This article discusses the adjustment of ten Asian-born university students to the academic culture of an English-speaking university in the United States. Findings from a case study reveal an instrumental role played by compatriot networks in the students' adjustment process. Spindler's cultural therapy model provides the lens for an…

Since the publication of "Standards for Foreign Language Learning: Preparing for the 21st Century," the development of communicative competence both within and beyond the confined walls of the language classroom has become a national priority for the foreign language (FL) teaching profession. The literature on standards and proficiency suggests…

This study examined the teacher efficacy of special education teachers of English language learners (ELLs) with disabilities by surveying 202 elementary special education teachers. Overall participant teacher efficacy scores were high. No statistically significant differences in efficacy scores were found for levels of teacher preparation, number…

The purpose of this study was to understand relationships between English proficiency and academic performance for a group of English language learners (ELLs) from 4 elementary schools. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to examine scores from the Language Assessment Scales, the Woodcock-Munoz Language Survey, and the Colorado…

The 2008 Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, a joint conference with the Michigan World Language Association, focused on learning about the diverse backgrounds and needs of today's students and discovering new ways to help them succeed in reaching the goal of language proficiency. A wide variety of workshops and…

One of the main aims of the Teaching Content in a Foreign Language (TCFL) program, an in-service teacher training program at the Continuing Education Centre of the University of Jyvaskyla (Finland), was to improve the participants' proficiency in English. To promote this objective, English was made the operating language for the whole program.…

This manual is designed to be used as a resource in the planning and implementation of vocational education support services for the limited-English-proficient (LEP) student. The focus of the manual is to address the linguistic and cultural backgrounds of LEP persons and provide them with vocational education that encompasses a wide array of…

The manual provides information to assist secondary school level program and curriculum designers in the creation and administration of second language programs. It is not a how-to manual, but includes descriptive data about program types in existence and criteria for evaluating language proficiency. It contains: a list of terms used and their…

Based on the assumption that the acquisition of language habits is in itself insufficient for the true mastery of language, small group discussion techniques have been used in conversation workshops for students in English as a second language (ESL) courses at New York's Bronx Community College. In the groups, students are induced to communicate…

This paper discusses the construction of language tests, particularly for English as a Second Language (ESL), that focus on language use in real situations. Linguistic theories that provide background for language test construction are reviewed, and application of those theories to ESL instruction in Japan is examined, with attention to the…

This report examines the value for research and policy purposes of data generated by the "Pound 10 Grant Scheme" operated by Roinn na Gaeltachta in Ireland, which seeks to preserve the Irish language. The scheme was introduced in the early 30's by An Roinn Oideachais (an organization which had responsibility for the promotion of the…

An evaluation was done of the first year of a 2-year renewal program at three high schools in New York City, Harmony in Career Learning and Scholastic System (Project HI-CLASS), designed to provide support services to students of limited English proficiency (LEP). The project proposed to provide individualized instruction focusing on basic skills,…

An evaluation was conducted of the second year of a 2-year renewal program at two high schools in Brooklyn (New York City), the Asian and Arabic Mediated Enrichment Resource and Instructional Career Awareness Program (Project AMERICA), originally designed to ease the transition of Arabic and Chinese-speaking immigrant students to life in America,…

Results from testing programs in the Newark (New Jersey) public schools for 1991-92 are discussed. The system used three testing programs in the school year: (1) the Newark Uniform Testing Program (Stanford Achievement Series, eighth edition); (2) the New Jersey Statewide Testing System; and (3) the Bilingual Testing Program. Results of the Newark…

The Metropolitan Educational Trends and Research Outcomes Center has identified seven projects in the southwestern United States and one in Massachusetts that exemplify the educational practices important in today's ethnolinguistically diverse classrooms. Preliminary findings indicate that each of these programs contains several critical elements…