We examined the progress of kindergarteners who entered the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) in 2008-09 and in 2010-11 who were identified as limited in English proficiency (LEP). For the 2008-09 cohort, English proficiency increased steadily over time. Few were able to exit LEP status in their first three years in WCPSS (10.5%); this…

This paper investigates whether or not lexical stress is used for lexical access in Spanish. A lexical decision task and a masking priming procedure were used to compare correctly-versus-incorrectly stressed words (e.g., "tecla-TECLA vs. tecla-TECLA"). SOA (Stimulus Onset Asynchrony) was manipulated at 33, 66, 100, and 143 ms. The results showed…

This study aims to answer the question, how much of Spanish Sign Language interpreting deaf individuals really understand. Study sampling included 36 deaf people (deafness ranging from severe to profound; variety depending on the age at which they learned sign language) and 36 hearing people who had good knowledge of sign language (most were…

Researchers in second language acquisition (SLA) have increasingly discussed the role that attention plays in the learning of a second language (L2). This discussion has led to research on proposed pedagogical strategies aimed at directing L2 learners' attention to aspects of the L2 grammar that are difficult to learn or acquire. Research on one…

Background: The U.S. government mandates nurses to deliver linguistically appropriate care to hospital patients. It is difficult for nurses to implement the language mandates because there are 6,912 active living languages spoken in the world. Language barriers appear to place limited English proficient (LEP) patients at increased risk for harm…

The following article is an introspection into my childhood and early youth memories in relation to language acquisition and learning of foreign languages. This analysis will help me determine to what extent these experiences, positive and negative ones, may have influenced my teaching methods and style to the present day. (Contains…

The study examined how the English reading performance of predominantly Spanish-speaking students in transitional bilingual education compared with the performance of predominantly Spanish-speaking students in structured English immersion. The study analyzed data on three cohorts of students in six schools in Los Angeles; Denver; Albuquerque; St.…

I provide an update on the state of the art of the research--the last one being Collentine (2003)--on the acquisition of the function of the subjunctive and mood selection, as well as the research's implications for pedagogy. The article considers what we currently know about the role of universal grammar, psycholinguistic perspectives on the…

The Spanish program at UNC Charlotte is timely and responsive because it is designed to meet documented societal (job market) needs in today's and tomorrow's global village and economy by providing graduates with strong specialties in English-Spanish translating and in business Spanish. It is integrative in that it does so while maintaining its…

The interdependence of language and culture highlights the need to find methods for second language students to acquire cultural information and practices. This article reviews definitions of culture posited by anthropologists and language educators and discusses problems related to the recent paradigm shift from "small "c" and big…

This article describes a phenomenological study of filial therapy with monolingual, Spanish-speaking mothers living in the United States. Four mothers participated in a 5-week training in filial therapy. Data from the interviews revealed four emergent themes. These include (a) challenges in integrating play therapy skills in everyday life, (b)…

Hardness of hearing or deafness is the number one disability in the United States. The United States also has an extremely diverse population, including a growing Hispanic population. Based on these facts, physical educators need to find ways to help their students to overcome language and cultural barriers in order to ensure learning. One way to…

Research on the acquisition of Spanish's two copulas, "ser" and "estar," provides an understanding of the interaction among syntax, semantics, pragmatics, morphology, and vocabulary during development (e.g., Geeslin, 2003a, 2003b; Gunterman, 1992; Ryan & Lafford, 1992). Recent research suggests that linguistic features in the surrounding discourse…

Purpose: The present study investigated the effects of selected measures of language experience (parent-reported estimates of frequency of output and language use) and language ability (parent-reported language proficiency and mean length of utterance in words) on the segmental accuracy of Spanish- and English-speaking bilingual children. Method:…

The teaching of foreign language advanced grammar (AG) at the college level nowadays continues largely to focus on form, with little attention to its functions and meanings. The practice agrees with neither the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century (National Standards, 2006) nor the advances made in basic language teaching…