Vocabulary knowledge plays an important role in language learning and language proficiency, but it is difficult to know how much of a role it plays without appropriate vocabulary measures. In this article, we first discuss learner vocabulary in our research on Korean as a second/foreign language. Unable to find appropriate measures for receptive…

The practices of sorting things out and bringing things together, which I summarise under the term relanguaging, sit between fluid, situated languaging practices and the administrative standard grid in education that relies on bounded, named languages. Relanguaging, I argue, was invisible to socio- and applied linguists' analytical vision because…

A learning crisis across Arabic-speaking countries is leading to human capital deficits, undermining efforts to reduce poverty and putting achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals at risk. The World Bank has introduced the concept of learning poverty to highlight this crisis -- measured as the percentage of 10- year-old children who are…

Language and learning norms constitute the biggest constraint for refugee learners attempting to access education in Uganda because they struggle to demonstrate competencies in English despite acquiring them in their local language (Arabic, French, or Swahili). Learners are assigned to lower levels, contributing to misalignment between their…

I have been invited, in this discussion piece, to offer my view on the opportunities and challenges that arise, for L2 education, from empirical studies on L2 acquisition. In this chapter, I therefore lay out what I see as central conditions for L2 education to move toward a more systematic concern with L2 learners' abilities to participate in…

Contrastive Analysis, since its introduction as a potential predictor of the influence of the learners' first language on the second language and the resultant errors, has constantly been subject to criticism on both theoretical and empirical grounds. This once-popular approach of interpreting errors resulting from the interference from the native…

Civic education provides adult English learners with the tools to be able to actively engage in their communities. This knowledge allows them to gain agency, develop a sense of belongingness, and facilitate lifelong learning. However, teaching civic education can be challenging for instructors for many reasons, such as prioritizing on developing…

Language diversity in the United States has been rapidly increasing in the last three decades (U.S. Census Bureau, 2015). Children who are under 8 years of age and have at least one parent who speaks a language other than English at home comprise 32% of the nation's young child population (Park et al., 2017), increasing the need for practitioners,…

This article describes the implementation of project-based learning in an upper-level German as a Foreign Language writing course at a North American university. This pedagogical approach focuses on active learning, learner autonomy, collaboration among peers, tangible products, and developing transferable skills with meaningful, real-world tasks…

Standardized norm-referenced language assessments are used to identify developmental language disorder (DLD) in bicultural Navajo children. However, these assessments do not include normative data for Navajo children, the majority of whom are exposed to both Navajo and English, and consequently the assessments may not reflect their true language…

In this chapter I address what I see as the cornerstone for advancing our understanding of how results from empirical research into L2 interactional development can usefully be brought to bear on L2 education--be it curriculum design, teaching or testing--, namely an epistemologically coherent understanding of interactional competence and its…

Digital literacy skills are crucial twenty-first-century skills that are required for the successful use of technology and active engagement in today's world. However, there is a lack of effective resources and guidelines for developing English as a second language (ESL) learners' digital literacy skills. Due to their increasingly important and…

In light of the growing development in policy and practice that recognizes the importance of early identification of students at risk for reading difficulties and dyslexia through universal screening, districts will need to carefully consider how this may impact English learners. The purpose of this brief is to: (1) share potential challenges…

Disciplinary literacy (DL) is an important facet of adolescent literacy development. However, for adolescents who struggle with literacy, opportunities to engage with DL and advanced concepts are often withheld in favor of focus on basic skills. Deaf or hard-of-hearing (dhh) children, for example, are at a higher risk for experiencing language…

The "TOEFL® Essentials"™ test is a new English language proficiency test in the "TOEFL"® family of assessments. It measures foundational language skills and communication abilities in academic and general (daily life) contexts. The test covers the four language skills of reading, listening, writing, and speaking and is intended…