The discussion of standards in this article reveals a number of common features. First, they all focus on macro-level statements about teachers' professional work rather than attempting to detail what that work may be based on. Second, they do not make specifications about the nature and standard of relevant disciplinary knowledge (as would be the…

The present study examines pragmatic production of monolingual (L1 Castilian) and bilingual (L1 Catalan, L2 Castilian) learners of English in a foreign language learning context, that of the Valencian Community in Spain. We particularly focused on proficiency-level effects and on the role of the task type in the use of request acts peripheral…

This paper considers the issue of non-target language representations analysing data from the acquisition of novel English synthetic compounds by bilingual (Basque-Spanish) speakers. Past research indicated that English L1 acquirers do not include regular -s inflection within compounds, whereas they do include irregulars (*"clawsmarks" versus…

The growing presence of Latino students in U.S. colleges and universities is evident in foreign language (FL) classrooms. Latino students with a high proficiency level in Spanish are usually placed in advanced language or content-based courses along with other non-Latino students. This paper examines university instructors' beliefs and practices…

Context of learning, such as whether a learner studies a second language (L2) in a formal classroom--"at home" or abroad--may be a key factor in developing grammatical and lexical abilities. Yet, little empirical data is available comparing the effects of study abroad (SA) and formal instruction "at home" (AH) experiences on…

A Biographical Questionnaire (BQ) has been used in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of the Witwatersrand since the mid-80s, to identify potential to succeed at university among applicants who have not met the requirements for automatic admission. As the key instrument in a special admissions process, the BQ's history and assumptions are…

The purpose of this article is to highlight ways in which middle school content area teachers can more effectively assess English Language Learners (ELLs) in their classrooms. This article poses five questions to guide middle school content teachers in making adaptations and accommodations when using traditional classroom tests. The objective of…

This article reports on an exploratory qualitative study on 37 students' acquisition of language and literacy. The study closely analyzes a linguistics assignment written in English, the dominant language, given to students at University of the Western Cape belonging to groups speaking English, Afrikaans, or an African language. The study…

When non-native English-speaking elementary school students, exposed to English in the school environment only, were given high-interest, well-illustrated reading materials in English, measures of reading comprehension, English structures, word recognition, oral sentence repetition, and composition writing indicated that second-language…

This study contributes to the field by identifying a broad range of traditional and newer middle grade policies and practices, and determining in California which of these differentiate higher- from lower-performing schools serving similar student populations, with performance measured by the state's standards-based tests. Based on a sample of 303…

In the 2008-09 school year researchers from EdSource and Stanford University conducted a large-scale study of 303 middle grades schools in California. The team surveyed 303 principals, 3,752 English Language Arts (ELA) and math teachers in grades 6-8, and 157 superintendents of the districts and charter management organizations that oversee the…

The study described here attempted to shed light on decision-making during first language (English) and second language (French) writing processes of French immersion program graduates. It also replicated part of a previous study on the role of first language (L1) writing skills and second language (L2) competence when writing in L2. A think-aloud…

This study examined receptive and expressive language as a precursor of maladaptive behavior in African-American, inner-city children. It compared the adaptive and maladaptive behavior scores of 202 children--most from single-parent and low-income families--from District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) at age 12 to their scores on similar…

It is proposed that non-native teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in non-English-speaking developing countries receive certification of English language proficiency, despite the fact that they are graduates of teacher education programs. Such certification would be entrusted to an independent body, such as a national language testing…

The development and validation of a test of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) proficiency are described. The measure is a multiple-choice test based on translation of a literary text from English to Arabic and vice versa. Intended for rapid student placement, it is seen as overcoming most of the defects inherent in traditional translation tests.…