This article focuses on the use of display questions to construct positive identities in post observation feedback talk between in-service English language teachers and a supervisor. Using a linguistic ethnographic framework, microanalysis of dyadic feedback interaction is supplemented with ethnographic data gathered from participant perspective…

The premise of this paper is that the interactional practices constituting teacher-student interaction and language learning are interdependent in that the substance of learners' language knowledge is inextricably tied to their extended involvement in the regularly occurring interactional practices constituting their specific contexts of learning.…

Examines interactional strategies in several South Asian languages. The norms that affect politeness in South Asian languages are very different from those that operate in native English. Implications for teaching English in South Asia are discussed in terms of the relationship between language and "grammar of culture." (Author/LMO)

Examines the value of conversation partner programs that pair up second language students and native speakers for out-of-class conversation. Findings reveal the activities conversation partners engage in, the perceived advantages of the experience for nonnative and native participants, and the problems encountered. Results can be used to guide…

Examines a kindergarten in which half the students are learning English as a second language. This ethnographic study describes communities in which two newcomer children participate peripherally; the identities, social practices, and resources available to newcomers; and the organization of each community's social structure, its power relations,…

Examines code switching occurring during group work in English-as-a-Second-Language classes in Spain in which the learners share a first language. Argues that the discourse produced in this context is layered as the participants oscillate between a literal (off-record) and a nonliteral (on-record) frame. Suggests that the significance of language…

Demonstrates the ways in which dialog journal communication can benefit both teachers and students. The trauma of migration and resettlement related in the dialog journal is discussed briefly, the methods of the study are outlined, and the journal communication with one student is analyzed. (22 references) (CK)

Reports a study examining the use of group activities in 10 randomly selected English-language teaching coursebooks published since 1990. Results are discussed in light of theory and research on cooperative learning; task-based language teaching; and the roles of learners, teachers, and coursebooks. (26 references) (Author/CK)

Explores perceptions of student teachers of English as a Second Language regarding usefulness of school experience in learning to teach. Describes a training program in Hong Kong involving an additional period of exposure to secondary school before the practice teaching period. This program focuses on acquainting student teachers with school…

Investigates Chinese students' interaction styles and reactions to peer response groups in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) composition classes. Interviews with Chinese-speaking and Spanish-speaking students were audiotaped and examined by researchers. Analysis of these tapes indicated that the Chinese students' main objective of group harmony…

Discusses characteristics of a teacher language that give students opportunities to articulate ideas in an academic discourse as well as factors precluding such opportunities. The article illustrates types of teacher silence that can create opportunities for student participation and how matching the subject with student culture can affect…

Discusses an intermediate-level learner's progress in listening comprehension during a pre-sessional English for Academic Purposes course in the United Kingdom. Highlights the difference in progress in one-way and two-way listening and the discrepancy between performance within the sheltered setting of the language classroom and success in real…