When communicating with other people, adults reduce or lengthen words based on their predictability, frequency, and discourse status. But younger listeners have less experience than older listeners in processing speech variation across time. In 2 experiments, we tested whether English-speaking parents reduce word durations differently across…

This paper compares the sociolinguistic trajectory of a 'latent' speaker mother to that of a 'new' speaker mother. Drawing on Shandler (TDR 48(1):19-43, 2004), it introduces the term 'post-vernacular FLP' as a means to conceptualise the latent speaker mother's emblematic use of Gaelic with her child as a 'seed' from which language revitalisation…

This exploratory sociolinguistic study examined D/discourses and writing modes in a Grade 10 English literature classroom wherein students answered literature-based questions by means of both traditional and new literacies approaches. Studies conducted at the intersection of classroom instruction and online affinity spaces are still surprisingly…

Colombia has joined the international movement of countries which, under the impulse of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), are looking to integrate global citizenship education (GCED) into their educational system. However, being a recently emerging initiative, the characteristics and possible effects of…

We analyzed teacher supervision and evaluation policy systems in 30 states since the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015 in the United States (US). This qualitative study of state ESSA policy documents and legislation examined how teacher supervision and evaluation systems (TSES) models have been developed under ESSA,…

This article aims to analyse Italian universities' official websites discursive practices to assess their involvement in the university third mission: the contribution by universities to the social and economic development of the environment in which they act. To achieve it, textual data were extracted from the official websites of the 91 Italian…

Linguistic racism is magnified when a speaker is multilingual and shuttles between different languages and language varieties. This reality is underscored in this commentary that reviews four empirical studies that comprise this special issue on linguistic racism. We see linguistic racism enacted in different forms and contexts: through racial…

English-language, and especially US-American TV series have been identified as a major point of contact with the target language for learners of English as a Foreign Language, and the discourse represented there constitutes authentic material that is easily accessible. While the potential of using TV discourse in language education has been widely…

There are two important dimensions to successful second language learning: what goes on inside the classroom and what goes on outside of the classroom (Richards, 2015). This paper investigates smartphone use for online learning of English among Japanese university students using online surveys and semi-structured interviews. The investigation…

This paper looked at educational realities faced by middle managers within the growing number of Free Schools in England. Heads of Physical Education (HoPE), key policy actors within the middle tier of school management, have had to contend with performative pressures resulting from limited resources made available to run both curricular and…

This paper reports on a study conducted with Grade 11 learners as participants, in four public high schools in a rural district of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The central objective was to investigate the mathematical discourses of Grade 11 learners related to the word, algebraic and graphic representations of asymptotes of the…

In this paper, we discuss the problematic use of the term dyslexia. Noting that there are no unambiguous objective diagnostic criteria for 'dyslexia', in part because this term is understood in multiple ways, we discuss its relevance for informing educational assessment, intervention and resourcing. We conclude by highlighting how current…

In 1994, cultural critic Mark Dery coined the term "Afrofuturism" to refer to "speculative fiction that treats African-American themes and addresses African-American concerns in the context of twentieth-century technoculture--and, more generally, African-American signification that appropriates images of technology and a…

The importance of early vocabulary development to later reading comprehension has been well-established. However, there have been a number of criticisms that the assessments typically used to measure oral vocabulary knowledge do not adequately capture the complexity of this construct. This conceptual review works towards a more robust theoretical…

Word problems form an important part of the early grade mathematics curriculum in South Africa. Studies have shown that the relative difficulty of word problems differ: learners are more likely to solve certain types of word problems than others, with compare type problems being the most difficult. In order to help early grade learners understand…