This is the first report arising from a large-scale research project on the development of skills in English in the primary schools of Sydney, Australia. Specifically, it reports on a study of the extent of the relationship among the four communication skills (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) in a sample of 314 children and on a…

Investigates what specific teacher nonverbal immediacy behaviors are most associated with students' evaluations of their teachers. Uses data from Australia, Finland, Puerto Rico, and the United States. Compares the relationship between nonverbal immediacy and teacher evaluation across diverse cultural and linguistic communities as well as…

With increasing pressures being placed on early childhood teachers to provide academic programs, many are turning away from programs that foster pretend play. This study examined two contrasting approaches to teaching preschool children and considered their effects on children's linguistic and social abilities. One of the teaching approaches…

A language evaluation instrument was devised to assess the accuracy of program implementation by teachers of four Australian preschool programs. The Teacher Language Instrument (TLI) categorizes each verbal episode of a teaching interchange for both mode and function. Five general mode categories of teacher language behavior--statements,…

A study investigated listening and oral communication apprehension in high school and college students from the United States and Australia. The subjects were 355 students from the United States (133 high school females, 109 high school males, 65 college females, and 46 college males), and 339 students from Australia (73 high school females, 91…

A study in Australia is examining home and school computer-mediated communication (CMC) practices in low socio-economic communities. Using qualitative methods, the study aims to enhance the understanding of emerging communication practices associated with the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The research has already begun…

A study examined from a feminist poststructuralist perspective the discourses available in a classroom using a critical pedagogy, based on a belief that teaches need to make it possible for their students to question the social world constructed in texts. The teacher of an Australian junior primary classroom (with students age five to eight) took…

Classroom dialogue is an important influence on students' learning, making the structure and content of dialogue important research variables. An analysis of two sample classroom dialogues using the Thematic and Structural Analysis (TSA) Technique shows a positive correlation between the quality of dialogue structure and the level of student…

Reports on a study of the interactions of students in Australian high schools and was designed to focus on "target students" who monopolized whole class interactions. Students who were asked by teachers to be target students tended to have higher formal reasoning ability and achievement levels than the other students. (TW)

An investigation focused on communication demands of the workplace, specifically those placed on checkout operators at a supermarket in Queensland, Australia. Key questions organized the investigation: What is the nature of communication in this workplace? How can this information be obtained? and How can the information be used to develop…

A study identified some implicit concepts, knowledge, and skills that a seemingly standard adult literacy and numeracy "lesson" contains. Conversation analysis was used to show instances of how adult numeracy is embedded in adult language and literacy. The "conversation" was a transcript from an adult literacy class for…