At its most fundamental level, like all instruction, comprehension instruction is composed of moment-to-moment interactions among students and between students and their teacher. Children's competence at making meaning from texts and their motivation to read are shaped by a variety of classroom influences, one of the most important of which may be…

This article reports on aspects of a recent research and development project in doctoral education. It focuses on the use of email for tutor's formative assessment within the early stages of a Professional Doctorate in Education (EdD) in an English university. Its case study methodology included participant observation of the programme workshops,…

The purpose of the present study was to examine the nature of the discourse generated by two different online approaches to mathematics teacher professional development. Thirty mathematics teachers participated in online activities involving analysis and discourse about artifacts of teaching practice. Half were randomly assigned to a group that…

The impact of globalization on many aspects of current social life has not left the field of multicultural education unaffected. Yet the theoretical call for the creation of global multicultural frameworks has not translated into teacher education practice. In one multicultural education class, I attempted to explicitly infuse global insights and…

A study examined the effects of (1) providing students with instruction in a "discourse-structure" reading and writing strategy on college freshmen's recall and comprehension of history textbook passages; and (2) this procedure on the quality of students' expository writing. Subjects, 126 college freshmen, randomly assigned to one of…

Papert (1980) contended that the value of the Logo computer program lies in its ability to allow children to take control of their own learning processes and to acquire skills and concepts independently of a stifling curriculum generated by adults. It is argued here that Papert's ideas are preserved when teachers' modelling of cognitive strategies…

Six question and answer exchanges between a teacher and a student were analyzed to illustrate teachers' intuitive practical knowledge of questioning skills. It is suggested that this knowledge of questioning techniques is systematic and organized and that the teacher draws intuitively from a systematic framework of questioning patterns. A theory…

Recommends an approach, derived from Derridean deconstruction, for the analysis of argumentative/persuasive texts. (MM)

Reports on an experiment in which three groups of adolescents discussed the status of women. The discussions were recorded for the purpose of using the recordings as pedagogical tools in French instruction. (AM)

Discusses how the terms, "discourse,""education," and "identity," are interwoven in the collection of papers in this issue as well as how, as theoretical constructs, they are differently inflected within individual papers. The article points out that all the papers engage with both the micro- and macro-levels of analysis. (8 references) (Author/CK)

Describes experiences and several strategies for developing discourse in the classroom through problem solving and context. (KHR)

Explores how the issue of race is enmeshed in a complex web of social relations that also include love, sex, gender, economics, and violence. Suggests how a consideration of modernist primitivism and Sigmund Freud's ideas on the individual's relationship to society can provide frameworks for further analysis of two of the stories in Jean Toomer's…

Discusses some of the main protagonists in the debate between economists about their own discourse and reviews significant studies by applied linguists in this area. The article suggests that these studies may be grouped according to the categories micro-studies, macro-studies and educational studies. (57 references) (Author/CK)

Describes a method by which teachers can introduce students to meaning and text through application of Mikhail Bakhtin's discourse theories. Explains that students are encouraged to reject common understandings of good writing. Identifies "daffy" definition exercises, newspaper editorial comparisons, and other activities that help…

Reevaluates the role of communication within the communicative approach to second-language learning. The article explores the consequences of using the notion of the speech act in the classroom, dissociating it from other speech acts, context, culture, and grammar. The article concludes that this approach may caricature authentic conversation. (48…