Classroom Oriented Research

This collection gathers contributions from scholars from Poland and abroad addressing different facets of research into the processes of foreign-language and second-language learning and teaching as they transpire in a typical language classroom. The book is divided into three parts, which address in turn: research directions and methodology, the findings of empirical research, and links between theoretical considerations and classroom practice. Accordingly, the first part includes papers that examine the role of different research paradigms, put forward concrete research proposals, present innovative data gathering tools or assess the role of such instruments in language teaching. The second part includes reports on original research studies focusing e.g. on teachers’ beliefs, the role of lexis and pragmatics, the application of modern technologies, the teaching and assessment of primary school children, and the development of social skills from a cross-cultural perspective. Finally, the third part of the book demonstrates how theory-driven approaches can enhance the effectiveness of instructed second language acquisition.

The volume brings together papers related to different aspects of classroom-oriented research on teaching and learning second and foreign languages that have been authored by specialists from Poland and abroad. The first part contains contributions dealing with individual variation in the language classroom, in particular age, anxiety, beliefs and language learning strategies. The second part deals with various facets of teachers’ behaviors in the classroom, focusing in particular on classroom communication and the use of action research in teacher training. The third part includes papers devoted to various instructional practices, such as the use of new technologies, the development of intercultural competence, assessment or combining content and language. Finally, the last part deals with issues involved in research methodology, with special emphasis being placed on the use of diaries, observations, mixed methods research as well as triangulation.

Educational researchers are bound to see this as a timely work. It brings together the work of leading experts in argumentation in science education. It presents research combining theoretical and empirical perspectives relevant for secondary science classrooms. Since the 1990s, argumentation studies have increased at a rapid pace, from stray papers to a wealth of research exploring ever more sophisticated issues. It is this fact that makes this volume so crucial.

In an attempt to fill the gap left by the many published studies on classroom second language research, this book explores a variety of human, social, and political issues involved in the carrying out of such studies. Many journals are chock-full of the results of classroom research, with evidence to support one claim or another about the efficacy of one teaching method or another. Many textbooks are replete with statistical procedures to be used, and with experimental designs to fit varying situations. Too often overlooked in these treatments are the human, social, and political issues involved in carrying out research in classrooms that are not one's own. What are the problems going to be when one attempts work such as this? What does one do on discovering that an administrator's agenda is different than one had thought? What does one do when a teacher resents intrusions into her classroom? This book offers a view on those kinds of issues, as presented and managed by successful classroom researchers themselves. The authors present their own experiences including, on occasion, their trials and tribulations and how they dealt with them. They lay themselves open to criticism in doing so, but they make their contributions much the richer as well. The classroom contexts extend to different countries, and range from elementary schools to universities. Some of the issues presented are: * the necessarily collaborative nature of the research; * the question of meshing pedagogically sound and experimentally acceptable practices; * the often strong possibility that political and social decisions will interrupt the research; * the perennial question of reporting out the results; and * the training of graduate student researchers.

This collection brings together a series of empirical studies on topics surrounding classrooms of Chinese as a second language (L2) by drawing on a range of theoretical frameworks, methodological strategies, and pedagogical perspectives. Over the past two decades, research on classroom-based second language acquisition (SLA) has emerged and expanded as one of the most important sub-domains in the general field of SLA. In Chinese SLA, however, scarce attention has been devoted to this line of research. With chapters written by scholars in the field of SLA—many of whom are experienced in classroom teaching, teacher education, or program administration in Chinese as a second language—this book helps disentangle the complicated relationships among linguistic targets, pedagogical conditions, assessment tools, learner individual differences, and teacher variables that exist in the so-called "black-box" classrooms of L2 Chinese.

Describes nine different teaching strategies which have been proven to have positive effects on student learning and explains how those strategies can be incorporated into the classroom.