British English and American English

A student is studying British English.He wants to know:Can I have atalk with Americans? Can they catch me? Learners of English often ask-what are the differences between British English and American English?     

Speaking Q’anjobal,Spanish, and English: a world where other worlds are possible

Currently, there is a call for more humane ways in humanities, for transitions to a world where other worlds are possible. This qualitative case study analyzes an emergent translingual boy’s participation in diverse spatial repertoires to address issues of learning and community belonging. José is a 4-year-old preschool Guatemalan-ancestry boy, who speaks Q’anjob’al, Spanish, and English. He was placed in an English classroom with daily 30-min Spanish and English pullout. José participated in the pullout to a desirable extent but was marginalized in the English classroom. At home, José had varied opportunities for participating in diverse spatial repertoires. I discuss how home and school have different conceptions of learning and community belonging, and how the home setting with pluriversed spatial repertoires sheds light on a pedagogical practice aimed at transitioning towards a world where other worlds are possible.     

Why did people become secondary-school English as a foreign language teachers in China? An examination of the pathways, motivations and policy through a life-history narrative approach

Teacher motivation has been found to be a critical predictor of teachers’ work commitment, identity and performance, yet has received insufficient attention in educational policymaking. In this article the reasons for people becoming teachers of English as a foreign language in China, reflect both social and psychological factors. This motivational aspect of becoming and being a teacher, in particular a teacher of English, provides an avenue for capturing teachers’ meaning and understanding of teaching in their context through the narratives of their experience of why and how they teach English. To develop a policy aimed at sustaining the intrinsic motivation of teachers, it is crucial to analyze the issues that affect a teacher’s commitment and identity.     

Why Use Multiple Representations in the Mathematics Classroom? Views of English and German Preservice Teachers

Dealing with multiple representations and their connections plays a key role for learners to build up conceptual knowledge in the mathematics classroom. Hence, professional knowledge and views of mathematics teachers regarding the use of multiple representations certainly merit attention. In particular, investigating such views of preservice teachers affords identifying corresponding needs for teacher education. However, specific empirical research is scarce. Taking into account the possible role of culture, this study consequently focuses on views about using multiple representations held by more than 100 English and more than 200 German preservice teachers. The results indicate that there are culture-dependent aspects of preservice teachers’ views, but also that there are common needs for professional development.     

American,Hispanic, Spanish-Speaking? Hispanic Immigrants and the Question of Identity

This article explores Hispanics’ concepts of cultural and linguistic identity. It is based on the findings of a recent study conducted by the author in Iglesia hispana de Cristo,¹ a Hispanic church community in Western New York. Data come from ethnographic interviews conducted with 48 participants aged 13 to 80 years and with church leaders and from participant observation. Findings indicate that conceptions of identity vary according to age and generation of immigration. Older, first-generation immigrants view language and culture as inextricably linked, and believe that passing on the Spanish language to their children is an essential parenting responsibility. Younger, U.S.-born Hispanics and those who immigrated at a young age, on the other hand, tend to prioritize Hispanic culture over the Spanish language.     

Teaching English to speakers of other languages teachers’ views on the relationship between research and practice

This paper reports on a study investigating teachers’ views and beliefs about the relationship between second language (L2) research and practice. Although a gap has been frequently reported between the two, there is little empirical data to show what teachers’ views on this relationship are or how these views and beliefs influence their use of research. A total of 60 teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) teachers in England responded to a questionnaire which sought both qualitative and quantitative data.?Results of the data analysis suggest that although their views on research and its usefulness are positive, teachers are mainly sceptical about the practicality and relevance of L2 research. More importantly, they expect research to originate from rather than end in classrooms and maintain that the prime responsibility of bringing research and practice together is to be shared by teacher training programmes and educational policies of the institutions they work in. Our analysis of the data further implies that there are differences between teachers’ epistemological assumptions and the more established notions of research.     

Why Use Multiple Representations in the Mathematics Classroom? Views of English and German Preservice Teachers

Dealing with multiple representations and their connections plays a key role for learners to build up conceptual knowledge in the mathematics classroom. Hence, professional knowledge and views of mathematics teachers regarding the use of multiple representations certainly merit attention. In particular, investigating such views of preservice teachers affords identifying corresponding needs for teacher education. However, specific empirical research is scarce. Taking into account the possible role of culture, this study consequently focuses on views about using multiple representations held by more than 100 English and more than 200 German preservice teachers. The results indicate that there are culture-dependent aspects of preservice teachers’ views, but also that there are common needs for professional development.

     

What is missing from the Spoken English classroom? : The gap between classroom learning and real world application

One of the difficulties faced by many English learners is taking the knowledge learnt in the classroom and applying it to real world situations.Simply participating in class does not guarantee that a student will be able to cope in real world interactions,especially in casual or informal settings.Many structured teaching materials in classroom have missed out significant elements which reflect the nature of informal communication.Several factors will be discussed here that could affect the quality of spoken language teaching materials in the classroom.These include the structure and content of teaching materials and classroom activities,the types of external resources used in class or recommended as a complementary learning tools,and the way that specific skills are taught.Identifying these areas of weaknessallows students to develop the practical skills to independently bridge the gap between classroom activities and real life interactions.     

The British Conservative Government and the raising of the school leaving age, 1959–1964

This paper establishes and explains the important role of the Conservative Government of 1959–1964 in supporting the raising of the school leaving age in Britain from the age of 15 to 16. This was a significant and high-profile national issue that generated much educational, social and political debate around conflicting priorities during this period, and was emphasized in both the Crowther Report of 1959 and the Newsom Report of 1963. The Treasury was strongly opposed to the proposal due to its high financial cost. There was a large element of electoral opportunism involved in the Conservative Government’s approval of raising the school leaving age (ROSLA), announced in January 1964, but it also highlighted deeper complexities and reservations in Conservative attitudes to ROSLA as well as a long-term ambition to consolidate education as a Conservative issue.     

English teaching and the educationalisation of social problems in the United States, 1894–1918

This study draws from histories of “educationalisation” and neo-Foucaultian histories of English teaching in an archival analysis that revisits landmark pedagogical texts that coincided with the rapid expansion of the school subject English in between the 1894 Report of the Committee of Ten and 1918 Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education. The archival analysis considers these two reform documents along with the first comprehensive books on English teaching, which were published between the 1890s and 1920s. The study’s analysis adopts a selective focus on their explicit aims and rationales for teaching English, particularly in secondary schools, and the pedagogic logics and practices by which English was imagined as a governmental response to various social problems. This archival work recovers the largely overlooked ways in which the teaching of English was positioned to improve the moral and social condition of the population, to develop youths’ capacities for self-governance, to professionalise teaching through the psychological sciences, and to include “problem” populations within the corrective spaces of the English classroom. It also illustrates how distinctive approaches to teaching English language and literature were understood to attune youths’ “souls” to a range of governmental norms. This study bridges ideas from two historical literatures in order to unearth “educationalisation” problematics and “governmental” practices that traditional histories of English teaching have largely obscured, particularly in the United States.     

Public policy failure and fiasco in education: perspectives on the British examinations crises of 2000–2002 and other episodes since 1975

Abstract

This article is the first part of a debate with David Hargreaves about the ideas expressed in his article ‘Diversity and choice in school education: a modified libertarian approach’. It discusses the difficulties of using cost‐benefit analysis in education, examines in detail some of the documents on which Hargreaves's argument is based and traces the development of policy on school choice. It is argued that policy on choice must be understood within a consideration of the wider social and political context in which that policy has arisen. The article then documents the various new forms of selection that have accompanied increased choice and considers problems of social segregation. The article concludes with suggestions on how the system might be reformed.     

A comparative study of the learning style preferences among gifted African‐American,Mexican‐American,and American‐born Chinese middle grade students

The purpose of this study was to determine whether significant group, gender, and grade differences existed in the preferred learning styles of gifted minority students. The Learning Style Inventory (Dunn, Dunn, & Price, 1987) was administered to 54 African‐American (20 males, 34 females), 61 third‐generation Mexican‐American (26 males, 35 females), and 40 third‐generation American‐born Chinese (25 males, 15 females) students. A three‐way analysis of variance on the LSI raw scores of gifted African‐American, Mexican‐American, and American‐born Chinese students indicated significant group differences in preferences for noise, light, visual modality, studying in the afternoon, and persistence. Significant gender differences were found in preferences for the tactile modality and intake. Finally, significant grade differences were found in preferences for temperature (warm/cool environment) and mobility. Findings support and extend past research regarding the learning styles of gifted students.