Drawing on the bilingual policies and biliteracy programmes of African nations, this paper discusses the context of literacy education in Nigeria and examines Nigerian early literacy teachers' attitudes to teaching literacy and literacy teaching practices as informed by the National Policy on Education, Primary English Language Curriculum and the…

The first public draft of grade-by-grade common standards was released last week to a mix of praise and skepticism, illustrating both the mounting consensus that the country needs to set higher expectations for all students and the many problems that complicate their adoption. An earlier standards document, released last fall, outlined a set of…

A study was conducted to determine the extent to which high school and college/university Advanced Placement English Language and Composition readers value and implement the curricular requirements of Advanced Placement English Language and Composition. The participants were 158 readers of the 2010 Advanced Placement English Language and…

This paper examines the King's Oxfordshire Assessment Project, which took place in the UK and explored the use of coursework as a means of terminal assessment. In particular, it considers the findings of the six English teachers who were involved. In a standards-based curriculum all six teachers supported 100% coursework. The paper looks at how,…

This study aims to investigate the effect of using concordances and word processors on EFL graduates' performance in academic writing. To achieve this aim, the subjects were asked to use linguistics corpora and word processors to correct their grammatical and spelling mistakes in their written papers in a course that lasted for sixteen weeks. The…

This paper reports on an evaluation of a distinctive university-school partnership program, Curriculum Bridges. Curriculum Bridges aims to develop the enthusiasm and capacity of students from disadvantaged schools in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). These objectives are sought by developing a theme in the…

The young adult novels of Alex Sanchez belong in every high school English classroom and media center. With compelling plots and significant themes, Sanchez's six novels create numerous rich learning opportunities for students. In this article, the author describes how Sanchez's novels on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender themes can be…

Dramaturgy, a tradition in European theater since the late 18th century, has in the last 30 years become firmly established in the United States. The dramaturg functions in the theatrical production process as a kind of literary and historical consultant to the director, designers, and actors. Although dramaturgs provide information to audiences…

This action research study examines what common perceptions and constructs currently exist in educating adult immigrants in Arizona and considers how might the integration of citizen science with the current English curriculum promote higher order thinking and educational equity in this population. A citizen science project called the Mastodon…

Implementing service-learning is challenging in light of issues such as changes in student demographics and pressure from existing curricula goals. However, closer community engagement is increasingly important in the long-term goals of our universities. Members of a faculty learning community at an open-access college reflect on the process of…

This article explores the use of digital poetry in a secondary English classroom and its implications for adolescents' multimodal composition and identity development. The authors--an English teacher and a library media specialist--collaborated over the course of three years to design, implement, and reiterate a digital poetry curriculum. Through…

Improving the quality of training for no-fee preservice students is crucial in implementing the no-fee teacher education policy. This study used the Preservice Student Professional Growth Questionnaire to survey the level of professional knowledge of the first class (entering in 2007) of Northeast Normal University preservice students during the…

The emergent field of translation studies is still struggling to find a home in American universities in a time of severely strained budgets and overextended departments. Drawn to the issue, by the experience of a successful inaugural introductory course at the University of Alabama, these authors have found that a fruitful place for translation…

Guiding students through a unit of study in any discipline can be a challenging endeavor. Answers to possible questions that may be raised about historical events and literary texts cannot be confined to just one text, one author's point of view, or even one genre. The song-poem, in combination with poetry, novels, nonfiction, and other genres, is…

This paper presents a case study of using blended learning to enhance students' language skills and learner autonomy in an Asian university environment. Blended learning represents an educational environment for much of the world where computers and the Internet are readily available. It combines self-study with valuable face-to-face interaction…