Examined how well elementary teachers with English-language learners implemented five standards of effective teaching. Classroom observations and student surveys indicated that in classrooms where the standards were moderately used, students perceived more cohesion, higher perceptions of their reading ability, and significantly less difficulty…

Presents the theoretical principles, integration, and final evaluation of a multimedia program tailored for an intermediate Italian language course. The program, designed as a metaphorical journey, contextualizes the themes of the course while bringing the student into contact with real Italian cities and people. Provides a sociocultural context…

Reports a study that describes and classifies actual teaching practices used by 18 English-as-Second-Language teachers in Australian classrooms. Data were collected through observations of three lessons and subsequent interviews with the teacher. Almost 300 individual practices were identified. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the contribution that joint instruction by a native-speaking teacher and a nonnative-speaking teacher can make to classroom language learning. Reviews the last decade's team-teaching practice in Japanese secondary English-as-Foreign-language classrooms to explore how two teachers with different linguistic and cultural backgrounds can…

Describes the work of PETRA (Primary Teaching in Rural Areas), an aid-funded project that was set up to improve the standards of English language teaching in black primary schools in rural areas in South Africa. Focuses on the first phase of the project, during which teachers attended an inservice training course leading to an externally-validated…

British researchers investigated learning strategies employed by secondary students who were good language learners. Students completed language learning tasks and semistructured interviews to determine cognitive and metacognitive strategies, and teachers completed interviews about their ideas on language learning strategies. Results indicated…

Investigates the nature of cohesion, content, and grammar emergent in children's essays, with emphasis on understanding of cohesion and coherence. Conceptual definitions of these constructs are summarized into a picture-based narrative writing task for elicitation and scoring criteria for quantification. First and second graders from an immersion…

Explores socio-institutional dimensions of German-American telecollaboration and ways they may shape foreign language learning and use. Intertwines socially and institutionally contingent features of language valuation, computer know-how, Internet access, and learning accreditation, and the micro features of situated classroom interaction.…

Language and literacy are situated in specific classroom contexts and are acquired as students engage with the subject matter and tasks of these courses. Therefore, all faculty--not just those who teach courses devoted to teaching English to speakers of other languages (ESOL)--are responsible for contributing to multilingual students' acquisition…

This study examines the characteristics and quality of simplification in graded readers as compared to those of "normal" authentic English. Two passages from graded readers are compared with the original passages. The comparison uses a computer programme, RANGE (Nation and Heatley, 2003) to analyse the distribution of high and low frequency words…

Research in second language acquisition has shown that adjusting classroom discussions, textbook reading, and written activities to the language proficiencies of second language learners triggers second language acquisition in subject matter classrooms. Second language researchers find that subject matter teachers should systematically teach…

There is little research on English language learners (ELLs) in relation to learning disability (LD) assessment and identification. More important, there is a scarcity of research on models and strategies that enhance learning opportunities and outcomes for ELLs prior to an LD diagnosis. We describe in this article an innovative language…

This article discusses benefits of using literature circles with ELL students to strengthen literacy skills and student confidence. Highlighting one teacher's implementation of literature circles, the authors present a candid examination of areas of initial weakness and describe strategies used for improvements in subsequent "rounds." A discussion…

In this article, the authors discuss the plight of three very bright students, who have poor or limited English. The authors discuss how promising practices used to develop content-area reading, writing, and thinking can go a long way toward helping English language learners (ELLs) improve their literacy and learning. They discuss five sets of…

Purpose: Two studies were conducted to investigate the effects of classroom noise on attention and speech perception in native Spanish-speaking second graders learning English as their second language (L2) as compared to English-only-speaking (EO) peers. Method: Study 1 measured children's on-task behavior during instructional activities with and…