Over the past 2 decades, research has demonstrated that learner collaboration facilitates second language (L2) acquisition (Lapkin, Swain, & Smith, 2002; McDonough, 2004; Storch, 1998, 2004; Swain & Lapkin, 1998). Adopting a sociocultural perspective (e.g., Swain & Lapkin, 1998), the current study compared the effectiveness of collaborative and…

Drawing on Language Awareness (LA) approaches developed for francophone classrooms and a sociocultural theoretical perspective on language and learning that posits the genesis of new knowledge construction is situated in social interactions and shaped by socio-historical context, we conducted a small-scale case study of the implementation of LA…

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate a sociocultural approach to studying disability in educational contexts grounded in the cultural-historical and activity theory approaches. From the sociocultural viewpoint, disability is regarded as being located in particular types of activity systems and learning cultures rather than within an…

Studies have found that motherhood is significantly associated with attrition for female graduate students in the United States. Few, however, have examined this phenomenon from the point of view of current students. Utilizing data from 30 in-depth interviews with student mothers from a number of academic fields, this study details both the…

This study examined the effects of marital status and family income on the self-esteem of 292 African American mothers. Counter to previous studies with European American mothers, family income moderated the effects of marital status. Those mothers with higher family income had higher self-esteem, regardless of their marital status. For those with…

This article discusses the state of Canadian democracy. Although calling Canadian democracy as something to be in a crisis is still debatable, the author expresses worry over the declining turnout levels in recent elections. Canada--along with a number of other liberal democracies--has experienced a significant and consistent decline in election…

The paper explores the dynamics of competition in higher education. National competition and global competition are distinct, but feed into each other. Higher education produces "positional goods" (Hirsch 1976) that provide access to social prestige and income-earning. Research universities aim to maximise their status as producers of…

This paper describes the rationale for, and the design, implementation and preliminary evaluation of a taxonomy to guide the grading and feedback of ePortfolio assessment of personal development planning (PDP) in a module where PDP is integrated into the curriculum. Conventional higher education assessment methods do not adequately address the…

The "Struggle for Identity in Today's Schools" examines cultural recognition and the struggle for identity in America's schools. In particular, the contributing authors focus on the recognition and misrecognition as antagonistic cultural forces that work to shape, and at times distort identity. What surfaces throughout the chapters are…

Despite the growing interest in teaching second language (L2) pragmatics, the issue of assessment of learners' pragmatic skills, particularly in the context of the classroom, seems to be less prominently discussed, even though the assessment is an integral part of the instruction. This qualitative case study aims to demonstrate an…

This article presents an exchange between Kip Strasma and Elizabeth Tomlinson. Strasma responds to "Gender and Peer Response" by Tomlinson, and Tomlinson responds to Strasma's ""Spotlighting": Peer-Response in Digitally Supported First-Year Writing Courses." Both of them respond to each other's cross talk.

This article discusses six teaching strategies identified by teacher-researchers as supporting their goal to improve learning and teaching for all children in the intercultural setting of a kindergarten in "Aotearoa" New Zealand. As a Centre of Innovation, the kindergarten received government funding for a 3-year action research project…

While not representative of all students, those who demonstrate a sense of entitlement demand a great deal of instructors' time and energy. Our article places student entitlement in its social context, with specific attention to the prevalence of the consumer mentality, grade inflation, and the self-esteem of the student generation. We then…

This book offers a broad view for a varied audience of what the vision expressed in all three National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' Standards documents will look like when aligned with practice and outlines ways in which desired changes can be realized. Six sections and 21 chapters in the book are: Section I--History: (1) "Paths to the…