Any attempt to define English language proficiency can never be divorced from the theories that describe the nature of language, language acquisition and human cognition. By virtue of such theories being socially constructed, the descriptions are necessarily value-laden. Thus, a definition of language proficiency can only, at best, be described as…

ELT (English language teaching) in Spain is witnessing the arrival of content and language integrated learning (CLIL) and English is changing from a goal-oriented school subject to a medium of instruction for content subjects. What is taking place in our system is influenced by what has previously happened elsewhere. Two research episodes have…

In response to social, political and educational imperatives, Australian universities are currently reviewing the way in which they provide for the growing number of students for whom English is not a first language. A document recently published by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations has increased the sense of urgency…

Greater China is used in this article to refer to mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Macao. While a holistic approach is adopted to present and compare the rapid spread of English and development in English language education in these geographically close, and sociopolitically, culturally and economically interrelated but hugely…

This exploratory study investigated the nature and distribution of dual-language preschool teachers' questions across parallel Spanish- and English-medium read-aloud activities. The notions of comprehensible input (Krashen, 1985) and language output (Swain, 1985), along with a reciprocal interaction model of teaching (Cummins, 2000), guided our…

The authors--a researcher in Latino educational issues and a sociologist specializing in migration--collaborated to more fully understand and explain the schooling circumstances of Mexican indigenous students. After elaborating a conceptual framework of transationalism, the researchers present three types of results: (a) critical understandings…

This paper analyses a "critical moment" in the educational trajectories of young indigenous children in Peru: the transition to primary school. It addresses the inequalities in educational services that affect indigenous children, before looking at the micro-level processes that take place in school settings, through a focus on two…

This paper explores the authors' experiences as an early career teacher educator and English-language instructor in an English-medium university in Turkey. The theoretical framework shaping their collaboration draws upon a narrative view of teacher knowledge as an embodiment of teachers' experiences in schools in close relationship with their…

In this article theoretical frameworks of genre theory, reading strategies and situated learning are used to show the complexity of the reading task for pupils in the English medium upper primary school in Singapore. An analysis of text genres from school textbooks of English, maths and science at primary three, shows how reading appropriately in…

This article examines how students and teachers at a non-Orthodox Jewish day school in New York City negotiate the use of translation within the context of an institutionalized language policy that stresses the use of a sacred language over that of the vernacular. Specifically, this paper analyzes the negotiation of a Hebrew-only policy through…

The research examines the effects of a bilingual pedagogical program (French/Tahitian) on the acquisition of oral and written French as well as the Tahitian language itself in primary schools in French Polynesia. 125 children divided into an experimental group (partially schooled in Tahitian for 300 min per week) and a control group (schooled in…

Teacher-student interaction in classrooms is perceived to be crucial for learning. Previous research has compared the interaction in classrooms where a second language is used as the medium of instruction (MoI) with those where the mother tongue is used. This has been done mainly via qualitative impressions. The current study adopted a mixed…

This article aims to show how language choice indexes social and national identity in the linguistic landscape of Dili, the capital city of Timor-Leste. The linguistic landscape is examined in the light of the country's current language situation, its colonial legacies and its ongoing development challenges. In this study, the iconicity,…

Internationalisation processes have accelerated the implementation of English-medium programmes (EMPs) across European higher education institutions. The field of business and management studies has been particularly affected by this trend (Wachter & Maiworm 2008: 46) with numerous new EMPs introduced each year. This paper presents key…

Language diversity in South Africa continues to problematise educational provision and the realisation of equitable educational opportunities for all learners in various ways. This article presents the findings of ongoing research which explores the effect of language in education policy on the L1 and L2 proficiency of Grade 7 learners in township…