This case study investigates a professional development initiative in which a first-grade bilingual teacher engages in learning and teaching Cognitively Guided Instruction, a framework for understanding student thinking through context-rich word-problem lessons. The study explores (a) the impact of classroom-based professional development on a…

Latinos represent the fastest growing population in U.S. schools, and teachers face an increasingly demanding educational context in which to teach. The goal of this article is to present vignettes drawn from classroom observations conducted by preservice teachers in urban areas. Preservice teachers capture the dilemma faced by many teachers who…

This study investigated the relationship of first language (L1) skills in elementary school and second language (L2) learning in high school. Students classified as high-, average-, and low-proficiency L2 learners were compared on L1 achievement measures of reading, spelling, vocabulary, phonological awareness, and listening comprehension…

The present study investigated the relationship between L2 incidental lexical gain during reading and the variables of clause type and word saliency. Lexical gain was defined as gain of grammatical class and word meaning and was compared for target items in dependent and independent clauses. Word saliency was a measurement of the learners'…

Latinos with doctorate degrees working in academe were interviewed about their experiences in graduate school. They were asked to elaborate upon what they considered to be their most meaningful experiences that shaped their personal, academic and intellectual lives that influenced their success throughout graduate school. A thematic analysis of…

This paper examines the use of impoliteness by Spanish-English bilingual pre-adolescents as a resource for accomplishing identities in spontaneous conversational interactions in an elementary school setting. The theoretical approach employed integrates the concept of relational work (Locher 2004; Locher and Watts 2005), which is based on Goffman's…

The purpose of this study is twofold: (a) to examine whether English finite morphology has the potential to differentiate children with and without language impairment (LI) from Spanish-speaking backgrounds and different levels of English proficiency in comparison to Hispanic English speakers and (b) to investigate the extent to which children who…

Background: Mexican American women have the highest leisure-time physical inactivity prevalence of any ethnic minority group. Purpose: This study examined a sample of Mexican American females living near the U.S.-Mexico border to determine whether the variables of age, health status, educational level, marital status, and acculturation…

Incidental focus on form is one of several ways to direct language learners' attention to formal aspects of language within meaningful communicative contexts. Learners can benefit from focus on form, but the extent to which incidental focus on form, or any other type, is available to learners in advanced foreign language literature classes has not…

Focusing on code-switching from conversation analysis and sociolinguistic perspectives, this paper examines interactions between 10-12-year-old language learners of immigrant origin and locally born students as they are engaging in verbal pair work. All are students attending language classes in state primary schools in Barcelona in which Catalan…

In this case history, the author describes how her journey as a reader evolved from a poor reader who did not like to read in elementary school into an avid trilingual reader in graduate school. Once she discovered the joy of reading, each language in which she read had its own purpose and emotional connection. She credits self-selected reading…

This study examines the relationship among five independent variables--integrative motivation, instrumental motivation, the need to fulfill a foreign language requirement, grade point average (GPA), and previous years studying Spanish--as predictors of five dependent variables: scores on a simulated oral proficiency interview (SOPI), final exam…

This article reports on a longitudinal analysis of factors that predict the word reading skills in English and Spanish for a sample of 234 Spanish-speaking students in first grade. The children were assessed at the end of preschool, kindergarten, and first grade. Data include three subtests of the Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery and a…

Rayenne Dekhinet, Keith Topping, David Duran, and Silvia Blanch describe a pilot project on the use of Internet-assisted reciprocal peer tutoring in foreign-language learning. The eight-week project connected Spanish-speaking English-language learners at a primary school in Catalonia with English-speaking Spanish-language learners at a Scottish…

Introduction: In Florida, a state that consistently leads the nation in adverse sexual health outcomes among adolescents, numerous demographic and socio-cultural differences exist across the North, Central, and South regions. However, little is known about regional differences in sexuality education and beliefs among teachers. Methodology: Using a…