Category building of international students as language learners in two secondary schools

This paper reports on a small scale study of category building in the context of English language learning. The data for the current study is derived from the interviews with two students, one from China and the other from Mongolia, in two schools in Melbourne. The study uses Membership Categorization Analysis to give an account of identity by examining how categories of English language learner emerge and shift during the course of the interviews. The categories established by the participants in the two interviews were constructed around different attributes belonging to the category of international student. These emerged as a series of categorical binaries including international student and local student, language competence and language deficit, mainstream English and English as an Additional Language (EAL), and home country and Australia. As the participants took part in the interview, they moved towards accounts that integrated multiple viewpoints resulting in dynamically shifting categorisations. Through these categories, it was also possible to show how students were invited to display their learning and knowledge of English, and to give accounts of their English language development

Science and EAL teachers’ perspectives and practices in building word knowledge in implementing the new Victorian EAL curriculum

The recent implementation of The Victorian Curriculum F-10: EAL requires content teachers who teach EAL students to be familiar with the revised EAL curriculum for the purposes of planning and developing approaches to assist learners’ development in English. In the literature and in curriculum frameworks, word knowledge is considered an important aspect of EAL students’ learning. However, little is known about what pedagogical practices teachers across the curriculum perceive as being important, and use, in developing EAL students’ vocabulary. In this study, we investigated linguistically responsive vocabulary teaching in a Year 7 science class. Our aim was to elucidate teachers’ perceptions and practices in teaching vocabulary in science. The qualitative case study drew on principles of linguistically responsive instruction (LRI), which refers to practices for meeting the needs of students in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms. Analysis of interview and classroom data from an EAL teacher and a science teacher revealed a range of LRI practices for developing word knowledge based on understanding the distinction between conversational and academic language, language learning principles, responsive teacher talk, plurilingual awareness, and the importance of social interaction for learners. We offer recommendations for a whole school approach to LRI, adaptation to online LRI, and curriculum development

BIOÉTICA: O USO DE NÃO-HUMANOS NA VISÃO DE PETER SINGER

Resumo: Nossa pesquisa traz as questões de bioética na visão de Peter Singer, o uso de animais (não humanos) tanto para a questão de alimentação, como na questão de ciência. Nós seres humanos não temos a necessidade de nos alimentarmos de animais, existem outros meios, nosso corpo não necessita de carne, além de que para Peter o uso de animais para fabricação de xampus e cosméticos é pura vaidade, levando em consideração a quantidade absurda que temos no comercio. Para o ele, o uso de animais deveria ter um objetivo muito maior, como por exemplo, usar um rato de laboratório para salvar milhares de pessoas. Isso se dá pelo utilitarismo. Animal sofre e é desnecessário causar sofrimento em prol de algo banal, ou que possa ser suprido de outras formas.Palavras-chave: bioética; animais; Peter Singer; igualdade

OBJETO FLUTUANTE

O experimento Objeto Flutuante foi desenvolvido pelos alunos do 9º anodo Colégio UNESC dentro do conteúdo de Química, e teve como objetivoaplicar os conceitos de química em algo concreto, onde os alunos pudessemtocar e observar na prática. Esta atividade envolve o conceito de Densidade,onde se um material possuir densidade menor que outro, ele irá flutuar sobreele. O contrário também ocorre, quando o material tem densidade maior, eleafunda. Para comprovar este conceito, utilizou-se três copos com água mineral.No primeiro copo foi adicionado apenas um ovo cru; no segundo copo o ovocru e uma quantidade média de sal e no último copo, um ovo cru e muito sal.Desta forma pode-se observar que o sal aumenta a densidade da água,fazendo com que o ovo flutue. O mar morto é um exemplo deste conceit

A toddlers treatment of mm and mm hm in talk with a parent

The study to be reported in this paper examined the work accomplished by mm and mm hm in the interactions of a parent and his daughter aged 0;102;0. Using the findings of Gardner (2001) for adults, the analysis shows that mm accomplished a range of functions based on its sequential placement and prosodic features, whereas mm hm was much more restricted to its use as a continuer. The principal concern of the study, however, was to investigate how the child treated these tokens in next turn position. It was found that she was able to display her acceptance or rejection of the response and that she had acquired a stock of conversational resources to do so. Included in the stock were the ability to initiate self and other repair, to correct, and to initiate a new topic to mark completion of a sequence. It is argued that through these actions the child was offering a display of her understanding of sequential connections and appropriateness of fit, and importantly what she deemed to be a sufficient response. The paper ends with a discussion of the childs emerging knowledge as it is revealed in the minutiae of interaction

Failure of the parent to respond to a child's action: a violation or an interactional display?

It is well documented in the literature on developmental pragmatics that parents are highly responsive to a child's initiating action, be it a vocalisation or a gestural action (for example, Bruner 1983; Harding 1984). However, in analysing toddler/parent interaction it has also become apparent that there are recurring instances of a parent's failure to respond to such actions. In the study to be reported in this paper, Conversation Analysis was used to analyse the interactions between three toddlers and their parents in everyday activities. Six environments where a parent failed to respond to the child's pointing gesture were identified. An attempt is made to show what is being achieved through such an action and how this is consequential for the ensuing talk

Managing roles in the openings and closings of an Italian oral test

This paper reports on one of the findings of a study of twenty-one interactions that occurred during the 1992 Victorian Certificate of Education Italian Oral Common Assessment Task (CAT 2). One of the main aims of the study was to see how roles are constrained by the institutional character of the setting. This was done by examining the interactions occurring in the openings and closings of each segment of the CAT using a Conversation Analysis approach. Not surprisingly, it was found that the assessors initiate and conclude the opening and closing segments of the CAT Violations of this format are rare and when they do occur, the assessors act quickly to reaffirm the roles of each of the participants using features of ordinary conversation. The opening arid closing boundaries also provide one of the few environments in the CAT where students ask and indeed are invited to ask questions. The major sequences in these boundaries are made up of adjacency pairs such as questions and answers, greetings and leave taking and basic expansion sequences

Information about project PRIM and DG

V souladu s předpoklady Strategie digitálního vzdělávání do roku 2020 probíhají práce v projektech, které jsou zaměřeny na způsob rozvoje informatického myšlení a digitální gramotnosti ve výuce i na středních školách. V projektu s názvem Podpora rozvíjení informatického myšlení byly vytvořeny pro tuto část vzdělávací soustavy tři učebnice, jež pokrývají oblasti informatiky, programování a robotiky. V příspěvku jsou krátce představeny jejich alfa verze. Zároveň je zde vysvětlena možnost jejich ověřování v praxi na středních školách. Pokus o naplnění předmětu informatika novou materií s sebou nese ovšem potřebu přesunu dosavadního obsahu jinam. V projektu s názvem Podpora rozvoje digitální gramotnosti vznikl za tímto účelem prozatím dokument vymezující obsah digitální gramotnosti. Zástupci jednotlivých vzdělávacích oborů dostali příležitost analyzovat jejich obsah, aby se mohli vyjádřit, nakolik jsou schopni jeho prostřednictvím při dodržení očekávaných výstupů naplňovat dílčí digitální kompetence. První výsledky analýzy jsou v příspěvku k dispozici.In line with the prerequisites of the Digital Education Strategy by 2020, work is underway on projects focusing on the development of information thinking and digital literacy also in upper secondary education. In the project called Support for the Development of Information Thinking, three textbooks covering the fields of infor-matics, programming and robotics were created for this part of the education system. In the paper, their alpha versions are briefly introduced. It also explains the possibility of verifying them in practice at upper secondary schools. However, the attempt to fill the subject of computer science with new material carries with it the need to move the existing content elsewhere. In the project called Support for the Development of Digital Literacy, a document defining the content of digital literacy has been developed for this purpose. Representatives of individual educational disciplines have been given the opportunity to analyze their content to be able to express their ability to fulfill partial digital competences while respecting expected outcomes. The first results of the analysis are avail-able in the paper