Language learners invariably struggle with the target language pragmatics, and helping them to understand and use it appropriately is not an easy task for ESL teachers. Specific pragmatic acts, such as requests, involve myriad elements that, despite being inherent to these acts, are quite elusive. No wonder so many ESL teachers feel intimidated…

In academic environments, reading is assigned not simply to transmit information; students are required to take the information, and based on the task set by the instructor, assess, analyze, and critique it on the basis of personal experiences, prior knowledge, and other readings (Grabe, 2009). Thus text-based comprehension (Kintsch, 1998) alone…

This article reports findings from a strategy intervention study involving a treatment class (N=20) and a comparison class (N=20) in an ESL oral setting. Oral communication strategies were taught to the treatment class. A data-collection method comprising stimulated recall interviews that aimed to investigate respectively the learning process…

Linguistic minority students in schools must acquire and operate in a second language while negotiating mainstream texts and content areas, along with negotiating an emerging new sense of social identity. This article presents journal data from an Australian ethnographic study that explored the relationship between second-language use, textual…

This empirical study examines how English-as-a-second-language (ESL) learners use their vocabulary knowledge for inferring meanings of unknown words in reading comprehension. The data, collected through interviews with young adult ESL students in Canadian universities, indicate that: (a) semantic and morphological aspects of vocabulary knowledge…

The author contends that the topical content of ESL lesson materials in schools and universities is of ethical significance. Based on an established model for ethical judgment in social services, five guidelines for ethical selection of lesson topics are proposed and illustrated. Lesson topics must help ESL students: (a) adjust to local…

Investigates a first-year undergraduate program in TESOL consisting of three strands: a language-based course, a theme-based course, and a sheltered-content course. Learners rated different aspects of their development in language, skills, and strategies--as well as motivational factors--over two semesters. Author/VWL)

Describes the Foresee Approach to integrating academic content, language, and learning instruction in English as a Second Language (ESL) from kindergarten to grade 12 or in mainstream/part ESL classrooms. The Foresee Model includes theoretical and practical constituents and guides the formulation of instructional objectives in the three target…

Utilizes genre theory to illuminate issues of debate in theme-based English for Academic Purposes (EAP) pedagogy, including program goals and course design and content. The article argues that EAP instructors cannot teach students skills required for all their future content courses, but can impart strategies to cope with community expectations.…

Focuses on factors affecting timing in conventional communicative second-language classrooms, summarizes research evidence on the significance of timing, and identifies contexts where timing should be a consideration. The article argues for more use of time lapses, particularly deliberated silences, within the framework of classroom dynamics. (26…

The English-as-a-second-language teacher's role is explored, with five specific areas of responsibility elaborated: (1) providing comprehensible input; (2) preparing learners to cope with nonclassroom language; (3) providing references and resource materials; (4) providing focused instruction in particular areas of language; and (5) providing…

Part of a longitudinal study of the relationship of language and play in a preschool multilingual/multicultural setting indicated that not all children gain the same linguistic and social benefits from unstructured freeplay and that teachers may need to structure and individualize play according to children's social and linguistic development…

Data collected from young adult English-as-a-second-language students' (N=20) reports, think-aloud protocols, and analyses of achievement in composition writing indicated that most learners were able to use these learning strategies to make discernable achievements in their writing proficiency. (Author/CB)

Observational studies focusing on adult English-as-a-second-language (ESL) students' behavior and attitudes examined different learning styles and learning strategies and suggested the need for ESL teachers to be trained to better understand and develop sensitivity toward students' individual learning styles. (Author/CB)

Discusses "hermeneutics" and "inner speech" in an attempt to broaden the current theoretical basis for describing foreign language listening as a dynamically interpretive language process. A pedagogical model is proposed for the teaching of academic listening skills in the foreign language classroom. (Author/CB)