Strategies for deciding which language to use when forms part of the sociolinguistic competence of speakers who can speak more than one language. Language choices are shaped by a number of factors, including linguistic proficiency of both speaker and interlocutor, the ingroup or outgroup status of each, and the setting in which an exchange takes…

This paper presents the voices of 16 Latino immigrant parents whose children were upper elementary students in a bilingual education class in the southwestern United States. In interviews that focused on their children's language learning and usage, the parents spoke of a commitment to a better life for their children. All believed that English…

A discussion of second language testing focuses on the need for collaboration among researchers in second language learning, teaching, and testing concerning development of context-appropriate language tests. It is argued that the nature of the proficiency construct in language is not constant, but that different linguistic, functional, and…

The paper provides a brief discussion of research conducted in child language acquisition at the University of California at Davis in the winter and spring of 1977. The research was directed at children's comprehension of WHY questions. It was an attempt to define when and how children come to understand abstract concepts, such as WHY questions.…

This book is meant to serve as a guide to more efficient language teaching. Although it is based on theories both from standard audiolingual theory and cognitive-code learning, the basic objectives remain those of the audiolingual approach. The book focusses on the teaching of grammar and on the most efficient way to use drills in the classroom in…

This paper presents a review of the current English language teaching situation in Egypt. The role of English in schools, in universities, as a medium of communication among the general public, and as a language of international communication is reviewed. English within the educational system is specifically considered, in terms of when it is…

This review of the current literature on second language learning was to inform the following four questions: (1) what are the effects of learning a second language on the first language? (2) What is the role of content instruction in offering a second language? (3) What are the effects of learning a second language on students with special needs?…

This paper investigates the effectiveness of students' real communication capabilities by investigating the target language use in monologue, dialogue, and conversational "multilogue" situations. It explores Japanese college students' oral English proficiency by focusing on the linguistic and pragmatic aspects in six types of teaching…

The majority of indigenous U.S. languages are no longer learned at home, and the last generation of native speakers are aging. There are increasingly strong efforts by communities to keep their languages alive by developing teaching programs in their schools and communities, although finding teachers is problematic. This paper focuses on how…

Describes Alpha Ontario, an adult literacy center located in Toronto. Highlights include a historical background; collection development; adult basic education; marginalized or minority groups within the literacy movement; cataloging issues, including subject headings, classification, and language; public services, including outreach programs and…

A fair and valid assessment for every child, as mandated by legislation such as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 and the Improving America's School Act of 1994, must consider the complexity inherent in assessments for subgroups of students. Due to the rapid growth of the population of English language learners (ELLs) in the United…

This paper examines the status and use of language in the Nuba Mountains, Sudan. It is based on responses to 1496 questionnaires administered to people belonging to 37 different ethnic groups. Subjects were asked about language proficiency, language use in different domains and language attitudes. Factors such as sex, generation, intermarriage,…

Testing language skills is difficult, but testing writing, and the writing of students of English as a Second Language, poses two major problems. The first is making decisions about the matter of control, objectivity of the evaluation, and naturalness in the writing test. The second major problem is that, if the test is done in a way that cannot…

More than 200 publications regarding Languages for Specific Purposes (LSP) from the past 25 years, excluding work on English for Specific Purposes, are compiled in this literature review. In introductory comments that precede the bibliography, it is noted that most of the activity in this field has occurred in the last decade, with eight…

A study investigated the relationship between relative language proficiency and the types of questions produced by bilingual children in different settings and situations, taking into account the whole language repertoire in both languages and in different settings. The subjects were six third-graders in a self-contained maintenance bilingual…