Teaching in a monolingual/monocultural, non-English speaking environment can at times be frustrating. Teachers want their students to genuinely communicate with each other in socially acceptable ways, and at the same time become more aware of cultural traits. What is needed in a classroom is a reaction that is real because it is spontaneous. This…

The authors take a critical language pedagogy approach to examining a 2011 controversy over disparaging comments towards Mexicans made by commentators of the British Broadcasting Corporation's automotive show Top Gear. In particular, they focus on the characterization of groups and individuals according to their nationality and examine the…

The business case for diversity--the practice of connecting human differences to an organization's bottom line--has been critiqued for its compromised treatment of human difference. Through a grounded in action discursive analysis of 19 interviews with diversity consultants, this research identifies three occupational demands that prompted…

According to the U.S. Department of Education (2004), more than 40% of approximately three million learners in the federally-funded adult education programs are in the area of English as a second language (ESL). These learners, the majority of whom are immigrants and refugees, represent a huge diversity of cultural backgrounds and nationalities,…

A quantitative-qualitative historical content analysis of selected Seinfeld television comedy episodes was conducted for this study. Episodes were analyzed for the presence of health-related messages pertaining to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's health priority areas, which include the most harmful risk behaviors affecting…

Teachers are at high risk for stress, negative emotion, and job dissatisfaction, which has been linked with health problems and early attrition. Humor has been found to relieve various forms of stress. However, there is a gap in the literature regarding humor effects on teacher stress and its related consequences. The purpose of this quantitative,…

Art educators are aware that one way to inspire students is to introduce them to prominent artists. They all know that many students have preconceived notions that artists only become well-known after death, or that a life of art means a life of poverty. To open the students' eyes, the author always tries to include lessons about successful,…

This case study analyzes how and why student engagement differs across 581 classes in one diverse high school. Factor analyses of surveys with 1,132 students suggest three types of engaging teaching practices--connective instruction, academic rigor, and lively teaching. Multilevel regression analyses reveal that connective instruction predicts…

Problem Statement: The main function of education is to prepare individuals for life. In this context, education aims to equip individuals throughout the different stages of education, where most of the time individuals learn how they should behave, as well as how to manage problems with effective problem-solving and critical thinking skills. The…

College students ("n" = 846) enrolled in a general education course were randomly assigned to either an arousal (experimental) or no-arousal (control) group. The experimental group was exposed to a topic-relevant, 90-second external stimulus (a technique used to elevate arousal and focus attention). The control group listened to the…

The purpose of this article is to examine the literature on teaching statistics for useful ideas that teachers of language testing courses can draw on and incorporate into their teaching toolkits as they see fit. To those ends, the article addresses eight questions: What is known generally about teaching statistics? Why are students so anxious…

This book takes the mystery out of leadership by illustrating the visible and invisible components of leadership. Essential questions, reflective strategies, and practical tips within each chapter will bring school librarians to their next level in leadership while they recognize the hidden leadership opportunities in daily tasks that are already…

This qualitative study describes and analyses young language learners' spontaneous comments while sharing picture books during EFL sessions. It also explores teachers' responses to learners' comments, and considers reasons teachers may choose to ignore children's talk in their first language (L1). Data were collected from young Hungarian learners…

This article explores the ways in which Mexican transmigrants in the USA discursively construct national identities in relation to the mediated message of a television advertisement for an English-language self-study program marketed to Spanish speakers, called "Ingles Sin Barreras." Using narrative analysis of the advertisement and…

Why is play important in the lives of children? What crucial aspects of learning are being neglected in the current near-elimination of recess time in public schools? "Playing for Keeps", co-authored by the well-known writer and educational leader Deborah Meier, and two colleagues with equally long experience in schools, explores these…