Harnessing insights from Brophy's (1999, 2008, 2010) notion of scaffolding students' appreciation of learning, this article tackles challenges to student engagement, especially among reluctant students, by exploring two classroom settings in which students' valuing of school content and activities supported their engagement and achievement. The…

English language instruction in New Zealand's Maori-medium schools is controversial, with many schools either excluding it from their curriculum or adopting a tokenistic approach. Yet, how Maori-medium educators can best support their students' academic English language growth is still an under-researched and unresolved question. This paper…

This study investigates how a teacher study group collectively examined problems in their current English curriculum and redesigned the curriculum into theme-based lessons for various grades. Comprised of seven elementary school teachers and a teacher educator, the teacher study group met bi-weekly for three hours for a total of eight meetings.…

A longitudinal study of student growth gains was conducted in Title I schools to assess growth in reading comprehension and critical thinking. Results suggested that all students benefited from the intervention of Project Athena units of study designed for high-ability learners. In addition, the study suggested that the comparison curriculum also…

The Government is committed to ensuring that the new National Curriculum compares favourably with the curricula in the highest performing jurisdictions, and sets rigorous requirements for pupil attainment which measure up to the highest standards set internationally. The Government is also committed to slimming the National Curriculum so that it…

The purpose of this study was to examine effective ways to integrate an interactive whiteboard, podcast, and digital storytelling for language proficiency development in English language learners. Researchers integrated these three technologies into a 60-hour intensive summer English program and investigated their impacts on student vocabulary…

"Project Read"[R] is a multisensory language arts curriculum designed for use in a classroom or group setting. Two main objectives of the program are to use language in all its forms, and to use responsive instruction rather than preplanned textbook lessons. The program emphasizes direct instruction, and lessons move from letter-sounds…

This paper outlines the development process that took place for the production of assessment materials to be used by teachers in Wales now that statutory testing at the end of KS2 has been abolished. The aim was to provide teachers with a free, but rich, optional resource that would allow for assessment of pupils' abilities in a wide range of…

There has been growing enthusiasm for English learning in China in recent years. This development, along with the introduction of a new English curriculum in 2001, has brought a breakthrough in English language teaching (ELT) in China. In the new curriculum, the traditional emphasis on grammar and vocabulary is replaced by a focus on the…

Prue Gill calls for a national English curriculum that appreciates the complex relationship between curriculum and assessment, one that is supported by strong government investment in professional learning, and one that will enable young people to imagine a different future from that which has been imagined for them by their elders.

This study aims to investigate how the teachers who have different background characteristics perceive the goals and content of the English language curriculum implemented at the 6th, 7th and 8th grades of public primary schools. The study was conducted during the 2004-2005 school year with 368 English teachers selected from the seven regions of…

The author has been invited to reply to this response to her article of December 2006 in this journal. This response can only be a summary of some of her findings and a reiteration, in very truncated form, of her arguments. She would refer any interested reader back to her original extended review of the PIRLS project as it was there that she lays…

This study explores students' experiences of learning and teaching on the QTS primary four year degree. The participants were in their second year and had just begun their English curriculum module. The study aims to explore responses to two different teaching styles--one leaning towards a transmissional mode of delivery and the other more…

Teaching English in Turkey has its own potential problems due to the lack of authentic language input. Turkey is a foreign language context. This hinders learners in their mastering English in a short time. Moreover, other problems caused by poor instructional planning contribute to this process negatively. With these potential hindrances, the…

Background: Although much has been written about the ways in which new technology might transform educational practice, particularly in the area of literacy learning, there is relatively little empirical work that explores the possibilities and problems--or even what such a transformation might look like in the classroom. 3D virtual worlds offer a…