This article presents case studies of two long-time English language teachers: a California English as a second language instructor originally from Brazil, and a Chilean English as a foreign language teacher who worked for many years in the United States before returning home. Based on interview and classroom observation data, this research…

This article examines how eight advanced ESL learners attend to and utilize the nonverbal information found in a video text. Using verbal report methodology in which test-takers verbalized aloud their thought processes while taking a video listening test, the results suggested that the test-takers varied in how they attended to and utilized the…

This study analyses teachers' and students' perception of task-based language learning in order to find out the similarities and differences that exist between the understanding of tasks by the two parties. The overriding purpose of this study is to find out the pupils' interpretations of tasks used in the foreign language classroom and,…

Administrative support is essential for reform efforts to take place at the building and district level. This study explored barriers teachers encountered while implementing science education reform and the impact those barriers had on change in instructional practices and reform. Findings in this study reveal that support from administration is…

Although a substantial amount of professional literature argues for the potential benefits of content-based instruction, limited research exists on how this type of instruction actually is appropriated, understood, and carried out in practice by foreign language teachers. This study examines the role of two sixth grade Spanish teachers' discursive…

A teacher recently said of her own education, "When I went to school, we knew a lot and understand nearly nothing. We had no idea how what we learned related to the world beyond the classroom. What a waste!" This teacher is right. Knowing, which is important, is not the same as understanding. Simply cultivating knowledge is, as the teacher said, a…

In this study, we explore the instructional decision making of Charlotte, a graduate of an intensive social studies teacher education program. Charlotte articulated a sophisticated conception of historical thinking and appeared to possess exemplary pedagogical content knowledge. Her classroom practice did not incorporate the approaches to…

The objective of this paper is to report the development and use of an observation checklist to identify typically developing children with behavioural manifestations associated with inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. This measure is termed the Scope Classroom Observation Checklist (SCOC). The SCOC was developed, assessed for reliability…

The term scientific literacy is defined differently in different contexts. The term literacy simply refers to the ability for one to read and write, but recent studies in language literacy have extended this definition. New literacy research seeks a redefinition in terms of how skills are used rather than how they are learned. Contemporary…

Writing behaviors of grade 1 children were explored as they used word processors to support their writing. Information was gathered in the form of field notes and audiotape transcripts from classroom observation sessions, along with informal interviews with students and teachers. Themes which emerged from the data analysis suggested a combination…

This paper reports the development and evaluation of an observation guide that draws on qualitative techniques of participant observation and semistructured interviewing to help anyone interested in visiting and understanding schools to develop a "big picture" profile quickly and efficiently. The guide reflects the philosophy of E.…

Head Start classroom observations are an integral part of providing high-quality services to families and children while supporting staff. All too often, however, this opportunity to enhance services and solve problems is viewed either as an evaluation of staff or as a "rubber stamp" to meet funding requirements. Depending on the…

This paper outlines a classroom technique that conveys to students some of the complexities of naturalistic and systematic observation. Most research methods textbooks devote only a single chapter to all of the descriptive techniques of research. This activity involves students in the observation and recording of "fidgets" during a five-minute…

This handbook is devoted to the process of teacher research. It shows teacher-researchers how they can pursue their research activities systematically and carefully and provides a number of research techniques, methods for categorizing data, and suggestions for publishing research. The chapters are: (1) "Try To Love the Questions Themselves:…

The difficulties and obstacles encountered in research in the analysis and interpretation of writing conference talk are theoretically important. These dilemmas may serve as markers to help researchers see how the routines of research and the interpretations of findings are integrally related. The ways in which talk "rearranges" problems…