Teaching imaginary children: University students’ narratives about their Latino practicum children

This study investigates the dialogic processes involved in how teachers talk about their students and what consequences their ways of talking (i.e., “narratives”) may have for their guidance. We take a sociocultural perspective on learning as transformation of students’ subjectivity. Teaching, as a process of guiding and facilitating learning, cannot be effective if the teacher does not actively seek how the student perceives and understands reality. We borrow and adapt from Bakhtin (1999) four narrative ways of talking about others: objectivizing, subjectivizing, problematizing and finalizing. The presence of these narratives in web discussion postings of our pre-service teachers about the Latino children they worked with in a community center are analyzed. We then compare their ways of talking about children with print- and web-based discussions about children made by in-service teachers, model teachers and our pre-service teachers in a school-based practicum. Using mixed quantitative and qualitative methodologies, we found an overwhelming predominance of objectivizing and finalizing in our pre-service teachers’ narratives about the children with whom they work that seems to define a certain pedagogical regime that we call here “teaching imaginary children/students.” This “way of talking” about children seems to be characterized by unchecked speculations guiding instruction that are not tested by finding out from the children themselves how they understand the instruction and the world. These speculations, in turn, can lead to a dogmatic approach towards children.     

少儿英语教学与语言习得

语言学习和语言习得在学习效果上存在一定的差异.在少儿英语教学中发展儿童语言运用能力的关键在于教师应结合儿童认知能力的发展,从语言信息输入定位、输入输出定位、教学顺序定位、情感因素过滤方面来创设语言习得环境.     

The Effect Teaching Experience Has on Perceived Effectiveness of Interactive Television as a Distance Education Model for Elementary School Science Teacher’s Professional Development: Another Digital Divide?

The first year of a 5 year professional development project for elementary teachers in two mid-western states integrated a bridge of two distinctly different distance education networks (T-1 and fiber optics) to provide science professional development for elementary school teachers in rural communities. Interactive television (ITV), the title given to the distance component, consisted of a series of twenty-four, 2 h presentations by scientists and content specialists. It provided expansion to the science pedagogical content knowledge of the elementary teachers involved. Eighty-five teachers in 38 school districts from the two states completed individual surveys following the final ITV session. Analysis of variance of participants post-session survey scores yielded differences (p < 0.05) on the subscales measuring perceived effectiveness of using distance education for professional development purposes and years of teaching experience. Teachers with over 20 years of classroom experience perceived the use of distance education technologies for science professional development to be more effective than teachers with 16–20 years of classroom experience. These results might suggest another digital divide.     

推进大学科学教育与人文教育融合的几点思考

科学与人文教育的融合是现代大学的教育理念。促进大学教育科学与人文教育的融合,一方面要充分认识科学与人文教育的内涵;另一方面,要积极探索科学教育与人文教育融合的有效途径。首要的问题是培养和提高大学教师的人文与科学素养;在学校重构课程体系,促进“文理兼容;”在教学设计和实施过程中落实科学与人文教育的融合;强化班级和校园文化建设;营造科学与人文教育融合的学术氛围和校园环境。     

Preservice Teachers' Perspectives on Their Preparation for Social Justice Teaching

This study investigates preservice teachers' perspectives on their preparation to use social justice teaching in rural schools, how they implemented the concept in their classrooms, and the challenges they faced. The findings suggest that even though coursework may have prepared the participants to integrate social justice principles and practices into teaching, participants faced significant institutional factors that constrained their efforts to integrate culturally relevant practices in their teaching.     

远程学习者英语学习动机、策略调查分析

本文调查了远程学习者的英语学习现状、英语学习动机及策略。调查发现他们的学习目的明确．以“工具型”为主。在英语学习过程中,他们最大的英语学习困难是词汇和语法;元认知策略使用较多。但具体的语言学习策略使用较少;远程学习者对自己的学习缺乏监控。因此,本文提出充分利用网络资源,加强面授课教学,培养远程学习者良好的英语学习策略。     

英语学习者语法能力和语用能力关系的实证研究

语言学习者语法能力和语用能力的关系问题一直是一个语用学界有争议的问题,探明这两者的相互关系有助于我们认识外语学习的发展途径,认清不同阶段外语教学的侧重点。通过对182名大学生的语用能力测试并依据其语法测试成绩进行比较分析,发现这些英语学习者语法能力和语用能力之间不存在必然的联系,语法能力和语用能力都存在性别差异,英语学习起始年龄对于语用能力发展有明显作用,而对语法能力则影响不大。     

藏族习惯法在藏区草山纠纷解决中的作用与困境

藏区草山纠纷的解决方式中存在着各种法律资源、文化传统和知识体系的博弈争斗的流动场域,同时也是各种纠纷解决方式和制度进行博弈争斗的过程。对于藏区草山纠纷的解决,任何纠纷解决方式都是既有优点又有缺点的,它们分别代表了不同的文化传统和知识体系,有自己的适用空间和发挥作用的社会基础。针对实际,解决问题的出路在于实现各种解决纠纷方式的相互协调和分工合作,从而形成有效的多元化纠纷解决的运行机制。     

英国开放大学对学习者关键技能的培养

英国开放大学在远程教育中,除了知识能力,还强调学习者关键技能的培养。通过对英国开放大学关于七项关键技能的内涵、培养途径以及评价标准的介绍,认为从学习者长远发展的角度来看,我国的远程教育也同样需要关注关键技能的培养,这既是远程教育的需要,也是终身教育的需要。     

I am not unskilled and unaware: deaf and hearing learners’ self-assessments of linguistic and nonlinguistic skills

The unskilled and unaware effect refers to the finding that individuals who are less knowledgeable or less skilled in a domain are relatively less able to evaluate their level of skill or effectively utilise feedback relative to individuals who are more skilled. Studies finding deaf students less accurate than hearing students in estimating their English vocabulary knowledge and in judging how much they are learning from material presented via sign language have attributed those results to the unskilled and unaware effect, citing the lack of language fluencies frequently demonstrated among deaf learners. The present study addressed the issue more directly by comparing both deaf and hearing individuals who were more and less skilled in four domains, three linguistic and one nonlinguistic. Results indicated that even individuals who are unskilled in a nonlinguistic domain can evaluate their performance when they are aware of what skilled performance would look like, and that unskilled and unaware effects can be influenced by individuals’ desires to be skilled.