Fandom practices are often considered meaningless and unnecessary. However, the use of social media carries the potential for positive as well as negative impact on the users. Using the framework of Community of Practice, the latest theory addressing community formation and interaction, as its theoretical framework, the study explores the…

The need to work in partnership with communities in a meaningful and impactful way has become a core part of university planning in many countries around the world. In the Global South, the potential for the Eurocentric knowledges and power structures to dominate such partnerships is pervasive. This article reports on findings of a participatory…

Preparing students as 21st century learners is a key reform in education. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills developed a framework that identifies outcomes needed for successful implementation of rigorous standards. The Dual Language (DL) program was identified as a structure for reform with systems and practices which can be used to prepare…

While first language social networks offer immigrants practical and emotional support in the early period of their settlement in a new country, the development of social networks through English is crucial at this time not only for the acquisition of the linguistic and social capital vital to their long-term advancement, but also for the…

English language learners (ELLs), their teachers, and the schools and programs where they are enrolled face a triple challenge: (1) students must be taught and learn English at a level of proficiency high enough to allow them access to academic content; (2) students must be taught and learn academic content at a level comparable to that of English…

This article offers an original review of research and reports about young Indigenous children's language development needs and approaches to meeting them. The review addresses not only children's acquisition of an Indigenous language but also their acquisition of other languages (e.g., English and French), because their progress in one linguistic…

Argues that discussion of the role of English in development fails to recognize the success of narrowly focused community-based projects, in which basic first language literacy rather than English education is the goal. (Author/VWL)

Reports on a community-based teacher education project in which preservice English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teachers developed language curricula for a Latino community in the United States. Shows how many of the issues that characterize language in development work in poor countries also affect ESL instruction in the United States and other…