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This qualitative study investigated how pre-service teachers of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) experienced and learned from their completion of a reflective project, including a reflection paper and digital storytelling. The participants were 20 graduate students in a program for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) at a university in the United States. This study aimed to identify participants' experiences when completing the project and its influences on their learning. The findings demonstrated their diverse performance and perspectives during the tasks, as well as their learning in language, culture, education, and technology. Based on these findings, dialogic hybrid learning and the pedagogical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undergraduate research paper has long been a tradition in US freshman composition programs, although whether the research paper should or can be taught in the English department continues to be debated. In many of the English departments in Taiwan, students are also required to compose a research paper for their composition class. However, there has been little research conducted on the writing process and on the student perceptions of this specific genre in an EFL learning context. This qualitative study, involving one American instructor and seven Taiwanese college students majoring in English, traced a research writing project, carried out as part of the writing curriculum, from start to finish. Three semi-structured interviews were conducted with each of the students in the beginning, middle and end of the research project. The findings indicate that the students saw information arrangement and display as the main purpose of the research paper. For various reasons, the students perceived the research project as beneficial, although during the implementation of the project they encountered difficulties such as time and resource constraints, problems with using sources in Chinese, difficulties with synthesizing information from multiple sources, among others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: International and migrant students face specific challenges which may impact their mental health, well-being and academic outcomes, and these may be gendered experiences. The purpose of this scoping review was to map the literature on the challenges, coping responses and supportive interventions for international and migrant students in academic nursing programs in major host countries, with a gender lens. Methods: We searched 10 databases to identify literature reporting on the challenges, coping responses and/or supportive interventions for international and migrant nursing students in college or university programs in Canada, the United-States, Australia, New Zealand or a European country. We included peer-reviewed research (any design), discussion papers and literature reviews. English, French and Spanish publications were considered and no time restrictions were applied. Drawing from existing frameworks, we critically assessed each paper and extracted information with a gender lens. Results: One hundred fourteen publications were included. Overall the literature mostly focused on international students, and among migrants, migration history/status and length of time in country were not considered with regards to challenges, coping or interventions. Females and males, respectively, were included in 69 and 59% of studies with student participants, while those students who identify as other genders/sexual orientations were not named or identified in any of the research. Several papers suggest that foreign-born nursing students face challenges associated with different cultural roles, norms and expectations for men and women. Other challenges included perceived discrimination due to wearing a hijab and being a 'foreign-born male nurse', and in general nursing being viewed as a feminine, low-status profession. Only two strategies, accessing support from family and other student mothers, used by women to cope with challenges, were identified. Supportive interventions considering gender were limited; these included matching students with support services' personnel by sex, involving male family members in admission and orientation processes, and using patient simulation as a method to prepare students for care-provision of patients of the opposite-sex. Conclusion: Future work in nursing higher education, especially regarding supportive interventions, needs to address the intersections of gender, gender identity/sexual orientation and foreign-born status, and also consider the complexity of migrant students' contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of efficient and reliable online assessments has become increasingly important in the digital era. We developed a 10-min online word reading assessment of global English based on the existing paper-and-pencil version of our English silent word reading test. The test includes two parts, namely, random word recognition and contextual word reading. A total of 889 participants (437 children and 392 adults; 62.7% female) took part in the study. They were from various regions including mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, Poland, the United States, and the Philippines. Reliability and validity analyses on various demographics samples (by age and country/region of origin) demonstrated that the WordSword Test is highly reliable and valid (e.g., the correlation of this test with other English reading measures were above.80). Education level was positively correlated with test performance, while the correlations between age and test performance were not consistent. Ninety-seven children participants also took the paper-and-pencil version of the WordSword Test. The correlation between performances on the online and paper-and-pencil versions of the test was.879, one year apart. With more children and adults taking the WordSword Test, we ultimately hope to establish norms by area, grade level, and age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the Sarah Mazelis Paper of the Year Award, which recognizes authors whose articles in the journal "Health Promotion Practice" made contributions to the fields of health education and health promotion and reports that in 2014 the award was given for the article "Integrating Health Literacy and ESL: An Interdisciplinary Curriculum for Hispanic Immigrants" by Francisco Soto Mas, Erika Mein, Brenda Fuentes, Barry Thatcher, and Héctor Balcázar.

Despite the recent growth of multilingual learners in community colleges, research is still scarce on how instructors perceive and interact with students institutionally classified as English as a second language (ESL). In this paper, I use racialization of language and culturally relevant pedagogy to explain how 6 instructors from first-year freshmen in a community college, serving a high percentage of immigrant multilingual learners, view, understand and operationalize culturally and linguistically responsive practices in their classrooms. I use a qualitative critical approach to analyze data from interviews, fieldnotes, and observations from a year-long study in a community college in a mid-sized city in the South of the United States. I show evidence of instructors' views of students regarding their cultural, linguistic, educational, and class backgrounds. Findings suggest that even when instructors celebrate differences in the classroom and are aware of the cultural differences, their opinions, and academic expectations were sometimes focused on students' lack of confidence to advocate for themselves and their failure to assimilate into the mainstream culture. Despite the best intentions, these expectations still enclosed assimilationist views of language and personhood that require students to communicate in ways that often resemble the American traditional monolingual college student. The study of language from a racial perspective can promote powerful ways to understand how institutions structure and operationalize services to multilingual learners; conscious changes in services may result in more equitable practices for these students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies about writing assignments in higher education have explained that the library research paper, report on experiment, summary, and article/book review were the most common writing assignment tasks assigned across disciplines. No previous studies have explored writing tasks in the TESOL discipline at a national level. In this study information on 120 writing assignments, gathered directly from TESOL professors in the United States, with 28 available online, were analyzed to (a) explore the writing tasks frequently assigned to TESOL master's students; (b) examine the importance of the writing assignments for course evaluation; and (c) compare TESOL assignments with those in social sciences, humanities, and the arts. The study results will help to interpret characteristics of writing assignments in TESOL programs and to infer skills required for the writing assignments in the TESOL field. Also, the study will help instructors of English for academic purposes in TESOL programs guide and prepare nonnative-English-speaking students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental health providers caring for refugees should be aware that obtaining citizenship is critical to stability and safety for their patients. In the United States (U.S.), obtaining citizenship requires applicants to pass an examination exhibiting working knowledge of English and foundational knowledge of U.S. civics. For refugees with mental health disorders that impair cognition, this may present insurmountable barriers. The United States Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS) offers form N-648 to request exemption from these requirements. However, the form can be difficult to complete in a manner acceptable to USCIS. In this paper, the authors present preliminary data on citizenship-related mental health evaluations and subsequent applications for 40 patients seen in a university-based refugee mental health clinic. We simplify the process into three phases, and present three cases highlighting specific complexities involved. Our experiences and recommendations may help other mental health providers prepare to advocate for their refugee patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the construction process involved in creating a robust local learner corpus of texts produced by international students in a first-year writing course at a large public, mid-western university in the U.S. We show how involving faculty members and graduate students of our local writing program in the process of learner corpus analysis provides them with opportunities to develop their skills and knowledge as writing instructors, course designers, and, ultimately, knowledge producers. An additional benefit of such an undertaking is that the corpus can become part of the infrastructure of a research community that allows continued contributions by others individually and collaboratively. We also illustrate the usefulness of our local learner corpus for research, teaching, mentoring, and collaboration within our writing program with examples of the research projects and teaching interventions we have developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latinx students make up 77.8% of the English learner (EL) population in the United States (Department of Education, 2017). However, there is a subpopulation of Latinx ELs who are: English‐dominant, born in the United States, and identified as long‐term English learner (LTEL). ELs who are not reclassified after 6 or 7 years are categorized as LTEL (Clark‐ Gareca et al., 2019). The focus of this paper is how language proficiency standardized assessments inequitably impact Latinx LTELs. We use Flores and Rosa's raciolinguistic ideologies (2015) to analyze the inequitable language opportunities Latinx LTELs experience because of standardized tests. A raciolinguistic perspective "shifts the focus from the linguistic practices of the speaker/writer toward the perceiving practices of the listener/reader" (Flores, 2020, p. 24). We argue that standardized assessments serve as both the listener/reader and the institutional mechanism that causes Latinxs to be overrepresented as LTELs and underrepresented in dual‐language (DL) and Seal of Biliteracy programs. We conclude that language proficiency standardized assessments do not reflect the actual language abilities of Latinx LTELs (Brooks, 2018). Instead, we propose the use of EL portfolios to demonstrate proficiency in English (Winke & Zhang, 2019). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the efforts of an intensive English programme to design a class that addressed the challenges of bringing authentic English into the curriculum. This class exposed students to a variety of authentic English language input, while providing support. Through this class, students volunteered with various community organizations. These placements were linked with the curriculum of our intensive English programme. This hybrid class consisted of class meetings, electronic discussions, the community placement, paper journals, a final reflection paper, and a capstone experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theorizing classrooms as contexts of reception shaped by ideological, relational, and pedagogical dimensions, and drawing on ethnographic data from a yearlong study of recent‐arrival immigrant youths' educational experiences in an urban U.S. high school, this paper describes how a group of recent‐arrival youth acted upon the discourses, pedagogical practices, and identity categories in their content‐area and ESL classes. It challenges traditional depictions of school engagement that focus on youths' personal traits and individual attributes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The widespread use of technology and the Internet have changed many of language learners' everyday practices, including literacies. While there have been many studies with the focus on language learners' digital literacies, few, however, have explored language learners' digital information literacy and online reading practices with the use of social bookmarking tools, especially in a community college setting. We address this gap by investigating community‐college language learners' digital literacies when social bookmarking with the focus on digital information and online reading practices from an ecological perspective. In this qualitative multiple‐case study, the focal participants were five English learners, students in an English as a Second Language writing course in a community college in the northeastern United States. Data collection included interviews, observations, and researchers' e‐journals. Thorough within‐ and cross‐case analysis of data shows that language learners searched for digital texts and evaluated them based on relevance, reliability, interest, language, and importance for them and their learning community in the social bookmarking tool. The participants struggled with the number of results in search engines, keywords, and evaluation of digital texts for relevance and reliability. We show the need for more instruction, support, and guidance of language learners' digital information literacy practices as well as the benefits of providing students with opportunities to read digital texts. Our suggestions for future research include investigating the role of multimodality and other factors that influence language learners' evaluation practices when they look for and read information online. Lay Description: What is currently known about this topic: Digital literacies are essential for students' success in the future.Language learners often face challenges when developing digital literacies in the target language.The use of various Web 2.0 tools, such as social networking sites and games, may be beneficial for language learners' development of literacies.More research on language learners' digital information literacy and reading practices online using social bookmarking tools is needed, especially in the school‐ and community‐college contexts. What this paper adds: Our participants are language learners in a community‐college context.Language learners searched for digital texts and evaluated them based on relevance, reliability, interest, language, and importance for them and their learning community in the social bookmarking tool.Language learners struggled with the number of results in search engines, keywords, and evaluation of digital texts for relevance and reliability.Language learners engaged in a number of diverse practices when reading online. The implications of study findings for practitioners: Language learners need more instruction and support when developing digital information literacy.We offer guiding questions and suggestions that might help educators and administrators at the planning stage of their language courses and/or activities with digital information literacy practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies on electronic textbooks were all survey studies of college students in the U.S.A. Their main findings revealed that using electronic textbooks and using print textbooks showed no statistical differences in learning achievements. As mobile devices became popular in classrooms, the present study was intended to confirm the competitive nature of electronic textbooks on mobile devices in an experiment. The differences of the present experiment from previous survey studies included its involving teenage learners of English and its examining their learning with electronic textbooks on mobile devices. This experimental study recruited adolescent learners to participate in a mobile-assisted English learning program requiring them to study with their electronic textbooks on mobile devices exclusively. Their counterparts used print textbooks as usual. The findings presented no significant differences in various achievements between the two groups. The mobile group furthermore approved their studying English on their mobile devices with satisfaction and perceived its usefulness and ease of use. Endorsing the competitiveness of electronic textbooks on mobile devices, the teenage English learners also highlighted the strengths characterized by mobile technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Studies of the creation of social trust and social capital indicate that informal social contact has a positive effect. Some studies find that uncorrupt public institutions have positive effects on trust and social capital. Additionally, a number of papers show that public libraries have a similar effect. The mechanisms that generate trust, however, remain largely unspecified. Therefore, research describing micro-level processes is needed to uncover the mechanisms creating trust. This article reports a study of change in social trust among first-generation Mexican immigrants who participated in English as a second language ðESLÞ classes, computer classes, and civics classes in six US public libraries. These students displayed little trust outside their family and friends; however, after participating in library programs, they became more trusting of the library, the librarians, their fellow students, and other library users. These effects can be considered a starting point for a spiral of increasing generalized trust among the students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building upon the theory of teacher cognition, the purpose of this study was to discover how pre-service teachers envision learning English as English Language Learners (ELLs) and teaching English to ELLs. We examined metaphors of 98 pre-service teachers who were enrolled in their first literacy methods course in their preparatory program at one of two universities in the United States. We used metaphor analysis methodology to look at the participants' metaphor writing samples. Overall results showed the pre-service teachers viewed learning English to be foremost a challenge and secondarily a worthwhile challenge. In contrast, the pre-service teachers viewed teaching English to be a worthwhile challenge, followed by a challenge and process. Throughout this paper we highlight our reflection and relate our findings to previous research. To be a responsive teacher educator begins by knowing our pre-service teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The difficulties and trauma associated with sexual violence are exacerbated by language difficulties. Language difficulties pose particular barriers in accessing legal, social, medical and support services. This presents additional challenges for sexual assault response teams (SART). The SART members serve critical functions in supporting a victim of sexual violence from trauma to trial. This paper addresses the need for trained gender-sensitive medical interpreters for adult female victims with limited English proficiency (LEP) in sexual assault examination, and thus the need for inclusion of trained medical interpreters in SART. Such needs were articulated from interviews with advocates and medical interpreters in the US, from literature reviews and conversations with women with LEP in the US. The paper closes with a set of specific recommendations that will promote comfortable accessible service to female victims of sexual violence with LEP. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There has been a longstanding debate on the use of native language (L1) in second language acquisition (SLA). One important topic in language education to investigate is the use of language in the second language (L2) writing process. The majority of studies have focused on L2 writers in English as a foreign language (EFL) settings. Quantitative research approaches have been dominant. Nevertheless, the complexity of this issue cannot be comprehensively explored without qualitative analysis. This case study investigates the language use of a Chinese international college student in the United States throughout the L2 writing process. It adopts a qualitative research approach. The findings show that language learners draw upon their entire linguistic repertoire while writing; even those with a high proficiency level still rely upon their L1 in the L2 writing process. The findings also reveal the multiple functions of the L1 in facilitating L2 writing. Although this study primarily focuses on the linguistic influences of the L1, its implications can be generalized to a broader context. Teachers working with English learners (ELs) or bilingual students are highly recommended to acknowledge and gain a comprehensive understanding of the value of students' linguistic knowledge, as well as embrace and strategically utilize students' linguistic repertoires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study applies Kuhlthau's Information Search Process stage (ISP) model to understand bilingual users' Internet search experience. We conduct a quasi‐field experiment with 30 bilingual searchers and the results suggested that the ISP model was applicable in studying searchers' information retrieval behavior in search tasks. The ISP model was applicable in studying searchers' information retrieval behavior in simple tasks. However, searchers' emotional responses differed from those of the ISP model for a complex task. By testing searchers using different search strategies, the results suggested that search engines with multilanguage search functions provide an advantage for bilingual searchers in the Internet's multilingual environment. The findings showed that when searchers used a search engine as a tool for problem solving, they might experience different feelings in each ISP stage than in searching for information for a term paper using a library. The results echo other research findings that indicate that information seeking is a multifaceted phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The population of English learners (ELs) continues to grow in schools across the United States and around the world. In this article, we share one urban university's collaborative approach to building educational capacity for cultural and linguistic diversity through professional development efforts that brought together stakeholders from classrooms, schools, communities, and districts. This grant-funded project aimed to build educator expertise to effectively support and positively influence students' language development and disciplinary learning. Grounded in sociocultural theory, we used an apprenticeship framework of teacher development, strategically planning and implementing collaborative capacity building efforts to foster learning across individual, interpersonal, and institutional planes. In this paper, we share the results of professional development efforts across three years of this project, drawing from observation, interview, and focus group data. Findings indicate that classroom-, school-, and district-level educators developed knowledge of discipline-specific language development, pedagogical skills for effective EL teaching and learning, and leadership abilities to positively shape institutional responses to their culturally and linguistically diverse student populations. Implications focus on fostering teacher professionalism through bottom-up development of EL-specific expertise and expanded opportunities for leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metadiscourse features are the way in which writers express their opinion and achieve not only coherence but also cohesion in their texts. Although metadiscourse features are widely employed, it is sometimes the case that writers tend to use them inappropriately, resulting in incoherent and ineffective texts. A review of the relevant literature reveals that a significant body of research has been conducted on metadiscourse features in various academic contexts. However, studies targetted at news settings are still limited. Hence, this study adapts Dafouz-Milne's model to identify the types, functions and linguistic realisations of metadiscourse features that are commonly used in business news. Quantitative data were collected from 15 business news articles from "Star Online" and "Focus Malaysia", respectively from September 2014 until June 2016. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six business news writers individually. This paper aims to compare textual and interpersonal functions and their linguistic realisations to see whether business news in "Star Online" or "Focus Malaysia" has more engaging content to create awareness for writers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology continually changes day-to-day interactions, and emergent bilingual learners often multitask, using several digital tools, at times simultaneously, to communicate and learn. Students may text, post on social media, and listen to music as they complete their work. Studies have examined the affordances of technology for language learning, both inside and outside of traditional classroom settings. However, as we seek to better understand how teachers can incorporate students' experiences and interests in academic settings, more research is needed on the nuanced ways that students leverage multiple digital tools as they multitask, or quickly alternate between technologies. This ethnographic study focuses on two high school classes of English to speakers of other languages in the United States. Through the lens of sociocultural theory, we examine how emergent bilingual students multitask with digital tools and how teachers facilitate technology use. Findings reveal that although teachers actively and explicitly approved specific assignments and digital tools that would lead to accomplishing daily language and content objectives, students also purposefully selected other digital tools that would help them co-construct knowledge with peers, and they often switched between various websites across multiple devices to examine content that was closely related to their interests and lived experiences. Evidence from previous studies supports that multitasking can be harmful to learning, but this study found that multitasking can also mediate learning, especially self-directed learning, which has important implications for how teachers implement digital tools in the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This aim of this tutorial was to review assessment tools for speechlanguage pathologists working with Urdu speakers in the United States. Method: We outlined cultural and linguistic considerations for speech-language pathologists to consider when assessing Urdu speakers. We also reviewed available Urdu-language tests for pediatric and adult populations by their assessment area and evaluated whether they had been validated for Urdu speakers. Results: Speech-language pathologists should consider the impact of cultural and linguistic differences when planning assessment. In particular, many Urdu speakers are Muslim; hence, clinicians unfamiliar with the religion should open communication with clients about assessment preferences. Testing instruments covering the major areas of speech-language pathology are available for Urdu speakers in the United States. Conclusions: Speech-language pathologists can use the tools presented in this tutorial to evaluate both body impairments for Urdu speakers and the impact on an individual's participation. A summary of resources for Urdu speakers with links to assessments is provided in Supplemental Material S1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the potential of dual-language cross-cultural peer review and how it improves on traditional monolingual and monocultural peer review. Drawing on scholarship related to international exchange programmes, peer review, and two-way immersion programmes in the United States as well as data collected while facilitating the proposed model of peer review in Chile, the author explains how the type of peer review discussed here may help students develop writing abilities in their second language while promoting greater cross-cultural understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This pilot study explores the apologies Japanese nursing college students thought they would use in their L1 (i.e. Japanese) and their L2 (i.e. English) when bumping into each other. The students completed a questionnaire, the results of which indicated that they believed they should always apologize for bumping into someone. The paper describes apologies students expected to use in both languages and their observations of real-world apologies in Japan and the US. After reviewing differences between their L1 and L2 apologies and their perceived and observed apologies, the paper discusses students’ sociopragmatic, pragmalinguistic, and linguistic discoveries. The findings have implications for instructors who are interested in investigating and teaching the speech act. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how program evaluation can be conducted and communicated in ways that meaningfully affect the education of English language learners (ELLs) in US schools. First, the paper describes the Waterford Early Reading Program Evaluation, a large-scale evaluation of a reading intervention implemented in schools with substantial populations of ELLs in a large urban school district in California. Second, using the Waterford evaluation as an example, this paper discusses the conditions necessary for conducting an evaluation that yields useful information about a program's implementation and effectiveness. The paper also highlights the importance of communicating those findings in a clear way so as to be meaningful to stakeholders and decision-makers in order to facilitate the goal of improving the education of young ELLs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

No Child Left Behind (NCLB, 2001) fails to recognize English as a second language (ESL) as a specialized academic discipline in which teachers should be “highly qualified.” In this paper we examine the impact of this policy failure on the practice of teachers of K-12 English language learners (ELLs), particularly in the context of reading instruction governed by Reading First under NCLB. We draw on teachers’ perspectives through interviews conducted with 52 ESL teachers addressing the impact of NCLB in Florida schools. Findings include the devaluing of ESL teacher expertise and instructional roles, and the homogenization of curriculum, instruction, and assessment of ELLs whose needs disappear in the mainstream educational setting. We recommend that re-authorization of NCLB, future state legislation and district policies explicitly acknowledge the distinct linguistic, cultural, and academic learning characteristics of ELLs and the specialized professional knowledge and skills required for teachers who are highly qualified to teach them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of international students, predominately from Asian countries, are present in universities in the UK, United States, and Australia. There is little research exploring their experiences as they negotiate the disciplinary requirements of their courses. This paper investigates students' agency as they write their first assignment for their Master's of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages course and the academics who teach them. Talk around texts and the positioning theory are used to analyse the data. It is argued that the students demonstrate strategic agency, which allows them to better understand the academic requirements of their disciplines. The analysis reveals the complexities involved in international students' adaptation to disciplinary discourse and the implications for teaching and learning in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article addresses the need, as of 2007, for resources to support U.S. teachers as they accommodate their science instruction to meet the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students. Addressing specifically English-language learners, the authors call for teacher collaboration and recommend use of good curriculum, tasks that are respectful of the learner, challenging assignments, and assessment and grading that reflects growth. They share literacy strategies to help teachers scaffold English-language learners to independence and enrich the experience of mainstream students, and they emphasize the importance of biliteracy in employment.

As more companies and families expand to the global market an increasing number of students are entering international schools outside of their home countries. Each international school is governed and run according to their own policies, but one overarching element remains: the language of instruction is usually English. When English Language Learners enter English dominant environments they often have difficulties acclimating to the language and the classroom. In this paper the authors intend to address some myths about ELL students in the classroom, and shed light on why some students are wrongly identified as having possible SLDs and how we can better help students by looking further at their characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

‘Language across the curriculum’ has been pivotal in establishing a knowledge base on the role of language for accessing opportunities afforded by the curriculum. Yet, the ubiquity of language within all facets of human activity – not least of all the more abstract domains of thinking and relating with others – can easily obscure its perceptibility as an object for research relative to other priorities; especially when the curriculum focus is directed towards content-oriented areas, such as mathematics or the humanities. This paper uses an ecological framework to consider the place of language when the teacher’s focus is not solely on language, or content, but is equally attentive to both through a relatively new approach to theorizing learners’ non-native languagewithinthe curriculum: content and language integrated learning. In particular, it critically examines the notion of ‘integration’ as a pedagogical assumption for working with language in curriculum domains by focusing on teachers’ perceptions of the affordances of language as a meditational tool within the classroom space. Findings raise new implications for understanding the role of language(s) within the curriculum, and are significant for addressing the needs of a changing, globalized student demographic where the presence of multiple languages will increasingly shape learners’ engagement with the curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As the number of international students studying in the United States continues to grow, the body of literature about service-learning in English Language Learning (ELL) curricula is growing in tandem. The primary goal of this paper is to explore how service-learning impacts the development and transition of pathway program students in the United States. Authors present recent demographic shifts in ELL student education, a concise introduction to pathway programs, an overview of literature about service-learning with international students, and theoretical and practical factors to consider for facilitators of Learning English and Culture through Service-Learning (LECSL) based on data from 250 students at Northeastern University. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ISSUES IN TESTING BUSINESS ENGLISH: THE REVISION OF THE CAMBRIDGE BUSINESS ENGLISH CERTIFICATES. Barry OSullivan. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Pp. xiv + 394. $34.00 paper.Testing language for specific purposes (LSP) is critical for understanding how an individuals language performances might vary from situation to situation, with different test tasks, or both. Researchers and language test practitioners are faced with a complex task when designing field-specific tests and implementing viable test methods in which field-specific contextual constraints arise. This volume reviews the challenges and changes to accommodating these influences and provides methodologies for the revision of the Business English Certificates (BEC). Divided into five chapters, the volume opens with a brief historical introduction to the testing of language for business purposes. The first chapter seeks to provide an overview of some of the central issues in LSP facing language testers today by embedding practical considerations in a theoretical context and by reviewing tests of business language (e.g., Test of English for International Communication, Pitman Qualifications, and London Chamber of Commerce and Industry Examinations Board tests). Also discussed are tests of language for business and commerce in languages other than English. From a systematic point of view, the volume discusses the construct upon which each test focuses, the test method, skills coverage, measurement qualities, degree of specificity and situational authenticity, impact of nonlanguage factors, and score reporting. Furthermore, the development of business English testing at the Cambridge English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL; e.g., Certificate in English as a Foreign Language for Secretaries, Certificate in English for International Business and Trade, Oxford International Business English Certificate, and Business Language Testing System) is discussed at length. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose/Objective: Members of minority groups may face stress as they navigate between their native culture and the dominant culture. No measure exists for evaluating acculturative stress among deaf individuals in the United States. The current study examined the psychometric properties of a modified version of the 24-item Social Attitudinal Familial and Environmental Acculturative Stress Scale (SAFE; Mena, Padilla, & Maldonado, 1987) for use with deaf undergraduate students (SAFE-D). Research Method/Design: 145 (88 females and 57 males), deaf, undergraduate students (Median age = 20.0; SD age = 4.9) from a bilingual, multicultural university were included in the study. Seventy-four percent were White, 10.4% Hispanic/Latino, 9.7% Black/African American, 0.7% Asian, and 9% multiracial. The SAFE-D included 23 items. Ten items were modified, 2 items were deleted, and 1 item was added. Results: The SAFE-D demonstrated high internal reliability (α =.931). Four factors were identified: Perceived Societal Barriers, Social Difficulties, Family Marginalization, and Discrimination. Evidence for construct validity was demonstrated through the association of SAFE-D scores with Deaf and Hearing acculturation. Conclusions/Implications: Levels of acculturative stress in the current sample were close to those reported among late immigrant and English as a Second Language undergraduate students. The 4 factors did not match those of the original SAFE scale but reflected a bidirectional model of acculturative stress unique to deaf individuals. These findings suggest that acculturative stress is a serious concern among deaf undergraduate students and that the SAFE-D can be used to assess deaf acculturative stress in this population. Impact and Implications: Similar to other cultural minority groups, deaf individuals in the United States also experience acculturative stress when navigating between Deaf culture and Hearing culture. However, to date, there has been no scale to evaluate this experience. This study examines the use of a modified version of the Social Attitudinal Familial and Environmental Acculturative Stress Scale (SAFE) for use with deaf undergraduate students (SAFE-D). Preliminary evidence for the reliability and construct validity of the SAFE-D is outlined in this paper, and directions for future modifications and use of the scale with diverse samples of deaf individuals is discussed. Acculturative stress appears to be a serious concern within the deaf population. Considering research findings that link the experience of acculturative stress to negative mental health outcomes, it is critical that researchers continue to investigate the unique acculturative stress experiences of deaf individuals to identify risk and protective factors, as well as inform clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a work in progress in which we aim to encourage EFL students to take their learning beyond the classroom in order to experience English in different ways. Inspired by what is being done at the Quest to Learn middle and high school in New York City and ChicagoQuest (Institute of Play, 2014b) our idea involves conducting an action research project in order to find out if game-like learning techniques, modified and adapted to the needs of university-aged EFL learners in Ecuador will help to increase motivation and independent learning for our students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of peer review in ESL classes typically focus on student attitudes and experiences. In contrast, teachers' perceptions of and experiences with peer review have not been the focus of much scholarly attention. This case study explores one experienced teacher's perspectives on peer review sessions in ESL classes. The study was conducted in the English language institute at a large urban university in the southeastern United States between Fall 2009 and Summer 2010. Shelley, the focal ESL instructor, was selected purposefully for her extensive use of peer review sessions in academic reading and writing classes. Classroom observations and interviews were subsequently analyzed using the direct interpretation method (Creswell, 2007). The findings of the study shed light on the process of peer review sessions and their advantages and disadvantages from an experienced teacher's point of view. Triangulation of the data, thick description of the context and procedures, a detailed discussion of the results, and the researchers' reflexivity contribute to the reliability of the findings. With its focus on the teacher's perspective and experiences, the findings of this study may inform educators about the process of peer review and its pros and cons in ESL classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Misuse or misunderstanding of medication information is a common and costly problem in the U.S. The risks of misunderstanding medication information are compounded for the large and growing population of individuals with limited English proficiency that often lacks access to this information in their own language. This paper examines practices related to translation of medication information in the European Union that may serve as a model for future U.S. policy efforts to improve the quality and availability of medication information for individuals with limited English proficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the effects an experimental English as a Foreign Language (EFL) program in Second Life (SL) had on Chinese student EFL learning. The study took an evaluative approach using quasi-experimental design with participants from one Chinese university and one American university in the southeastern United States. Results indicated significant main effects between a control group and the SL group on EFL measures, as well as significant gains in total score and several subcomponents between pre-test and post test. Further analysis using a post study survey, students' blog posting, and interview transcripts revealed that the SL_EFL Program had a positive impact on students' EFL learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to investigate whether advanced ESL and EFL learners are able to express gratitude appropriately in different situations and whether there exists any difference in expressing gratitude among speakers from various language and cultural background. The participant in this study were ten 6 native-English speakers who were born and raised in the United States, and ten 10 Filipinos who were ESL learners, and 28 EFL learners with Chinese, Korean, Indonesian, and Japanese background who have lived in the Philippines at least one year. The written data from native and non-native speakers were coded and analyzed. It is concluded by the result of the study that native speakers' expression of gratitude is appropriately a speech act set. On the other hand, non-native speakers' data showed that advanced-level non-native learners of English, to some extent, have difficulty in expressing gratitude successfully. The reason of the failure is fully discussed in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the scope of activities that constitute teacher leadership has become better defined, the professional development of emerging teacher leaders is just beginning to be discussed. In this study, the teacher leadership activities of beginning English-as-a-second-language teachers in a wide variety of settings in New York City public schools were examined in terms of the professional direction, support and development that these new teachers received that set them on the path to teacher leadership. Identified were several paths to teacher leadership, which ranged from well-defined to ill-structured. This paper sheds light on the generative processes involved, and contextualizes the role of novice teacher leaders against increased attention to teacher leadership in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article aims to introduce the role of foreign language teaching in fostering sustainability communication (SC) in higher education (HE). institution. Foreign language learning enable students to analyze actual topics about sustainable development, to discuss problems, to share personal emotions and experiences. On one hand, English as a foreign language (EFL) curriculum aims to build students' basic language communicative skills with the focus on sustainability communication when students recall gained information. The present paper analyzes the problems of SC development in EFL studies in the system of HE. The article overviews the importance of the SC development on the theoretical level as well as introduces the challenges of SC development in foreign language classes on the empirical level. The research was planned and performed in 5 universities of Lithuania, in which the respondents studying English (average age of participants was 22 years old) expressed their opinions on the SC ideas and usefulness of SC. The results of the research demonstrate that students are more engaged in topics and materials on SC and it is challenging for pedagogues to constantly update their materials, to apply innovative EFL teaching strategies related to SC in foreign language classroom. Therefore, the research findings with the embedded elements for SC development encourage educators to search for innovative ways of EFL teaching in HE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

While it is common for teachers to focus on learners’ errors in the EFL classroom, little attention is given to the ‘errors’ that native English speakers make in their mother tongue. This paper reports on a study to assess the reaction of Japanese university students to an activity that primarily required identifying ‘ungrammatical’ forms in audio clips of English NSs. The results of a post-activity questionnaire suggest that exposure to this particular feature of spoken language may make students less inhibited about making errors and thus help to overcome their reticence to speak in class. These initial findings were confirmed in a follow-up study conducted at a second Japanese university. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper describes the development of the Wildcat Corpus of native- and foreign-accented English, a corpus containing scripted and spontaneous speech recordings from 24 native speakers of American English and 52 non-native speakers of English. The core element of this corpus is a set of spontaneous speech recordings, for which a new method of eliciting dialogue-based, laboratory-quality speech recordings was developed (the Diapix task). Dialogues between two native speakers of English, between two non-native speakers of English (with either shared or different L1s), and between one native and one non-native speaker of English are included and analyzed in terms of general measures of communicative efficiency. The overall finding was that pairs of native talkers were most efficient, followed by mixed native/non-native pairs and non-native pairs with shared L1. Non-native pairs with different L1s were least efficient. These results support the hypothesis that successful speech communication depends both on the alignment of talkers to the target language and on the alignment of talkers to one another in terms of native language background. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purposes of this paper are to explain the development processes of an intensive summer program for English language learners and to discuss course improvement strategies based on the evaluation outcomes. This 60-hr partnership program between local schools and a university was developed to improve the language proficiency of increasing numbers of international students in the southeastern United States. Following a conventional instructional design model, the authors conducted needs assessments with parents and teachers and developed and implemented a one-month intensive English program emphasizing the improvement of reading and writing skills and test preparation. Formative and summative evaluations were conducted to identify areas of improvement and to examine the effectiveness of the program. This paper reports the evaluation results and discusses three areas that need to be considered to develop a quality summer English program: (a) the incorporation of standardized tests, (b) the creation of comfortable learning environments, and (c) the development of curriculum content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- This paper aims to study English as second language (ESL) consumers in the USA. The authors seek to focus on consumers who are literate in their native country, yet akin to fish out of water due to language difficulties and unfamiliarity with the marketplace. Design/methodology/approach -- Using qualitative interviews of 31 informants and shopping observations of a small subset, the authors examined cognitive predilections, decision making, emotional trade-offs, and coping strategies of ESL consumers. Findings -- The findings relate to cognitive predilections, decision making and emotional trade-offs, and coping strategies of ESL consumers. Originality/value -- The authors analyze ESL consumers from a situational literacy perspective, viewing the situations faced by ESL consumers in terms of functional literacy skills. The findings provide a variety of new insights, and have important theoretical and practical implications for theory and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study follows a group of Brazilian English as a second language (ESL) learners pursuing a degree in American universities as they negotiate their relationships with professors and as they develop an understanding of the social, cultural and educational rules that apply in the context of American higher education. International students in American universities have the double task of having to perform within the required academic standards at the same time that they struggle to make sense of American culture. Caught between two worlds, they may opt for acting based on their native or second culture background, and they can also display features that characterize the development of an "Interculture." This paper analyzes data from interactions between professors and students negotiating a test. The focus is on the linguistic and cultural challenges faced by international students as they navigate the American academic system and socialize into mainstream American culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Second Life (SL) is a three dimension virtual world imagined and created by its users. To explore various facets of language learning within SL, faculty members of an American university and a Chinese university took an evaluation research approach to search for appropriate ways to integrate SL into an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) program. This paper reports a part of the research efforts with a focus on the Chinese students' perspectives of an EFL Program in SL. Specifically included in this paper are (a) the Chinese students' perceived technology readiness to use SL for EFL learning, (b) their perceptions of SL, and (c) the EFL Program implemented in SL. The paper reviews related literature and theoretical support, describes the study's context and its implementation procedures, and discusses the evaluation results and implications. Finally, the paper shares with the audience some considerations for integrating SL into an EFL program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of the first language (L1) in the learning of a second language (L2) has been widely studied as a source of cross-linguistic influence from the native system (Gass and Selinker, Language Transfer in Language Learning, John Benjamins, 1992). Yet, this perspective provides no room for an understanding of language as a cognitive tool (Vygostsky, Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes, Harvard University Press, 1978), that is, language as a mediating tool in all forms of higher-order mental processing. Recent findings in both foreign language classrooms (Antón and DiCamilla, The Modern Language Journal 83: 233–247, 1999; Brooks and Donato, Hispania 77: 262–274, 1994) and immersion classrooms (Swain and Lapkin, Language Teaching Research 4: 251–274, 2000) suggest that the L1 may be a useful tool for learning the L2. This line of research argues that an L1 shared by learners provides cognitive support that allows them to work at a higher level than that which would be possible if they were just using the L2. This paper reports the findings of a study which analyses the use of the L1 and its functions in the oral interaction of twelve pairs of undergraduate EFL learners with low proficiency in the target language while engaged in three collaborative tasks (jigsaw, text reconstruction and dictogloss). Our findings indicate that the L1 is an important tool for these learners and that there is task-related variation in its use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an approach to helping end the literacy crisis that faces ESL learners in US public schools. Grounded in educational research in second language acquisition and literacy studies, the paper offers support for all students enrolled in academic programs of English language instruction. By generating motivation and enthusiasm for reading and writing, ESL students are more likely to do better on tests, enjoy reading and writing, and do more of both. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]