The focus of this article is on adult literacy in adult basic education (ABE) programs with special emphasis on English as a Second Language (ESL) students. The article intends to highlight several relevant points in ABE ESL literacy instruction. It focuses on (a) the nature of adult learning, (b) the structure of ABE programs, (c) who the…

A generation or two ago, the achievement of children who came to school knowing little or no English was not a prominent national issue. Today, with the increased focus on school accountability and educational equity, it is. This comprehensive resource explores the research on promoting academic success among language-minority students. The…

This article examines media coverage of a high school Native American mascot controversy. Discourse analysis of media documents and artifacts was utilized to explore how the issue was socially constructed for public consumption. Critical race feminism was used as a framework to examine how media discourses can oversimplify the complex interaction…

This article examines how students enrolled in a university course focused on sociocultural influences and learning changed in their understanding of the relationship between sociocultural factors, teaching, and schooling over the duration of the semester. In this context, sociocultural factors refer to key social constructs such as race, class,…

In recent years, research within the sociocultural perspective on moral learning has contributed important knowledge about how individuals develop their moral ability by participating in sociocultural activities. To a lesser extent, sociocultural research has focused on the role of individual continuity in these processes. The purpose of this…

Teachers' continuing professional development (CPD) is being given increasing importance in countries throughout the world. In Scotland, the changing professional and political context has resulted in unprecedented investment in CPD. However, analysis and evaluation of CPD policies, practice and impact is complex. In seeking to understand some of…

This paper reports on a qualitative study of students' engagement with a Web-based inquiry environment aimed at prompting student reflection in processes of scientific inquiry. In order to demonstrate how prompts become structuring resources for students' scientific inquiry, detailed analyses of students' interaction processes are conducted. The…

This article investigates the home literacy practices of two immigrant families, one each of Lebanese and Chinese descent. It explores the consequences of mismatches between home and school literacy practices in relation to mainstream academic outcomes. Two mothers of the families in this study are interviewed about their beliefs and parenting…

The argument for a pedagogy of input oriented learning for the development of speaking competence (Sharwood-Smith, 1986; Bardovi-Harlig and Salsbury, 2004; Eslami-Rasekh, 2005) has been of increasing interest in Applied Linguistics circles. It has also been argued that multimedia applications, in particular DVDs, provide language learners with…

This study draws on sociocultural theory to explore how adult ESL learners interact with either a higher- or a lower-proficiency peer during pair problem solving, and how they each perceive the interactions with their partners. Three ESL learners engaged in a three-stage task: pair writing; pair noticing; and individual writing with two learners,…

This study investigated the prospective predictors of body image in 9- to 12-year-old girls. Participants were 150 girls in Grades 4-6 with a mean age of 10.3 years. Girls completed questionnaire measures of media and peer influences (television/magazine exposure, peer appearance conversations), individual psychological variables (appearance…

This article explores the usefulness of communities of practice theory for understanding how districts can create organizational environments that foster teachers' opportunities to learn the new ideas and practices required to carry out ambitious reforms. It draws on data from a longitudinal study of the implementation of ambitious mathematics…

Drawing on recent developments in dialogic approaches to learning and teaching, I examine the roots of dialogic meaning-making as a concept in classroom practices. Developments in the field of dialogic pedagogy are reviewed and the case for dialogic engagement as an approach to classroom interaction is considered. The implications of dialogic…

This article presents a Norwegian primary school teacher facing the challenge of realising the curriculum's vision of inclusive education. Ann teaches a third-grade class with 22 pupils among which are pupils with special needs. Two of them are John and Paul. The article focuses on how the teacher deals with these two boys as she, at the same…

This study informs the design and development of pedagogical agents that can flexibly support self-regulation by calibrating guidance to specific phases and facets of self-regulated learning (SRL) as individuals encounter challenges and develop more sophisticated understandings of the task and content. From a socio-cultural perspective of…