Academic Exchange Quarterly articles from March 2007

Academic Exchange Quarterly archives from March 2007

Editorial.
March 22, 2007... Teaching the Novel and Short Fiction is a broad topic, and the cluster of essays included in this issue thus covers a wide range of interesting subjects. Several essays propose creative uses of literature to teach other subjects. Stephanie...

Constructivism in foreign language learning.
March 22, 2007... Abstract As Standards for Foreign Language Learning by ACTFL suggests, communication skills are essential in foreign language/L2 acquisition. The author of this article identifies a constructivist approach as a useful and effective tool...

Problem-based learning in the study of literature.
March 22, 2007... Abstract Problem-based learning can be effective in teaching entry-level students to interpret literature by presenting those students with an authentic and in-depth case study of one author so that they can explore that author from all...

Student language narratives and discrimination.
March 22, 2007... Abstract Traditional language instruction has focused around the binary of prescriptive/descriptive grammar, and thus issues of correctness, sociolinguistic research highlights language practices within social contexts. An increased...

Students' perceptions about Japanese teacher talk.
March 22, 2007... Abstract This study investigated students' perceptions about various aspects of teacher talk in Japanese (as a second) language classes in American colleges and universities. In all, 66 students studying intermediate Japanese were asked to...

Narrative space and the location of meaning.
March 22, 2007... Abstract This essay presents a practical approach that focuses on three aspects of narrative space. The approach is exemplified with a reading of Janet Frame's "You Are Now Entering the Human Heart." This text is short and thus ideally...

Reconciling language teaching and legal concepts.
March 22, 2007... Abstract As English has become the lingua franca in the fields of international law, the question arises whether legal concepts should be lectured to non-native speakers studying law, in English directly, or whether by means of a process...

Reconceptualizing textbooks in culture teaching.
March 22, 2007... Abtract This article offers an overview of mainstream approaches to culture in language teaching and proposes an alternative approach which conceptualizes the language textbook as a key participant in classroom conversations about culture....

Teaching Malory's Morte Darthur with chronicles.(Sir Thomas Malory)
March 22, 2007... Abstract Sir Thomas Malory's Morte Darthur can be a difficult text to teach, especially in a literature survey course. One way to successfully teach the selections of Malory's work present in most anthologies of British literature is to...

Comprehension requests in writing conferences.
March 22, 2007... Abstract This case study analyzes how teachers use comprehension requests in teacher-student college writing conferences. In these requests, teachers ask questions to check students' understanding of prior discussion or content within the...

Interrogating suburbia in The Virgin Suicides.
March 22, 2007... Abstract Jeffrey Eugenides's novel The Virgin Suicides provides a compelling commentary on American values, the American dream, and postmodern suburban life. The text makes clear that the suburban community is a place of failed dreams,...

Married women's address forms variation in China.
March 22, 2007... Abstract The tradition that married women in Chaoshan, China address their husbands' families in the same way as their children implies the ranking of women as subordinate. An apparent time research on the abandonment of this tradition...

Outcomes from cross-cultural service-learning.
March 22, 2007... Abstract This study examines student outcomes in an undergraduate cross-cultural service-learning course utilizing Spanish-speaking community agencies in education, community activism, and health. Participant responses are categorized...

"Killers and diers": white noise, violence, genre.(teaching Don DeLillo's White Noise)(Essay)
March 22, 2007... Abstract Towards the end of Don DeLillo's White Noise, Murray lectures Jack Gladney on the theoretical relationship between "killers and diers" (290). His point that "violence is a form of rebirth" for the killer places DeLillo's novel...

Peer evaluations and the language classroom.
March 22, 2007... Abstract The peer evaluation is an important component of the educational process, but it is not the best tool to evaluate instructional effectiveness. The peer evaluation, however, can provide a unique opportunity for educators to deepen...

Academic service-learning in teacher education.
March 22, 2007... Abstract This study examines the impact of service-learning on undergraduate students enrolled in Social Foundations of Education at a private liberal arts college in the mid-Atlantic region. Findings suggest that students developed a more...

Student drawing and academic language processing.
March 22, 2007... Abstract This paper focuses on analysis and interpretation of student-generated drawings as an alternate form of assessing undergraduate teacher education students' processing of academic language. First, a review of theories supporting...

Mindful learning and second language acquisition.
March 22, 2007... Abstract Mindful learning is a theory of learning with a number of applications for Second Language Acquisition (SLA). In the present paper we juxtapose (mis)conceptions and givens of SLA with myths of learning and mindful alternatives....

Short stories in teaching foreign language skills.
March 22, 2007... Abstract Literary texts have always been an important source of material for ESL/EFL classes as they demonstrate a wide range of language use in authentic contexts. Particularly short stories are the most widely used literary genre in the...

Second language literacy through literature.
March 22, 2007... Abstract This article describes how different instructional scaffolds supported English language learners of varying English proficiency levels in successfully completing a story-telling and story-writing activity. Participation in...

Public dialogue series as service-learning.
March 22, 2007... Abstract This article explores the incorporation of a public dialogue series (PDS) as a service-learning component in a small group communication class. During a PDS, community members join small dialogue groups to discuss issues, learn...

Sentence diagramming: no unanimity among users.
March 22, 2007... Abstract A minority of educators question well-publicized research purporting that classroom grammar teaching is futile, time wasting harmful etc. Generally, such educators agree in rejecting a return to traditional grammar teaching....

Content-based ESL instruction and curriculum.(English as a second language)
March 22, 2007... Abstract This article discusses necessary paradigm changes in English as a second language (ESL) education from an oral English proficiency orientation to an academic English proficiency orientation. English learners face difficult...

Foucault informs Kate Chopin's short fiction.
March 22, 2007... Abstract My essay discusses Michel Foucault's theory on power in relation to Kate Chopin's "The Storm" and "Desiree's Baby." I argue that due to reversals of power, Chopin's oppressed female protagonists challenge patriarchal structures...

Teaching cultural diversity in faust through WAC.(writing-across-the-curriculum)
March 22, 2007... Abstract The late 1960s saw the emergence of cultural diversity courses as well as writing-across-the-curriculum programs. This article discusses the implementation of both in a First-Year Seminar centered on the Faust-theme. The topic of...

Interdisciplinary curriculum design.
March 22, 2007... Abstract Curriculum that is truly interdisciplinary reflects the emerging consensus definition of interdisciplinarity and addresses the core elements of interdisciplinarity. These elements include (1) addressing a complex problem or focus...

Mindfulness and communicative language teaching.
March 22, 2007... Abstract In the present paper we juxtapose the principles of Mindful Learning with the tenets of Communicative Language Teaching. We demonstrate how traditional instruction teaches to mere intelligence--not to mindfulness--in much the same...

Reconsidering information literacy.
March 22, 2007... Abstract The delineated information explosion inevitably prompted moves---via the information literacy concept---to help survive the ensuing problematic information deluge through effective retrieval, evaluation, and efficient use....

Motivation and self-regulation in mathematics.
March 22, 2007... Abstract This study explores how self-regulated learning components and motivation contributes to Turkish high school students' mathematics achievement. 752 ninth grade students enrolled in six Turkish high schools completed the Motivated...

Teachers' self-efficacy and self-regulation.
March 22, 2007... Abstract The present study examined whether the association between teachers' self-efficacy beliefs and academic performance is mediated by their homework self-efficacy beliefs and their use of self-regulatory learning strategies. Path...

Efficacy of student's self-assessment.
March 22, 2007... Abstract This study examines research on high and low achievers with a particular focus on 30 undergraduate students. Critical student achievement behaviors are reviewed using a critical reflective inquiry process. Through the use of a...

Preparing all teachers for collaboration.
March 22, 2007... Abstract This paper describes a study around a parallel classroom experience in separate, discipline courses. It was designed to bridge the separate discipline/separate program gap in teaching for inclusive practices in education. ...

Weaving conversation analysis into language class.
March 22, 2007... Abstract This article first discusses some key features and analytic aspects of conversation analysis (CA). Then the employment of CA of an authentic conversation text recorded and transcribed by the author is illustrated. The significance...

Autoethnography as research methodology?
March 22, 2007... Abstract Composition studies has adapted ethnographic practices to form a new research methodology in "autoethnography." This article highlights some of the problematic issues in the autoethnography, interrogates the shift away from...

Children's reading attitudes in L1 and FL.(first language, foreign language)
March 22, 2007... Abstract This study examines elementary school students' reading attitudes in both their first language (L1) and a foreign language (FL) among students who had done extensive reading in both languages at school. Their cognitive and...

Using teen chick lit novels to teach marketing.
March 22, 2007... Abstract This paper will outline how the author uses the sub-genre of teen fiction referred to as teen chick lit to teach students the marketing concept known as product placement. The paper provides the rationale for using fictional teen...

Service learning: model for community evaluation.
March 22, 2007... Abstract One of the challenges of service learning at the university level is to create a collaboration that incorporates the skills and expertise of university students in a way that also serves the community. The psychology honors...

Predicting academic success in undergraduates.
March 22, 2007... Abstract College academic success and retention have traditionally been predicted using demographic and academic variables. This study investigated the influence of student health on GPA and intent to drop out of college. A longitudinal...

How do we communicate with part-time faculty?
March 22, 2007... Abstract Part-time faculty describe how students, faculty, and administrators communicate with them as well as their perceptions about how society communicates about them. Students perceive part-time faculty as academic members, but assume...

Bridging disciplines through service-learning.
March 22, 2007... Abstract One of the goals of service-learning is to serve the needs of the community. Before this can be accomplished, roles of the various individuals involved in the partnership must be established. The purpose of this study was to...

Teaching (not preaching) masterworks in drama.
March 22, 2007... Abstract Instructors of dramatic literature face significant challenges to teaching undergraduates, caught between the established canon of university curriculum and ongoing field challenges to the same. The following article describes how...

Homer's odyssey as serious classroom entertainment.
March 22, 2007... Abstract Increasingly, few sophomore-level literature surveys include Homer's epics among required readings, partly because of students' lack of enthusiasm for the material. Using a cultural approach to teaching Homer's Odyssey, coupled...

Media richness & individual perceptions of teams.
March 22, 2007... Abstract The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that lean communication media influence the perceptions of participants in virtual versus face-to-face teams. Students participated in either a virtual or face-to-face team environment...

Uncovering content and designing for performance.
March 22, 2007... Abstract World language teaching continues to derive from coverage and low level skills, long after the Standards. Instructors and students are overwhelmed with what is taught rather than focusing on what true performance should look like...