This article examines an effort to support critical literacy in an English as a foreign language (EFL) setting by analyzing one college EFL reading classroom in which students read and responded to articles from "The New Yorker". Data include transcribed audiotapes of classroom interaction and interviews with students, classroom materials, and…

The purpose of this study was to develop specific rubrics for assessing critiques in English 202, an English as a foreign language course at the Lebanese American University to explore the effectiveness of these rubrics on students' writing and to investigate students' attitudes and reactions to the use of these rubrics. After development of the…

There has been a noticeable change of curricula in specialized and technical courses offered in Japanese schools and universities. One of these is the integration of English for general and specific purposes in the dental curriculum. Although a number of studies have assessed the former, very few have assessed English for specific purposes…

The cooperative development discourse framework (Edge, 2002) has traditionally been used to help individuals-who-teach explore and improve their teaching practice by speaking openly and nondefensively to one of their colleagues, who will refrain from judging and evaluating them. This article presents the rewards of establishing such a…

Using songs in a language class takes advantage of the natural connection between students and music. This article describes a project that develops writing and speaking through song, using technology to help build students' knowledge of U.S. culture as well as their ability to communicate using descriptive, narrative, and expository rhetorical…

Learning a foreign language is like exploring a foreign land; one will be directionless and may be lost in the exploration as one makes efforts to learn foreign language. It is not easy to learn or teach foreign language. However, an appropriate teaching approach or technique can facilitate learning of foreign language, and, thus, it can be taught…

Across the United States, mainstream and English as a second language (ESL) teachers have been sharing their expertise using coteaching and collaboration strategies gleaned from their counterparts in special education inclusion classrooms. These teacher leaders are working together to enhance instruction for their English language learner (ELL)…

Building on the work of Borg (2006), this article reports on a study of Japanese English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' perceptions of some of the unique characteristics of EFL teachers that distinguish them from teachers of other subjects. The data were collected by means of a questionnaire to which 163 college-level EFL students in Japan…

This article reports on the results of a 5-month intervention in one high school class of English language learners (ELLs) with limited or interrupted formal education using an instructional model developed by the authors. These students are a challenging group for educators, especially at the high school level because they must master content…

This article documents our efforts to design and implement a transformational opportunity for teacher credential candidates prior to their student teaching. Through the Case Study Project, candidates participated in an intensive one-on-one teaching and learning experience with a K-12 English language learner (ELL) in classroom settings. In…

Message boards provide an opportunity for students, teachers, and parents to write (or draw) about a story from their lives on a large or small chalkboard. Oral language is then used to describe the written message during a structured circle time. (It is a variation of the traditional show-and-tell except that the focus is on the communication of…

As U. S. school districts struggle to address persistent achievement gaps between increasing numbers of English language learners (ELLs) and their native-English-speaking counterparts, many districts are moving away from segregative models like pull-out to implement more collaborative approaches such as coteaching, or push-in. In contrast to…

In this age of accountability and assessment, classroom teachers need to be encouraged to become action researchers. Action research helps them look at a challenge in the classroom in depth and adjust the curriculum, their teaching methods, or both when they find that current practices are not meeting the needs of some or all students. If…

In 2005, TESOL sponsored a survey to respond to the growing concerns of the organization's Adult Education Interest Section (AEIS). The results showed that interest section members were deeply concerned with inequitable workloads, less-than-desirable working conditions, heavy reliance on part-time teachers, and much-needed professional development…

In this article, the author talks about a diary project that arose from a situation that was both an opportunity and a challenge. While teaching in Vietnam in the spring of 2004, the author received an invitation from the national university in Hanoi. The letter asked him to teach there and specifically to develop a postgraduate course called…