This study explores the effects of participation in short-term summer study abroad (SA) programmes in Spain on second language (L2) learners' attitudes towards Spanish. Both quantitative and qualitative findings indicate that participants' international experience improved their attitudes with regard to L2 learning. More importantly, participant…

Studies have found that bilinguals respond differently to personality measures in their two languages, indicating that bilinguals change their personality as they switch between their two languages and/or cultures. Across two experiments, we attempted to investigate the effect of language and culture separately on how bilingual speakers rate…

Gaelic is an endangered language, but the traditional music associated with it thrives. Among individuals committed to learning Gaelic as a heritage language who also engage in traditional music-making, intense experiences shape the connection between language and music. The present study examines the connection between intensely motivating 'flow'…

Swearing uses language forms that are taboo and potentially offensive. These are often used for emotional expression. Multilingual research shows that because the first language retains most emotional force (Dewaele [2004]. "The Emotional Force of Swearwords and Taboo Words in the Speech of Multilinguals." "Journal of Multilingual…

The present study was designed to examine the effects of short-term study abroad (SA) on learners' L2 anxiety, international posture, and L2 willingness to communicate (WTC). To this end, the SA experience of 69 L2 learners in four different SA programmes was investigated. The data were obtained from participant questionnaires, which were…

This paper presents a study on the use of learning strategies in foreign languages, and more specifically Spanish. The study was conducted with 376 Chinese and American students who were studying Spanish in their countries of origin. The results obtained from a latent class cluster analysis identified five groups of participants based on the…

Research has demonstrated that second language immersion is an effective means of facilitating primary school students' second language acquisition without undermining their competence in their first language. Despite the rapid growth of Chinese-English bilingual programmes in China, limited empirical research has been conducted thus far by which…

Looks at current changes in U.S. immigration patterns, resulting in a constant influx of non-white populations. Demonstrates how these changes have altered the nature of American society and school populations, in particular. Shows how ethnic studies, particularly with regard to foreign language teacher education programs, constitutes a reasonable…

Discusses the achievement gap of Mexican Americans and other groups in the United States as essentially a question of economics and, suggests that the solution lies in greater access to the wider society. (48 references) (JL)

While bilingual education programs in Peru are promoted as educational alternatives, designed for a specific group with the intention of strengthening the community's capacity to achieve its own goals, Texas programs are "substitute" programs to compensate for presumed deficits until the student can function in a "regular"…