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The aim of this paper is to describe the process of designing and implementing a teaching unit that links a curricular subject – in this case, Spanish language – with the identity of students as a strategy aimed at improving engagement and learning. The teaching unit was implemented in a Shared Education Unit in Catalonia (Spain) for at-risk students. The design of the teaching unit was based on the theoretical approaches of the funds of identity and proposals made by Cummins, which integrate the identity of students into educational practices as a way of reaffirming and empowering those students. We shall describe the funds of identity uncovered, the implementation of the teaching unit and the evaluation of the educational activity by participants. In general, the participating students gave a positive evaluation of the activity, emphasizing its motivating character since it stemmed from their own hobbies and interests, in particular the manipulative arts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines language-brokering events to better understand how children utilize their linguistic resources to create spaces where the coexistence of two languages can enable or restrict understanding and learning of academic content for themselves and others. An analysis of the structure of language-brokering events reveals that different directional processes and points of initiation are involved, and that these structures lead to different consequences for learning. The data illustrate the socially constructed nature of language brokering and the active participation of young children in constructing their roles, community, and learning in classrooms. Although language brokering can facilitate comprehension and participation among second-language learners, the paper suggests a cautionary note about the possible unintended consequences of language-brokering events for second-language learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whereas most research on child second language acquisition has focused on the oral production of children, studies are needed to illuminate patterns of literacy development in a second language. This paper aims to shed some light on this process, focusing on the English writing development of a native Spanish speaker, and on the Spanish writing development of a native English speaker, both enrolled in a two-way immersion program in the USA. Data for this particular study come from a longitudinal, national study, involving 484 students in 11 programs across the country. In this paper, we will present a case study of two students in the project, from the beginning of third grade through the end of fifth grade. The students' writing samples will be discussed using an analytic rubric developed for the project. This rubric addresses three major aspects of writing — composition, grammar and mechanics — and provides a clear framework for investigating changes in writing ability over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the implementation of an ambitious bilingual instructional programme in the P'urhepecha-speaking region of Michoacán state in Mexico, the Meseta Tarasca. A curriculum of indigenous language preservation and cultural affirmation, overturning the previous Spanish-only programme, has been developed by a group of indigenous teachers in two P'urhepecha elementary schools, ‘Miguel Hidalgo’ of San Isidro and ‘Benito Juárez’ in the neighbouring village of Uringuitiro. Today, the P'urhepecha language is the nucleus of the curriculum. With the previous curriculum largely discredited, the bilingual teachers embarked on a project that would both provide instruction to children in a language they understand, and contribute to the preservation of their indigenous language, which in these communities, in all cases, is children's first language (L1). Being cognizant of the importance of learning Spanish as a second language, a major current planning and curriculum design priority is to find a way to integrate Spanish language instruction into the academic subject areas in accordance with current models of content-based second language teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the development of L2 Spanish students' cultural awareness through the teaching of literature by the application of the method Focus-on-Cultural Understanding. The paper partially reports on a one-semester study in which 17 intermediate L2 Spanish students at a state university in Midwestern US were exposed to a variety of literary texts produced in the target culture and were required to complete a series of Focus-on-Cultural Understanding tasks. The study describes students' work with a short story, and asks whether such an approach can enhance their openness towards and understanding of the target culture and can trigger critical analysis of their native and target cultures. The results of the study show that the participants' manipulation of a literary text from the target culture and the application of Focus-on-Cultural Understanding enhanced their understanding of the target culture, and it promoted a reflective view of their own. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of metalinguistic knowledge of language and knowledge of technical terms (i.e. metalingual knowledge) in second language (L2) learning and use is a matter of controversy in the field of Second Language Acquisition. This paper examines the development of these two types of knowledge in adult university-level learners of L2 Spanish, and their relationship to L2 proficiency. Metalinguistic and metalingual knowledge were measured using a metalinguistic knowledge test containing 16 sentences with an underlined error about a particular grammatical structure. The participants were asked to provide a written description of the rule that the error was violating. The quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data shows that, in general, learners demonstrated limited metalinguistic and metalingual knowledge. In addition, there was great variation regarding how close the learners’ verbalisations resembled pedagogical rules of the structures tested. Furthermore, the participants used very few technical terms, albeit mostly correctly, compared with the metalanguage found in those pedagogical rules. Finally, the results show that metalinguistic and metalingual knowledge correlated with written measures of L2 proficiency but not with oral proficiency. These results are discussed in light of previous research, and implications for future research are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of two types of culture instruction on students' motivation —a traditional curriculum that pivots on Spanish-speaking countries and a redesigned curriculum focused on US Hispanic communities. Drawing on Gardner's (1985. Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitudes and motivation. London: Edward Arnold) socio-educational model, a survey was developed to measure participants' (N = 869) integrative and instrumental motivation as well as their attitudes towards US Spanish. Confirmatory factor analysis and a mixed model linear regression were used to explore differences among groups after the intervention period. Findings indicate (i) a negative effect of traditional culture instruction on integrativeness and instrumental orientation, (ii) a positive impact of the one-semester redesign treatment on integrativeness, and (iii) a positive impact of the two-semester redesign treatment on integrativeness, instrumental orientation, and attitude towards US Spanish. These results suggest that instruction aimed at embracing rather than ignoring US Spanish communities benefit students and that traditional models of teaching culture hinder motivation and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We tested the effectiveness of the spaced-repetition flashcard application, Anki, on improving 62 university-level learners' second language (L2) learning in a semester-long beginning Spanish course. Using effective study strategies is critical for L2 learning, but college students learning an L2 often study with strategies that are only useful for short-term performance. Prior research has shown that spaced-repetition testing increases long-term memory retention so we hypothesized that regularly studying L2 vocabulary with Anki would improve L2 learning. Participants were students enrolled in a beginning Spanish course who were assigned to study with Anki as a class requirement. The results showed a positive relationship between days studying with Anki and Spanish performance at the end of the semester even while controlling for baseline abilities and for motivation, self-efficacy, and beliefs. However, students were reluctant to use the app and reported low enjoyment. Regardless, participants also reported having higher motivation and more effort-based or incremental beliefs about learning at the end of the semester. The present study answers calls for experimental research on specific strategy interventions that also produce genuine gains in second language acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the second language acquisition of motion events, with particular regard to cross-linguistic influence between first and second languages. Oral narratives in Spanish as a second language by native speakers of French, German and Italian are compared, together with narratives by native Spanish speakers. Previous analysis on the expression of motion events in these languages showed that Romance languages do not always follow the same pattern; for example, Italian tends to express the component of Path more frequently than French and Spanish. The results of the present study highlight evidence of intra-typological differences, even between languages that are genetically very close. These differences seem to lead speakers to produce cases of conceptual transfer into their second language, Spanish, even when their first language is another Romance language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A main goal of research on task-based/supported language teaching is to inform foreign/second language classroom practices. However, while literature abounds detailing how tasks can be sequenced to maximise learners’ cognitive engagement and language development in experimental contexts, little is known about howinstructorsinterpret and incorporate this research into their classroom practices. The current study contributes to this research need by examining how university-level Spanish FL instructors operationalise task complexity and determine task sequencing in a lesson following training on the Triadic Componential Framework and SSARC model, and how instructors interpret the outcomes of their task sequence. Eight graduate student instructors of FL Spanish in a task-supported language department participated in the study, which took place over a year. In the fall semester, instructors took a FL teaching methods class, which included a unit in which they designed a two-task sequence of increasing complexity. The following spring, the instructors implemented their task sequence in a lesson, were interviewed afterwards and completed an electronic questionnaire. Results demonstrate that graduate student instructors utilised the research presented in training when operationalising cognitive complexity and determining task sequencing. These instructors also focused on task outcomes relating to the requirements of their highly structured teaching context (e.g. the linguistic outcome of the task) rather than communicative, real-world task demands. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purposes of this study were to (a) examine the degree to which teachers used linguistically responsive practices to support the language and literacy development of Spanish-speaking Dual Language Learners (DLL) and (b) to investigate the associations between these practices and select teacher-level factors. The sample consisted of 72 preschool teachers. Observational data were collected on practices. Teachers self-reported on language and culture beliefs, Spanish-speaking ability, and classroom composition. Results indicated that teachers, including those who spoke Spanish, used few linguistically responsive practices to support preschool DLLs. Only Spanish-speaking ability was related to practices. Implications for targeted professional development are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Speakers of gender-agreement languages use gender-marked elements of the noun phrase in spoken-word recognition: A congruent marking on a determiner or adjective facilitates the recognition of a subsequent noun, while an incongruent marking inhibits its recognition. However, while monolinguals and early language learners evidence this gender-marking effect, late learners do not (Guillelmon & Grosjean 2001). The goals of this study were to determine whether early learners who are not dominant in the gender-marking language (Spanish) can use gender cues in spoken-word recognition and whether the ability of both early and late learners to do so is a function of the noun’s gender-marking transparency. Results of a word-repetition task, completed by 32 native Spanish speakers and 64 English-dominant early and late learners of Spanish indicate that both types of learners make use of gender cues during spoken-word recognition, and that gender-marking transparency may influence this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the current study was to explore the influence of language experience on the presence of the receptive-expressive gap. Each of 778 Spanish-English bilingual children screened pre-kindergarten in Utah and Texas were assigned to one of five language experience groups, ranging from functionally monolingual to balanced bilingual. Children's scores from the language screener semantics subtest administered in both Spanish and English were standardized, and receptive and expressive semantic scores were compared. Children presented with a meaningful gap between receptive and expressive semantic knowledge in English but not Spanish. This gap increased as target-language exposure decreased. Results indicate that current language experience plays a dominant role in influencing the appearance and magnitude of the receptive-expressive gap. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of this study was to examine how fourth-grade Spanish-English speaking bilingual students in the USA participated differently in English-as-a-second-language (ESL) literature groups when they were invited to use all of their linguistic resources vs. when they were restricted to communicate in English only. The theoretical underpinning was that a student's learning burden is lessened when text comprehension is facilitated by access to all previous knowledge regardless of the language of acquisition. This mixed methods study employed a within group repeated measures design in which each student experienced all treatment conditions and completed a comprehension measurement activity following each literacy event. Data included 21 hours of audio-taped student dialog and analyses of 172 written recalls. Findings include the understanding that the opportunity to teach and learn is stifled when educators insist on strict separation of languages, and there is a strong interaction between language of recall and the topic of the reading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can second language (L2) learners acquire a grammar that allows a subset of the structures allowed by their native grammar? This question is addressed here with respect to acquisition of phonotactics. On the assumption that the L2 initial state equals the native grammar's final state, learnability theory would predict that a lack of negative evidence for phonotactic structures that are illegal in the target language precludes acquisition of the target grammar. This prediction is tested for L1-Russian (superset) and L1-Spanish (subset) L2 learners of Dutch by means of word-likeness judgments and lexical decision experiments. Participants responded to nonwords containing consonant clusters in onsets and codas that are legal (1) only in Russian, (2) only in Russian and Dutch, or (3) in all three languages. The results converge to show that advanced L1-Russian and L1-Spanish L2 learners possess native-like phonotactic knowledge. Analysis shows that this knowledge cannot be attributed to transfer of lexical statistics from the native language. The results suggest that L2 phonotactic acquisition is not affected by subset/superset relations between the native language and target language. Some possible explanations for our findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A survey of 724 families of dual language enrichment students in the South-West USA explored what kinds of families had chosen dual language education for their children and why. Of those parents who chose dual language for their children, 45.4% speak primarily English with their child, while 54.6% speak primarily Spanish. English-dominant parents constitute 24.7% of those who so chose, while 34.2% are Spanish-dominant and 40.5% are bilingual. In terms of education level, 50% of them have a high school education or less, 32.1% have an undergraduate degree and 17.9% have a graduate education. Of all respondents, 93.6% said they chose dual language so that their child would be able to speak, read and write in two languages, making it the most frequently selected followed by to be successful in a global society (63.1%), to be more successful in school (61.3%) and to be comfortable relating to different people (60.7%). There are several implications: not all parents have the same motivations; bilingual parents are different from monolingual parents; and more needs to be known about parents of secondary students as well as parents opting out of dual language programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]