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This study seeks to clarify teacher educator definitions of self-efficacy, how it is manifested in students, and ways it is taught in preparation programs. Data was collected through an electronic survey administered to teacher educators from three universities in the Midwest, Mid-South, and Northeast. Five key characteristics of Confidence/Self-Empowerment, Commitment, Ability to Meet Challenges, Innovative Thinking, and Facilitation emerged. The characteristics of Commitment and Confidence/Self-Empowerment surface as highly valued by teacher educators when describing self-efficacy. Modeling, individual and class discussions, and reflections on real-life teaching are the most common methods employed to develop self-efficacy in teacher candidates.

This pilot study is a mixed-methods sequential explanatory study that investigated the effects of watching text-relevant video segments supported by the Schematic Information-Processing (SIP) model of reading comprehension on reading comprehension of adult speakers of English as a Second Language (ESL) in terms of text familiarity and the retention of the content of a culturally unfamiliar text. Twenty homogeneous participants were randomly assigned to two groups: one control group and one experimental group. The results of the quantitative analysis showed that the experimental group outperformed the control group in both the immediate and delayed post-tests. Qualitative findings also highlight the effectiveness of implementing text-relevant video segments supported by the SIP model over traditional text-based reading instruction in terms of reading comprehension and retention of the content of the culturally unfamiliar passage. Limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are discussed in detail.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether intentional vocabulary learning, incidental vocabulary learning, or a combination of the two best prepares students for learning and retaining vocabulary in English as foreign language learning (EFL) classrooms. Three experimental groups and three control groups were selected. All groups were given a pre-test and an immediate post-test after the instruction. A delayed post-test was administered to the experimental groups after the immediate post-test. The three experimental groups received the intervention--intentional, incidental, or a combination--while the three control groups received no vocabulary learning instruction. The results show that the mixed instructed group outperformed the other two groups and retained the vocabulary longer than the other groups. Incidental vocabulary learning placed second and intentional vocabulary learning placed third.

The current literature review reports the results of four international research studies conducted within recent years to investigate the effectiveness of implementing Dynamic Assessment (DA) in assessing vocabulary development of English language learners. The results of the literature review highlight the positive effects of implementing DA in vocabulary acquisition despite the fact that the researchers found few studies that discussed DA for vocabulary development. This literature review includes a brief summary of the current research from 2015-2018, limiting the findings of DA to vocabulary development, and suggesting guidelines for implementing DA in language classrooms and for future research. The theoretical background of DA supports its applicability to classroom practices, based on the sociocultural theory of Vygotsky. The opportunity provided for the learners during the implementation of DA furthers cognitive, language, and developmental skills. The finding of this literature review highlights the applicability of DA in language classrooms for vocabulary development from the point of view of sociocultural theory.

Today's classrooms in the United States reflect the growing diversity of the changing world. In order to prepare high-quality multicultural educators, the authors of this article, three teacher educators at a large, mid-south, research-one university, collaborated to share successful strategies to infuse multicultural literature into the three educator preparation programs (EPPs) at their institution.

This literature review provides language teachers and researchers with an overview of the studies conducted in the last 20 years regarding the use of text-related videos to teach reading comprehension in second/foreign language classrooms. Articles were systematically selected from six data bases: Google Scholar, Quick Search, Wiley Online Library, ERIC, ProQuest Central, and Web of Science. The findings show that the utilization of text-related videos is beneficial in second/foreign language classrooms and can lead to more successful reading comprehension. Suggestions, implications of the study, and directions for future research were discussed in detail.

Classroom instruction about other cultures all too often resembles the Disney version of "It's a Small World" with Fantasyland-like cultural stereotypes, ceremonial activities, and traditional dress that can lead to serious misunderstandings about the depth and complexity of global societies. Social studies instruction presents the perfect venue for guiding young learners on their own journeys toward cultural competence in learning to understand and accept themselves, other people, and all of society. Young learners need to be given opportunities to discover "culturally-based likenesses and differences" and to "explore and ask questions about the nature of various cultures, and the development of cultures across time and place." Providing these experiences at the intermediate elementary school level is developmentally ideal since students in grades three through five are most open to people different from themselves. This article presents a lesson that goes beyond Banks' (2008) four-step curriculum transformation model, known as the Contributions Approach, through the use of cultural universals. This lesson asks fourth-grade students to consider cultural universals and cultural values as depicted in authentic images of families from around the world. Upon completion, the students should understand that while it is possible to make valid cultural contrasts and comparisons through those aspects of culture that are universal, the cultural values that partially guide our lives are far more complex. The lesson described herein takes place in a fourth-grade classroom over two or three days and consists of three parts: (a) introducing and defining culture and cultural universals, (b) inquiring about cultural values across cultures, and (c) exploring cultural universals. The lesson concludes with a writing assignment that asks students to reflect upon their understanding of cultural universals, their discoveries about cultural values, and the best way to study other cultures. (Contains 5 figures and a link to a PowerPoint presentation with images of cultural universals.)

Elementary teacher Ms. Huff realized that her third grade students were limited in their knowledge and experiences related to gardening. Most of today's young learners in the United States do not live on farms, and few families maintain gardens. Only a few of Ms. Huff's students could say they had a family garden. In schools, students learn about origins of food, growth of plants, changes in food production, and benefits of nutrition; however, young learners rarely participate in outdoor gardening. This article describes how Ms. Huff introduced her students to community gardening, where they learned important social studies concepts and life skills concomitantly. (Contains 19 notes.)

Teacher educators frequently express concerns regarding teacher candidates' writing knowledge, skills, and dispositions. Concerns include candidates' proficiencies for writing correctly and communicating effectively, teaching writing appropriately to preK-12 graders, integrating writing authentically across the curriculum, guiding preK-12 student writing supportively, and reflecting through writing both personally and professionally. Teacher educators recognize that writing is individualized, personal, complex, subjective, and extensive, with limited time and attention dedicated to learning to write or writing to learn throughout teacher education programs. Survey research conducted with teacher candidates reveals that they highly value writing and the writing process for themselves and, more so, for preK-12 graders. But many teacher candidates dislike writing and consider themselves to be poor writers, are unsure how to teach writing effectively or integrate writing meaningfully, and are unaware of the benefits that writing and reflecting contribute to learning and living. Teacher candidates' responses offer helpful suggestions for teacher educators. (Contains 2 figures and 4 tables.)

This paper presents a summary of the most recent research-oriented studies with a focus on two of the most important categorizations of Form-Focused Instruction (FFI): isolated versus integrated. The theoretical differences between the two different types of FFI are provided and a brief summary of the most recent studies is reported. The paper finds that isolated versus integrated instruction is a necessary technique and needs to be applied to the teaching process at the appropriate time. In general, the findings indicate that the tendency toward implicit learning of grammar through using communicative forms of the language is improving and the final outcome of this approach shows improvement and progress in the learners' production and language development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]