Second language students come to the class with knowledge of a first language and with understanding of communication strategies. Creative exercises must build on this basis from the beginning of the course. Short dialogues, structure drills, and controlled grammar sequences based on a real situation should be integrated into the course from the…

Classroom use of role-playing in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction in Japan is described. The purpose is to improve students' verbal and nonverbal communication skills and to link and use previously built schema, in both structured and improvised situations. Units designed around a short listening passage, a short reading passage, and…

We, the two authors of this article, have used dialogue journals for many years: Pearly with primary school students and George with secondary, tertiary, and adult students. Below, we share our ideas and those of others about this valuable learning tool. In the examples from our students' journals, names have been replaced with letters. [This…

Overviews differences regarding goals and approaches for foreign language (FL) education and identifies obstacles to consensus. The author situates the different discourse communities interested in FL education, and the contexts providing the "raison d'etre" for these differences. Two responses to this overview and the author's reaction to them…

This article is divided into two parts. The first discusses theoretical issues related to the software program introduced, and the second deals with practical issues, including technical and pedagogical considerations in implementing the program. (Author/VWL)

In this article, the author examines the inquiry talk of a small group of bilingual children discussing the text "Oliver Button Is a Sissy". The children raised many questions about the story and about issues of gender. The major focus of this article is on the participants' inquiry talk and the context that mediated their talk. The author uses…

The dialogue journal procedure, which involves written turn-taking between a teacher and a student, is examined in terms of how the journal process can prepare students for later oral communication. The use of the dialogue journal with four distinct student populations (hearing impaired or deaf, learning disabled, bilingual, and…

Current literature on writing instruction focuses on the writing conference, which accompanies a shift in emphasis from product to process and potentially transforms the teacher's role from task master and evaluator to respondent, opening the door to greater peer interaction in literacy learning. However desirable this ideal may be, extant…

The language teacher automatically teaches culture when he teaches language, but there are many ways in which the Italian teacher can specifically bring culture to the Italian classroom. Through use of vocabulary certain differences in culture can be made clear to students. Dialogues should be used to reveal major areas of contrast and similarity…

Nineteen studies of the use of reciprocal teaching to help students improve their comprehension of texts are reviewed. The studies are grouped according to the type of instructional approach used, the type of student involved, and the type of outcome measure used. Two main approaches are identified: (1) reciprocal teaching only, in which the…

This issue contains the following articles: "ESOL - EIAL: A position paper on the teaching/learning of English as an International Auxiliary Language," by Larry E. Smith; "Teaching English through Songs and Games," by Patricia P. Realin; "ESL Adult Literacy: A New Use for Dialogues," by Jack Wigfield; "New ESL…

Conference papers on group methods of speech therapy include: "Donnees nouvelles sur les competences du jeune enfant. Proposition de nouveaux concepts" (New Data on the Competences of the Young Child. Proposition of New Concepts) (Hubert Montagner); "Interactions sociales et apprentissages: quels savoirs en jeu" (Social Interactions and Teaching:…

An instructional approach that promotes an interactive or experiential model rather than a reductionist model in special education is discussed. The approach, called instructional conversations, encourages students to use meaningful language without focusing on the correctness of form. The teacher's role is one of facilitating genuine dialogue…

This book examines 12 basic principles of adult learning and illustrates the power of dialogue to enable all to teach and all to learn. Part 1 comprises chapters 1 and 2, which examine 12 principles that ensure dialogue and effective learning and show how the principles can be applied to ensure the effectiveness of an adult learning event. The 12…

Teachers, in their interactions with students, prevent a critical teaching of the body because of the following problems: (1) their information is cloaked in protectionism; (2) conservative educational policies hinder them; and (3) the classroom is too limited to adequately address the question. (Author/BJV)