Additionally, teachers should explain that both stereotypes are necessary if Twain is to succeed in his satire of society (Webb 5). Additionally, Jim's emergence as a good man who has been deprived of personal freedom yet does not lack integrity defend the book against any claims of racial prejudice and also assist in the overall moral of Twain's tale (Ferris 4)
By discussing the text openly without the use of inflammatory language and by focusing on the anti-slavery undertones, students are able to critically assess the text rather than focus on the non-issue of race. Humor and Satire Mark Twain's use of humor, satire, and irony in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is crucial to understanding why the novel is so important (Fishkin, 133)
Again, students may have difficulty finding amusement in the ignorance of Twain's characters. Yet, that is arguably why the characters act as they do (McWilliams 197)
Teaching Huckleberry Finn without looking into Twain's life denies students the chance to fully understand the satire and intentions of the book. Married to the daughter of an abolitionist, Twain was outspoken about slavery and lynching (Webb 1-5)
His studies suggest full immersion in the target language may be more useful for learning than a traditional classroom environment. Krashen's techniques are important to study because they can provide educators new methods for teaching second languages to students in a helpful and comprehensible environment (Auerbach, 1993)
The teacher in a traditional classroom setting may participate in the role of a monitor to help student's concentrate and fine-tune their language acquisition skills. Natural Order The natural order hypothesis suggests students will acquire knowledge of grammar in a natural or logical order depending on the target language the student is learning about (Krashen, 1988; Crystal, 1997)
Krashen is often considered an expert in linguistics, specializing in the development of language and acquisition of new languages (Schutz, 2005). His theory of second language acquisition consists of five main hypotheses: (1) acquisition-learning hypothesis, (2) monitor hypothesis, (3) natural order hypothesis, (4) input hypothesis and (5) affective filter hypothesis (Pennycook, 2001; Schutz, 2005; Wilson, 2005)
Krashen had much to say about language acquisition. His ideas suggested acquisition required "meaningful interaction in the target language" or "natural communication" (Schutz, 2005)
Input helps challenge the learner to achieve new levels of understanding. This idea is one often used in classrooms because students are always aspiring to learn more, and will do so more often when challenged appropriately (Wilson, 2005)
PBL provides a vehicle for greater understanding of a topic, deeper learning, higher-level thinking, and increased motivation to learn. This strategy is conducive to creating independent thinkers and learners, and real-world problem solvers (Bell, 2010)
ICs are based on the idea that teachers can encourage development in students' thinking by engaging them in challenging, supportive and developmentally sensitive discussions. This model of instruction require teachers to identify a developmentally appropriate thematic focus, facilitate maximum student participation by asking open-ended questions, building on the contributions of students and encouraging students to listen and respond to each other, assist students in clarifying their thinking by encouraging them to give reasons and examples, and advocate for reasoning that is just above the level where the students are able to reason themselves (Clair & Gallimore, 1996)
Prompts focused explicitly on planning and monitoring can improve students' understanding. Students who perform well on learning tasks consistently have been found to do more monitoring than do poor performers (Davis, 2003)
The outcome of the reflection phase may be personal synthesis or appropriation of knowledge, validation of hypothesis laid during playing strategy formation or a new strategy to be tested. Reflection may take place in isolation or with collaboration with other students (Kiili, 2007)
The intent is to provide students with information about how well they understand the content of the lesson, and how they might improve. Feedback should also inform the planning of subsequent lessons and activities and come from a variety of perspectives including the student, classmates, and the teacher (Kirkwood, 2000)
Teachers report that designing and implementing WebQuests help them discover new resources, hone technology skills, and gain new teaching ideas by collaborating with colleagues. There are several factors that contribute WebQuest's popularity with students (Lipscomb, 2003)
In inquiry-based learning, students are actively engaged in the learning process as they seek to develop solutions to problems and tasks. The problem-solving process gives the students ownership of the learning process and encourages the development of skills and knowledge that are transferable beyond the classroom setting (Oliver, 2007)
" (Lather, 1992) Wagner (1993) states that the best starting place for discovering truth and in assessing educational research and its usefulness is that of 'ignorance' in contrast to the popular belief which regards research as the "pursuit of truth." (Wagner, 1993) Wagner holds that when a research project is judged "solely on the apparent truthfulness of its parts…" the general purpose of the research is neglected
.is supposedly a transhistorical, culture-free, disinterested, replicable, testable, empirical substantiation of theory…" (Lather, 1992) Science is however, "in crisis in both the natural and the human sciences
Figure 2 Hermeneutic Circle of Acquiring Cultural Knowledge Source: Finkbeiner and Koplin (2000) The work of Verstraete (2007) entitled: "Flemish Teaching Resources Under the Magnifying Glass: In Search of Intercultural Content" states that the school is "an important actor in helping children and young people to function in a multicultural society, to be able to cope with diversity in a positive way, and to be able to look at the world around them from the perspective of others." (Verstraete, 2007) The presupposition is that pupils are provided with the necessary skills in deal with this diversity and that this provision is made by management teams, teachers and others in today's schools and classrooms
The final step in this process of research is one involving the teacher utilizing the information gained in this study for development of plans for creating a connection between the classroom and the home of students in regards to the students reading, writing, listening and speaking development. (Finkbeiner and Koplin, 2002) Literature Review The work of Finkbeiner and Koplin (2002) entitled: "A Cooperative Approach for Facilitating Intercultural Education" states that today's classrooms are "multicultural, multinational, and multilingual" which presents challenges of a new nature for educators in teaching students of varying ethnic and cultural backgrounds