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This paper addresses the interactional dynamics of one bilingual, two-way immersion classroom where children came from diverse linguistic, cultural, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Based on an ethnographic discourse analytic study of one kindergarten TWI classroom, I analyze interactional data using participant frameworks as the unit of analysis and develop a linguistic analysis from a language socialization lens. Findings illustrate the ways that children's talk and communicative behaviors act as peer socializing processes as children move in and out of various participatory roles in conversation. By virtue of their intentional spatial positioning around communal tables, students are socializing each other as participants into a bilingual learning community, even when they are silent participants or overhearers. I argue that this framework is a productive lens through which to analyze bilingual multiparty conversations in a way that does not privilege linguistic codes as a basis for analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative research study examines how 12 undergraduate second-language learners understood the concept of citations in academic writing. The following questions guided this study: What are the participants’ beliefs about citing research? How do students conceive the role and function of citations in their writing assignments? How do they make decisions about what and what not to cite? Results indicated that students believed that citations were a superficial accessory to the main text and only cited information to comply with teacher directives, thereby, sacrificing their own empowerment in the writing process. To overcome their unfamiliarity with academic prose, students created specific compensatory writing strategies. Although this study included only L2 students, the findings are consistent with the research involving monolingual students. This research can inform educators about the need to engage undergraduate students in participatory discussions about the role, function, and power of referencing within a privileged academic discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article investigates the incorporation of identity texts grounded in the multiliteracies framework Learning by Design to second language (L2) instruction in required Spanish classes at a university in the Southern United States. In particular, it focuses on student work on multimodal identity texts during two academic semesters from 173 beginning and 205 intermediate students. The paper describes the pedagogical process that gave students the opportunity to use their L2 to analyse, develop, and connect multimodal texts directly to their individual experiences. In addition, students reported not only instructional and personal benefits, but also their views of the project itself through an open-ended survey. Also included is a sentiment analysis of the participants' emotions toward L2 instruction after completing their texts. The findings from the survey reveal that the participants were able to identify a variety of instructional and personal benefits, and their perceptions of the project were overwhelmingly positive. The sentiment analysis showed that learners harboured extremely positive emotions towards the kind of instruction of which identity texts were part. Also, their work on identity texts seems to have contributed to their investment in these required L2 classes. [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]

Through narratives taken from life history interviews with an indigenous Mexican male immigrant in California, this paper examines the connection between masculinities and the learning of dominant languages associated with access to economic opportunities. In portraying the teller's engagements with work and education in both countries, these life history narratives index the way changing social contexts have caused him to emphasise different masculinities at different times in his life. Specifically, this paper explores the way a serious work injury led the teller to place new emphasis on learning English and computer skills in order to reconstruct a kind of ‘technical masculinity’ that he had previously found little scope for in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarizes the major conclusions of a four-year study designed to measure the intercultural and second language learning of more than 1300 US undergraduates enrolled at 61 programs abroad. Focusing on the central research question - whether US students learn effectively when left to their own devices while abroad, or whether students perform better when educators proactively intervene in their learning - the paper identifies a series of program design elements and learner characteristics that are significantly associated with gains in intercultural learning abroad. The Georgetown Consortium study provides significant evidence that most students benefit through enrolling in programs abroad that are intentionally designed to promote their intercultural learning (that is, programs that feature key design features that are strongly associated with student learning). In documenting important gender-based learning differences (as measured by the pre- and post-test Intercultural Development Inventory, the study's male students made no more progress in their intercultural learning than did control students at campuses back in the US, while female students did show significant gains), the study also argues that focusing intentionally on learning abroad is especially important for male students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the sociocultural theoretical framework that this paper adopts, learning, including second-language learning, is conceptualised as increasing participation in a community of practice. Thus it becomes of central importance to examine the nature of the community itself and the kinds of participatory opportunities that it supports or discourages. For it is through their engagement in the specific practices of their communities that students appropriate the knowledgeable skills that these practices involve. In this paper, based on the findings of an exploratory ethnographic study conducted in a US middle school, I examine the learning opportunities created for adolescent English language learners in three different classrooms and the ways in which these students took up these opportunities. I argue that, in addition to the particular subject matter to be taught, what appears to shape the kinds of learning opportunities afforded to English language learners is: (a) teachers' conceptualisation of the needs of second-language students; (b) the ways in which they perceive their own role in responding to these needs; and (c) the larger context of institutional practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on fieldwork conducted over the course of one academic year in two urban high-school English learner (EL) classrooms located in the south-western part of the United States. As part of a larger interest in how language ideologies mediate classroom discourse practices, this paper analyses the role of awareness in language ideological (LI) inquiry, its methodological implications, as well as pedagogy in second language learning. Classroom surveys, observations and teacher interviews were conducted and analysed using content and discourse analysis. When probed for language issues within their classrooms and over their lives, students were able to articulate explicit awareness of how rules of language use mediated their lives. More importantly, they were able to articulate issues of status and difference vis a vis language which points to a critical view of LI inquiry. Teachers also expressed explicit rules regarding language use for instructional purposes. While explicit articulations of language ideologies were rare, especially within everyday classroom practices, they provide a valuable and necessary reference point for understanding the implicit ways in which language ideologies frame interactions within EL classrooms. This dimension enhances the empirical validity of LI inquiry in classroom settings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Using conversation-analytic methods, this paper examines teacher-initiated activity transitions to highlight how students in the second-language (L2) classroom systematically contest shifts. These video-recorded interactions come from an advanced-level adult English-as-a-second-language classroom, and multi-modal analysis is utilised to demonstrate how L2 students and their teacher negotiate the boundaries of activities in the classroom. Shifts both between and within activities are analysed to underscore the different interactional work required of students to challenge shifts in these different sequential environments. Students were found to take strategic advantage of the incremental nature of teacher-initiated activity shifts in order to redirect talk back to a prior topic. Students demonstrate control over talk by creating 'wiggle room' at activity transitions, and the teacher's sanction of these student-initiated turns also provides them with additional interactional space; the contributions of both students and teacher are thus argued to demonstrate the jointly negotiated nature of talk in the L2 classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article surmises the position and ambition of a nonnative speaker/teacher of a European language and literature as an ostensible facilitator of cultural difference in the U.S. foreign-language classroom. The paper opens a space to think through pedagogical conceptuality and the practice of assisting and guiding students in their perceptions of cultural difference in the specific situation when the instructor carries visible inscriptions of his/her “Otherness.” Through an investigation of the adjectives “native” and “non-native,” the article critically reconsiders privileges of birth, affiliations through residence, education, and ethnicity. This article sutures two different streams of scholarship. First, by engaging with scholarship on German as a foreign language in the U.S., the article construes the “position” of the nonnative speaker vis-a-vis the native speaker/instructor. Next, through a discussion with cultural theorists, the article puts to test the “ambition” of the nonnative-minority as an allegedly reliable native informant of interculturality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of modeling-based instruction is very effective when learning science content in multiple disciplines for native speakers. However, the benefits of using this pedagogy with students learning English as a second language or English Learners (ELs) have not been widespread, especially at the upper secondary level. This article discusses the use of a modeling-based natural selection unit that was developed for 14–16-year-old ELs in a sheltered EL biology class in the United States. The activity described for ELs includes not only activity details but also specifics about the inclusion and use of research-based scaffolding techniques. The efficacy of the unit was assessed in terms of changes to both conceptual understanding and scientific reasoning skills for the ELs and two inquiry-based non-EL biology classrooms. This modeling-based pedagogy allowed the ELs to not only increase their conceptual understanding of evolution but also their reasoning skills while also removing any knowledge gap with their non-EL peers in terms of evolution. The implication is that modeling-based science activities might hold the key to allowing EL students to achieve at the same conceptual levels as their non-EL peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The view of sign languages as bounded systems is often important for deaf community empowerment and for pedagogical practice in terms of supporting deaf children’s language acquisition and second language learners’ communicative competence. Conversely, the notion of translanguaging in the American Sign Language (ASL) community highlights a number of recurring tensions related to standard language ideology and English-based sign systems in deaf education; these tensions can work to obscure the polyglot nature of ASL itself. This paper reports how translingual practices were embedded in an ethnographic action research study of developing and field-testing an ASL curriculum for parents of young deaf children that is aligned with theCommon European Framework of Reference for Languages(CEFR). In this study of teaching parents classical ASL varieties, translingual practices were highlighted where ASL and the visual code of English are regularly in contact with and influence each other in signers’ multimodal repertoires. This data illustrate the history of translanguaging in ASL communities and points to the importance of preserving historic deaf community language practices. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study reports on the non-discursive aspects of the disciplinary enculturation experiences of five international doctoral students from East Asia in three Second Language studies graduate programmes in the United States. Based largely on interview data, this study examined how students participate in their graduate discourse communities and what may contribute to or hinder academic success. It appeared that the kinds of social capital accrued through social ties and networks are key to students' successful disciplinary enculturation, suggesting the importance of establishing positive personal interactions and locating oneself within supportive discourse community contexts. The present study also sheds light on the issue that disciplinary enculturation is an inherent cultural practice, which may not favour students who do not adopt mainstream socio-academic conventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the language minority student population in the US increases at a rapid pace, a larger number of teachers are pursuing a primary or secondary certification in English as a Second Language (ESL). This case study describes the professional development efforts to provide an ESL endorsement to a group of K-12 teachers in a large mid-western university. It describes the systemic nature underlying their professional development, highlighting the influence of different constituencies. These range from federal, state, county and district levels to the university teacher preparation program, as well as the teachers themselves. By understanding how these factors influence teachers' professional development, the authors identify important lessons that can be learned by teacher educators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an international doctoral student, the author uses a poetic analysis to illustrate the academic experiences that she and five other international doctoral students have encountered at a university in the U.S., implying how society racializes international doctoral students through society's concept of a second language and the students' physical appearance. This study explains how this racialization in society has affected the self-consciousness and confidence of these international doctoral students when they consider their academic abilities. This study hopes to, first, raise international doctoral students' confidence in their academic abilities and society's awareness of the aforementioned racialization; second, this study could illuminate higher education's recognition of what academic challenges international doctoral students face. This poetic analysis could be of interest to graduate students, scholars, or stakeholders in the international, second language, and higher education who are dedicated to anti-racist teaching and the wellness of international graduate students in the U.S. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers in hospitality and human resources collaborated with researchers in teaching English to speakers of other languages to uncover the language needs of back-of-the-house employees at 15 hotels in a large resort area in the southeastern United States as perceived by human resource directors (n = 19). Results indicate few language barriers in securing employment but multiple communication breakdowns related to customer engagement as well as employee retention and promotion. Additionally, few properties offered quality English language programs that meet industry needs. The researchers suggest a model for language training that targets fluency in English as a second language specifically for hospitality and links it to workplace communication practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the goals of foreign language (FL) education is to produce intercultural speakers. Telecollaboration can act as a catalyst for promoting language skills development, intercultural communicative competence (ICC), and multiple literacies. The significance of multimodal communicative competence (MCC) on the success or failure of a telecollaborative project and its interdependence with intercultural communicative competence (ICC) have already been established. The very few systematic reviews on ICC and second language (L2) or FL learningdo not take into account the different modalities through which learners interact and co-construct meaning and intercultural competence. Drawing on ecological linguistics (EL) and semiotics, the present review contributes to the field of applied linguistics by reviewing online intercultural exchanges (OIEs) and ICC development in relation to the modality used for each exchange that is reviewed. Features of the context of each study that was conducted in either a K-12 or a university setting were coded according to a coding scheme and analysed quantitatively using descriptive statistics. The findings of studies conducted in university contexts, were reviewed in-depth inductively in relation to the impact of Web 2.0 tools - and especially multimodality - on learners' development of ICC. The exclusive focus on university contexts in the in-depth review stems from the frequency at which universities serve as contexts for OIEs, comprising in this case more than two-thirds of the reviewed studies. Analysis of the data suggests that multimodality in Web 2.0 tools and applications affects ICC development in multiple ways but more research on ICC and L2 and FL learners in multimodal environments needs to be conducted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent developments in education policy in the USA have focused attention on language and literacy, especially for bilingual learners, in US schools. More specifically, these efforts, prominently related to the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), focus on the development of ‘academic English’ for immigrant students. The focus on language in school contexts has renewed interest in the classic Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS)/Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) distinction. The article reviews the BICS/CALP distinction in relation to other dichotomies of language proficiency, and promotes an alternative view of language development in school for bilingual children known as second language instructional competence, or SLIC. While SLIC has seemed useful to many in the field, there is a need for further theoretical development of the concept, with attention to how SLIC, rather than the BICS/CALP dichotomy, might usefully guide effective teaching for second language learners in US schools. A theory of language in school, in relation to monolingual and bilingual speakers with developing second language proficiency, is proposed, drawing on recent work in language minority education and second language acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This phenomenological study examines the unique perceptions of immigrant women concerning the public library as a meeting place, a support to integration into American culture, and a provider of programs for acquisition of the English language. The library offers a place for observing the culture of the new country from a distance to active participation; it is an arena for comfort and consolation in a difficult life situation as well as an arena for activity and participation. It provides support in developing friendships, acclimating to a new culture, learning a new language, and providing avenues to employment. Three mothers, who fulfilled the criteria for the study, were selected from an initial focus group. Women from Kurdistan, Mexico, and Indonesia were interviewed individually to gain an understanding on the issues brought forth in the focus group. They participated in interviews over the course of 6 months. These programs became a fortuitous blending of an established community with a group of families looking for a support community in a new country. This study has implications for institutions serving immigrants as they look to find a community of support, to learn English, and to acclimate to American culture as they create a comfortable identity that blends their home country with the new country. [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]

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]

This article tells the story of a child immigrant's L2 acquisition process. The narrative demonstrates the effects of social and academic factors on motivation to acquire an L2 and the result of immigration at a young age on cultural identity formation. The article begins by discussing the need for research into sociocultural factors in the second language acquisition process and by reviewing recent research on motivation and identity. The author then describes the development of a coding scheme of motivation and identity factors for the study. The author uses life story and visual anthropology methods to present the narrative of an Italian man who immigrated to the United States at age seven and analyzes the narrative according to the coding scheme. The narrative and its discussion reveal the way that teachers contribute to students' L2 success and the importance of fostering hybrid cultural identities among L2 learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing numbers of English language learners (ELLs) in U.S. K-12 public schools have raised many questions about how to best educate these students. Much of the research on teaching ELLs has discussed the kinds of practices that should be used to increase ELLs' school achievement, but few studies have documented the actual practices that English as a second language (ESL) teachers use to scaffold their students into achieving in mainstream classrooms. This study adds to the literature on the practices of ESL teachers by examining the teaching practices of 2 junior high school ESL teachers as they prepared their intermediate and advanced ELLs to spend their entire school day in mainstream classes. Findings indicate that both teachers engaged in a complex array of practices that helped develop academic language and literacy skills that students needed for participation in mainstream classrooms by (a) attending to mainstream content in their classrooms, (b) teaching students academic language, (c) providing support in students' first language, (d) teaching students explicit reading strategies, and (e) using culturally responsive teaching methods. Implications for practice, future research, and policy include using measures that help teachers approach their instruction with a holistic understanding of students' mainstream academic language and literacy needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

To examine the ways in which high schools in New York City attend to second language acquisition is to consider everyday actions in schools, government dealings, localized policy responses, and disparate discourses on bilingualism. It is to position the circumstances of learning and teaching English in an American high school within the problems encountered and produced when multiple educational policies collide in local settings, such as individual schools. It is also to consider, and then interrogate, the 'political spectacle' in which educational actors associated with schools - teachers, counselors, parents, students, community members, activists, and administrators - become dramaturgically cast into political-policy roles as they enact federal, state, and district policies with regard not only to issues of language acquisition and bilingualism but also to increased accountability, mandated high-stakes testing, and other sanctions-driven approaches. Drawing on qualitative research conducted between September 2003 and May 2008, this article situates Gregorio Luperon High School, a successful bilingual school for Latino newcomers, within a web of politics and policies, grounded in the history of bilingual education in New York City. It reveals how this school, caught within a political-policy matrix of centralized federal authority under No Child Left Behind and decentralized accountability under the City's Children First reforms, continues to emphasize second language acquisition as the ongoing work of building a bilingual speech community, even in the face of educational policies that increasingly narrow assessment of language acquisition and intensify the overall evaluation of academic achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lexical access was examined in English-Spanish bilinguals by monitoring eye fixations on target and lexical competitors as participants followed spoken instructions in English to click on one of the objects presented on a computer (e.g., 'Click on the beans'). Within-language lexical competitors had a phoneme onset in English that was shared with the target (e.g., 'beetle'). Between-language lexical competitors had a phoneme onset in Spanish that was shared with the target (' bi gote', 'mustache' in English). Participant groups varied in their age-of-acquisition of English and Spanish, and were examined in one of three language modes (Grosjean, 1998, 2001). A strong within-language (English) lexical competition (or cohort effect) was modulated by language mode and age of second language acquisition. A weaker between-language (Spanish) cohort effect was influenced primarily by the age-of-acquisition of Spanish. These results highlight the role of age-of-acquisition and mode in language processing. They are discussed in comparison to previous studies addressing the role of these two variables and in terms of existing models of bilingual word recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the US, public school teachers are currently experiencing an unprecedented increase in the number of English language learner (ELL) students with whom they work. Research shows the practice of incorporating ELL students' native languages (L1) into instruction to be a major factor enhancing their success in school. In this study, 327 pre-service and experienced mainstream teachers in the midwestern region of the USA were surveyed on their perspectives related to this practice. Findings from descriptive analyses indicated that while teachers generally supported L1 use in instruction, they tended to show stronger support for its underlying theory than for its practical implementation. Results from a series of analyses of variances (ANOVA) suggested a clear link between English as a second language specific university preparation and an increased support for the theory and practice of L1 use in instruction. Results further suggested links among some combination of teaching experience and an increase in support for this practice. Findings from this study are discussed in relation to strategies and directions for teacher educators with the responsibility of preparing mainstream teachers to effectively serve ELL students in regions of the USA with unprecedented increases in culturally and linguistically diverse student populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This ethnographic, cross-cultural study used a dialogic, sociolinguistic framework to describe learning processes in portraits of three immersion summer camps in the eastern US. Using the data collection techniques of in-depth interviewing, participant observation and textual analysis, the study examined the process of second language learning and ethnic socialization through linguistic and cultural activities at two Chinese and one Hebrew summer day camp for children ages four to 12. Informal alternatives to standard learning elements such as the 'classroom'; 'student'; 'teacher'; 'curriculum'; 'textbooks'; and 'tests' within the four language learning skill sets were observed and analyzed. Participants described positive language learning and social outcomes as a result of: voluntary participation in task or project-based activities; modeling using authentic materials and native-speaking role models; wide-ranging learning methods with an emphasis on physical activities; and language and social mediation through dialogue and relationships with junior counselors and counselors-in-training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the construction and maintenance of ideologies regarding the legitimacy of English as the dominant language in the United States in interactions involving adult immigrant learners of English. As both the researcher and these students' English as second language (ESL) instructor, I am a participant in the ESL classroom and interview conversations that are analyzed in this study. In my analysis, I consider how these adult ESL students and I take up positions and are positioned in ways that affiliate us with particular language identities, such as “Chinese speaker,” “non-native speaker of English,” or “English speaker,” among others. I argue that our subject positioning according to language affiliation provides one of the means by which normative beliefs about English in the United States are reconstituted. [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]

The purpose of the investigation was to examine the developmental trajectories of bilingual preschoolers' comprehension of Spanish and English and to determine whether a lengthy summer vacation impacted children's development during the preschool years. Participants included 83 bilingual children who were followed over a 2-year period during which time children attended a federally funded preschool programme for children from low-income homes living in the US. Children were divided into two groups based on whether their scores on receptive language measures increased or decreased during their first year of Head Start. Results revealed that children whose scores increased experienced positive growth in their language comprehension in Spanish and English over the 2-year period, whereas children whose scores decreased during the first year continued to experience a negative developmental trajectory in their second year. Additionally, it was found that a lengthy summer vacation had a differential effect on children's development. Summer vacation had a negative effect on the developmental trajectories of children who experienced gains in their comprehension of English and Spanish and a positive impact on children whose scores declined during the school year. Clinical implications suggest that children may require differential support during the school year and summer vacation depending upon their developmental trajectories during the first year in preschool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A critical period for language learning is often defined as a sharp decline in learning outcomes with age. This study examines the relevance of the critical period for English-speaking proficiency among immigrants in the USA. It uses microdata from the 2000 US Census, a model of language acquisition and a flexible specification of an estimating equation based on 64 age-at-migration dichotomous variables. Self-reported English-speaking proficiency among immigrants declines more or less monotonically with age at migration, and this relationship is not characterised by any sharp decline or discontinuity that might be considered consistent with a 'critical' period. The findings are robust across the various immigrant samples, and between the genders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents new data on the degree of 'foreign' accent among immigrant learners of English in the USA (total N=50) as it correlates to learner orientation to the target language and target language culture. Correlation analyses confirm the significance of age of onset and length of immersion, as well as learner attitudes, including: (a) reasons for learning English; (b) perceived ability to improve in English; (c) desire to improve accent; (d) self-confidence in English; (e) comfort with assimilation to the target language culture (USA); and (f) intention to reside in the USA long-term. A close examination of the data points to three main conclusions: (1) language attitudes are significant for accent, as are more traditional measures such as age of onset with the target language and length of residence in the target language environment; (2) attitudes toward the target language itself are more powerfully linked to accent than are culture-directed attitudes, though both are significant; (3) a combination of experience and a positive orientation appears to be particularly important for attaining greater authenticity in accent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates differential item functioning (DIF) in a 36-item test of English as a Second Language pragmalinguistics, assessing 254 learners' knowledge of implicature, routines, and speech acts. Two common DIF techniques, the Mantel-Haenszel method and the standardization method, detected nine items functioning differentially for test takers of Asian and European language background. More detailed analyses of these items showed that DIF was mostly statistical, but some substantive DIF was also present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the critical approaches to world language education in the United States. It discusses three major areas to consider in second language education, such as the linguistic and cultural norm in teaching and learning, the representation of language, culture, and people in instructional materials, and the field of language policy and planning. It describes what the critical approaches could mean for world language education.

Although second language (L2) research has explored connections between sociopsychological variables and L2 socialization processes, relatively few investigations have compared heritage language (HL) learners to traditional foreign language (FL) learners in the North American context. This descriptive study compares the learning and acculturation patterns of 26 first- and second-generation Greek American learners of Modern Greek and 16 non-Greek American learners. Oral performance measures and ethnographic interviews involving 10 participants reveal that FL participants attributed their L2 proficiency to sophisticated metalinguistic knowledge and social strategies. In contrast, Greek American participants cited prior language instruction, the use of Greek as a home language, and—significantly—their ethnicity, as the most meaningful contributors to their linguistic success. Analyses highlight striking distinctions between the cognitive strategies, affiliation patterns, and identity construction patterns of FL and HL learners, suggesting implications for providing instruction that is appropriate for both FL instruction and HL maintenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In spite of the growing linguistic diversity in U.S. classrooms, many teachers are not being adequately prepared to work with English language learners (ELLs). One area of particular concern for teachers is how to manage today's linguistically diverse classrooms. This article suggests ways educators can reflect on English language learners' needs and consider the implications for classroom management. The author focuses on the need to (a) understand the perspective of ELLs and the natural responses to being immersed in a second language, (b) use pedagogical strategies that aid in second language acquisition, and (c) create a classroom climate that affirms linguistic diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study, based on Soviet émigrés in the greater Boston area, looks at the correlates of English language proficiency and the role that language plays in immigrants' adjustment as defined through three concepts—difficulty in everyday situations, awareness of differentness, and satisfaction. Proficiency is most highly correlated with general level of education, length of time in the United States, and work status. High contact with both Americans and conationals is associated with the highest level of language proficiency. As a factor in adjustment, language proficiency is significantly related to difficulty in certain social situations and to feelings of embarrassment or self-consciousness in public situations. It is not related, however, to ease of handling a number of other social situations or to other reactions such as lack of confidence in being able to accomplish things. Those who know English are most satisfied with their life in America and tend to feel more comfortable, yet they are not more likely to say they would come to the United States if they had it to do over again. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the elimination of Greek dialect from the English language. Methods used in the process; Difficulties in changing the language habits of native speakers of Greek; Examples of exercises given to Greek-English foreign dialect classes at the University of Akron in Ohio.