This article explores emerging patterns of communication within a multicultural school environment. South Africa consists various and different identities all sharing overlapping living spaces. Diverse cultural identities exist in public spaces, and family units are in many cases so hybrid that very few adolescents can define themselves as…

This paper investigates the influence of the economic, social, and cultural variables on life satisfaction in Asia and Europe. The second section sets a unifying theoretical framework for all three domains by defining life satisfaction as a function of aspirations and expectations which in turn are affected by micro- and macro-level variables. On…

How have the ideas raised by Firth and Wagner (1997) influenced the construction of second language acquisition (SLA) theories? In this article, we take the position that prior to and since 1997, there was and has been a notable increase in SLA research and theory that prioritizes sociocultural and contextual factors in addition to acknowledging…

Two well-cited studies (Garner, Garfinkel, Schwartz & Thompson, 1980; Wiseman, Gray, Mosimann, & Ahrens, 1992) examined the changing body shape of Playboy centrefolds from 1959 to 1988 and noted that their body weights were significantly lower than those of the average female. The current study updates and examines changes in body measurements and…

This study investigates the discourse of elementary school reading coaches and teachers during coaching interactions in four Alabama schools. Coach/teacher dyads recorded naturally occurring coaching dialogue over periods of 3 to 6 weeks. Each participant shared her views on coaching and commented on the recorded discourse during post-interviews…

An implicit perception of international students is that they have difficulty in becoming involved in social exchange with other students who do not share their "culture" and language. This picture of a group of students isolated and disadvantaged by their lack of contact with "UK culture" is questioned in this article. Data…

This paper examines US Korean youth's perspectives on US history and the impact of their sociocultural backgrounds, particularly their migration status, on their historical interpretations. Based on in-depth interviews with 42 US Korean high school students, the study opens up the question of diversity within an ethnic group, while it also begins…

Purpose: To examine the effect of a systematic vocabulary instructional technique in African American 2nd-grade children with below average vocabulary skills. An additional goal was to examine the role of book type in the retention of novel vocabulary words. Method: Using an adapted alternating treatments design, storybooks were used as a source…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the nature of student-teachers' learning practices in primary school chemistry classroom contexts. Its theoretical approach is based on the sociocultural view of learning and development, which holds a conception of the learner as a cultural and historical subject, embedded within and constituted by a…

This qualitative case study examines post-immigration reformed identity struggles among high school students from the former Soviet Union (FSU). Specifically, Belarusian, Kazakh, and Russian students in one U.S. public school district recognized and internalized "Russian" and inferior identities given to them by their U.S. teachers and…

This qualitative study used a case study design to explore the teaching and learning that takes place in an adult Latino financial literacy education that was aimed specifically at Latina single mothers. The theoretical framework of the study was informed by a blend of critical and Latina feminist sociocultural adult learning perspectives, as well…

The objective of this dissertation is to explore the socio-cultural contextualization of the digital divide in Japanese society. I undertake this task by developing a theoretical and methodological framework based on the notion of "culture as models," while explicating the cultural dimensions of the digital divide and the dynamics of…

Today's students are faced with the challenge of utilizing technology to support not only their personal lives, but also their academic careers. "Technology Implementation and Teacher Education: Reflective Models" provides teachers with the resources needed to address this challenge and develop new methodologies for addressing technology in…

In this paper, I focus on a prevalent and controversial practice in English instruction, namely corrective feedback or repair. While the pros and cons of this practice have been rigorously debated by language scholars for many years, the issue is mostly approached from a cognitive point of view with the focus being on the individual learner and…

Mobile technology is ubiquitous and diverse and permeates many aspects of daily life at home, during leisure activities, and in public spaces. The study presented here is of two sixth grade classes in Michigan, USA and two seventh grade classes in Norway. The students and the teachers in these four classrooms were equipped with mobile technologies…