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…

The primary aim of this study was to determine whether a phonological awareness intervention promoted oral English proficiency more than a story-reading condition for Spanish-speaking kindergarten children, most of whom were limited English proficient. A second aim was to determine the extent to which change in English proficiency over the course…

South Africa is a multilingual country with 11 official languages. However, English dominates as the language of access and power and although the Language-in-Education Policy (1997) recommends school language policies that will promote additive bilingualism and the use of learners' home languages as languages of learning and teaching, there has…

A number of studies have examined the process and product of writing instruction under different conditions. Fewer studies have investigated the development of knowledge and its relationship to writing performance. While some writers may be able to draw upon knowledge of text in their writing, others do not possess this knowledge and yet others…

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…

The study aimed to find out whether the complexity of an online course design would affect its frequency of usage, to identify technological and linguistic barriers to students' participation and interaction in those online courses and to report students' perceptions of their online learning experience. Female freshman students participating in…

This book provides practical strategies and tools for assessing and teaching even the most hard to reach English language learners across the content areas. Syrja offers educators the latest information on working with ELLs (including using formative assessments) and provides a wealth of classroom-tested models and measures. These tools have…

The Foreign Language Standards of Learning identify essential content, processes, and skills for each level of language learning in Virginia's secondary schools. Included are specific standards for levels I through IV of French, German, Spanish, and Latin, as well as generic standards adaptable for levels I through IV of other modern languages,…

Adult secondary education learners approach the goal of college-level postsecondary education through three assessment gateways: (a) measures of adult education program learning gains, (b) a high-school equivalency exam, and (c) college placement tests. On the surface, the assessments in this sequence might appear to work in concert and point…