The role of socio-contextual and social psychological elements in second-language acquisition in bilingual settings is examined among 139 native Spanish-speaking secondary school students. Compared to a Basque-speaking control group, the Spanish-speaking students scored lower on subjective ethnolinguistic vitality, social networks, motivation, and…

Discusses, in the context of second-language learning, the definition of collocations in English and major approaches to linguistic description of prefabricated language. Presents data from a study comparing use of specific lexical collocations (phrases) by native speakers (based on existing language corpus) and learners of English (data drawn…

Suggests that, to provide effective guidance in developing competent speakers of English, it is necessary to examine the factors affecting adult learners' oral communication, components underlying speaking proficiency, and specific skills or strategies used in communication. (Author/VWL)

Analyzes the mental organizations of two sets of fuzzy lexical items by 70 native speakers (NSs) of English and 185 learners of English as a Second Language (ESL). Findings suggest that a discernible approximative pattern exists in the acquisition of ESL semantics, with the differentiation of certain words acquired before the differentiation of…

Assesses the speaking, reading, listening, and writing proficiency of students of Russian after one, two, three, four, and five years of study using tests based on the proficiency scale of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. Results indicate that the correlations among the four skills were not strong, suggesting that they…

Investigates the concerns and difficulties of international students from non-English speaking countries during the Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL) practicum component of a master's TESOL program. Interviews with students before, during, and after the practicum and examination of their journals and assignments indicated that they had…

Discusses teaching English to second-language students. Suggests using learners' spontaneous expressions of ideas to recognize students' potential for understanding ideas in English. Recommends teachers help children see how their ideas affect the class; respond to unanticipated expressions of thinking; and extend the discussion with an array of…

Explores the understandings that young Mexican-American students develop about the status of languages and language use in their bilingual school. A case study documents the the social and educational processes through which bilingual children in one U.S. school come to appreciate the prestige and power of English versus Spanish. (Author/VWL)

The College English Test (CET), designed in accordance with the requirements of the National College English Teaching Syllabus and as a result of the need for China's reform and its open-door policy in the 1980s, is the world's largest language test administered nationwide. Owing to its scientific approach, consistent marking, rigorous…

This paper investigates the perception of emotional force of swearwords and taboo words (S-T words) among 1039 multilinguals. It is based on data drawn from a large database collected through a web questionnaire on bilingualism and emotions. "t"-Tests revealed that the perceived emotional force of S-T words is highest in the L1 and gradually lower…

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…

The focus of this study is the relationship between language attitude, beliefs, efficacy, English language competence, and language achievement. Two hundred and eighty-five students from five metropolitan primary schools in Western Australia completed a specially designed questionnaire based on the Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (Gardner,…

This paper analyzes the process of intergenerational language shift from a sociolinguistic perspective and proposes a pedagogical model for expanding the stylistic range of heritage learners, targeting the development of writing proficiency. The model proposes that the curriculum should be organized so that students initially draw on their…

Two main questions were addressed in this study: (1) How does first grade Latino English-language learners' growth in English instructional reading level and selected word-level reading subprocesses (ability to read words in isolation, phonemic awareness, and phonics) compare to their monolingual native-English-speaking peers' growth?; and (2)…

The purpose of this study was to examine the alternate-form reliability, criterion validity, and sensitivity of progress-monitoring measures in reading for secondary-level English Learners (ELs). Twenty-five ELs in an urban high school were administered two types of Curriculum-Based Measures (CBM) once every 3 weeks for 13 weeks. Measures included…