This article presents the original concept of drama grammar, the synthesis of grammar instruction and drama pedagogy, which integrates both structural and communicative paradigms through a dialectic combination of acting and linguistic analysis. Based on the principles of drama pedagogy, drama grammar makes use of techniques from the performing…

A number of studies claim that knowledge of 5,000-8,000 of the most frequent words should provide at least 95% coverage of most unsimplified texts in English, arguably enough to guess or ignore most unknown words while reading (Hirsh & Nation, 1992; Hu & Nation, 2000; Laufer, 1991; Nation, 2006). However, perhaps hidden in that 95% figure…

A writer/TA explores how her own identity informs her teaching and learning with immigrant students.

Understanding some key notions of how vocabulary is acquired, can help the learners of the other languages to have better and easier learning, longer retention, and even help the teachers deliver more realistic and effective vocabulary teaching. The purpose of research described in the current study to investigate on particular approach as a…

Complexity theory is a field of physics that studies the nature and behavior of complex systems, systems whose elements interact in complex and unpredictable ways. Recent years have seen a number of attempts to extend its scope to the biological and social sciences, and now Larsen-Freeman and Cameron offer a view of applied linguistics from a…

Document cameras can have great utility in second language classrooms. However, entry-level consumer document cameras start at around $350. This article describes how the author built three document cameras and offers suggestions for how teachers can successfully build their own quality document camera using a webcam for around $100.

Presented at the American Association for Applied Linguistics Annual Conference, Denver, Colorado, USA; 23 March 2009.

The purpose of this study is to explore and assess the improvement in intercultural competence of USAF Academy cadets using indirect measures (e.g., questions in end-of-course critiques and institutional surveys) and a direct measure--specifically the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI). Data gathered from several groups of subjects at…

Foreign sign language instruction is an important, but overlooked area of study. Thus the purpose of this paper was two-fold. First, the researcher sought to determine the level of knowledge and interest in foreign sign language among Deaf teenagers along with their learning preferences. Results from a survey indicated that over a third of the…

Based on the schema theory, it has been found that the background knowledge of males and females differs. This difference in background knowledge can affect the students' reading comprehension. In Iran, although boys and girls study in different schools, they follow the same curricula and syllabuses in all the schools. The present article reports…

The study examines the effect of explicit form focus instruction and specifically metalinguistic information feedback on the development of both implicit and explicit knowledge of adult English as a Second Language (ESL) learners. Ninety-one subjects at the lower intermediate level were carefully selected through placement test at one of the…

This article examines multilingual interactions in the complementary school classroom for ethnic Chinese children in the UK. Through a detailed analysis of classroom exchanges amongst the children and their teachers, the study aims to demonstrate how they alternate between different varieties of Chinese and English and different modes of…

Teachers employ various strategies aimed at enhancing student motivation, yet there is scant empirical evidence to support their effectiveness. Based on an investigation of 30 EFL classroom observations involving 10 teachers and more than 900 learners (including 90 learners at different levels of English proficiency who completed questionnaires),…

The advent of modern technologies has had a remarkable role in revolutionizing the classroom setting. It is, therefore, incumbent on teachers to utilize strategies for effective managing of the change. The aim of the present study was to find out English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers' beliefs regarding classroom management. In so doing, the…

This paper aims to explore the Iranian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners' ability to gain grammatical accuracy in their writing by noticing and correcting their own grammatical errors. Recent literature in language acquisition has emphasized the role of implicit tasks in encouraging learners to develop autonomous language learning…