INTRODUCTION Throughout the 1990s and the first decade of the new millennium, some second language acquisition (SLA) researchers have begun to conduct research from a perspective on learner development that foregrounds the effects of situational or environmental variables on the learning process. These researchers, according to Swain and Deters (2007), privilege a “participation” metaphor over ...

This article reports a case study that examined dynamic patterns of interaction that two small groups (Group A and Group B) of ESL students exemplified when they performed two writing tasks: a research proposal (Task 1) and an annotated bibliography (Task 2) in a wiki site. Group A demonstrated a collective pattern in Task 1, but switched to an active–withdrawn pattern in Task 2. In contrast, G...

OBJECTIVES (1) To synthesize sociocultural results from diverse populations related to vaccine decision-making, understanding of cervical cancer and its etiology, experience with previous vaccinations, human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine concerns, and information needed to foster acceptance; (2) to contextualize findings in light of recent studies; and (3) to discuss implications for communicati...

This paper considers how independent and interdependent learning can be fostered through a process approach to the teaching of writing. It does so by presenting the theoretical rational which underlies a university academic skills programme. Drawing on reports of this programme which have been published elsewhere (e.g., Brine & Campbell, 2002), it is a case study illustrating how scaffolding ca...

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of mediation on the development of a novice teacher and in turn the effect of transformation of the teacher on the behaviors and emotions of the learners using Vygotskian sociocultural view of learning. For this purpose, a novice teacher teaching the general English course at an Iranian university was selected. To develop an understanding o...

Wedding invitations (WIs), as a uniquely socially and culturally constructed genre, provide a distinct opportunity  to  compare  the  sociocultural values of different  speech  communities  as reflected  in  the  textual  content  and  organization  of  the  different  moves.  Students  can  be exposed  to  this  genre  and  its  different moves  using  a  genre-based  pedagogy. Genre-based ped...