly, they are being seen as a result of disparities between opportunities for learning available to different groups. By changing the opportunity structures of schools and…

Teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) who want to develop successful lessons face numerous challenges, including large class sizes and inadequate instructional materials and technological support. Another problem is unmotivated students who refuse to participate in class activities. According to Harmer (2007), uncooperative and…

Language teachers have responded to the special pedagogical needs created by large language classes as they arise rather than addressing them comprehensively. This may result from both guilt about the relatively small size of even the large language classes, and fear that expression of concern might be mistaken for trying to find an excuse for…

In choosing to have students use the computer in unstructured writing activities, the instructor may prefer to cover basics during classroom sessions and have students use technological aids to expand on these basics in outside assignments. Out-of-class composition assignments force students to create with these basics on their own. Students use…

This cost analysis model was developed for use in examining the costs of programs teaching French as a second language. Its main aim is to understand how costs are incurred, but it can be used to figure actual costs that can be used in a cost benefit analysis. The model was developed using data from two Canadian school boards that offer a variety…

Teacher-centered presentation is generally considered the only way of teaching in large classes, whereas a learner-centered communicative approach is not considered feasible. This applies even more to language teaching, where the difference between the native speaker's knowledge and the students' command of the language hinder communication. In…

Describes a study that attempted to quantify and model how teachers' perceptions of educational policy influenced their classroom practice. Investigated the interrelationships among theorized factors--such as perceptions of preservice education, class size, and university entrance exams--believed to influence teachers' approval of communicative…

Discusses the reasons for the differences in second language proficiency across Australia, including composite classes at primary and secondary levels and classes of mixed proficiency levels at secondary level. Reviews strategies for dealing with this problem, including effecting a smooth transition between primary and secondary schooling and the…

Noting that, in terms of language acquisition, the "basics" at schools should parallel the "basics" of common sense family life, this book examines the connections between play, language development, and learning in young children. Chapter 1 deals with the role of the teacher in a changing society. Chapter 2 addresses some of…

This is the fourth report of a project designed to monitor and assess progress made by the federal government and targeted states and school districts in carrying out the 1994 amendments to Title I. It presents field research on statewide policies and practices with respect to Title I in California, as well as district and school implementation in…

This bulletin informs teachers about opportunities to teach overseas under the Educational Exchange Program, conducted by the Department of State. These include teacher interchange matchings, one-way teaching assignments for American and foreign teachers here and abroad, and summer seminars for teachers of modern foreign languages, the classics,…

The instructional settings and teacher-learner relationships observed in English-as-a-second-language classes at the secondary and university levels in Poland by an American senior Fulbright lecturer are characterized by very formal instruction with heavy emphasis on pronunciation and grammar exercises, large classes with little opportunity for…