The present study was designed to examine the effects of short-term study abroad (SA) on learners' L2 anxiety, international posture, and L2 willingness to communicate (WTC). To this end, the SA experience of 69 L2 learners in four different SA programmes was investigated. The data were obtained from participant questionnaires, which were…

This article focuses on developing guidelines for the effective facilitation of avatar-based group discussions. This qualitative inquiry is guided by an investigation of (1) social affordances of avatar-based discussions, with an emphasis on social and physical presence, (2) strategies to help establish rapport with other avatars, and (3) the…

The University of KwaZulu-Natal has a bilingual language policy (2006) where students may receive instruction in isiZulu as well as in English. An online survey was carried out for all academic and support staff to gauge their linguistic capacity in isiZulu. Staff profiles were created in relation to their respective Colleges, Schools and…

The assessment of dual language immersion (DLI) students' proficiency in the partner language plays a key role in program evaluation. This article reports findings from a large-scale study, drawing on cross-sectional assessment data from 73 schools and longitudinal data from 25 schools. Students were tested in the interpretive (listening and…

This study was conducted within the context of bilingual Arabic-Hebrew medium preschools in Israel which were established to incorporate instruction in the native languages of both majority and minority children in the classroom. Bilingual education in various settings produces a wide variety of outcomes in terms of language proficiency, cultural…

This study investigated the agency of children, parents and teachers in a Serbian-English bilingual preschool. The focus was on uncovering the kind of agency each of these groups exercised in the process of language learning by examining the children's linguistic behaviour and the role that parents and teachers had in motivating children learning…

Educational issues in relation to ethnicity and language education policies have been underexplored in Asian contexts. In particular, issues related to ethnic and linguistic minority students have not received much attention in the post-colonial context of Hong Kong. This paper highlights challenges and tensions faced by Nepali ethnic minority…

While theories of embodied cognition have been investigated in lab experiments with proficient readers, currently no studies have applied these theories to improving reading comprehension for low-proficiency readers. Using an embodied cognition approach, this study investigated producing comics as an embodied reading activity. To compare effects…

The effectiveness of explicit instruction, within the context of strategy development in learners, has been widely accepted for several years. However, the methods used within explicit vocabulary instruction are varied and comparatively few studies have directly compared methods. This study investigates the type of instruction (in a visual or…

This report features components of Arizona's plan under the Every Student Succeeds Act that impact the 85,000 English learners in the state regarding testing, accountability, and stakeholder engagement. Advocates can use this information to engage administrators and policymakers around improving outcomes for English learners and ensuring they…

This report features components of California's plan under the Every Student Succeeds Act that impact the 1.3 million English learners in the state regarding testing, accountability, and stakeholder engagement. Advocates can use this information to engage administrators and policymakers around improving outcomes for English learners and ensuring…

Language immersion programs are becoming more available as a form of school choice in both private and public education in the United States and beyond. While there is research on the benefits of immersion education regarding overall intelligence, there is still much skepticism as to why parents would place their child in an immersion program vs.…

Given the exponential growth in international student populations in the United States, supporting cross-cultural language learners (CCLL) in developing their self and co-regulated learning is highly important. This paper presents a conceptual framework on the value of feedback within self-regulated versus co-regulated environments, in the context…

Substantial biliteracy research on two alphabetic languages has indicated that, once it is fostered in the first language (L1) literacy experience, morphological awareness can transfer and facilitate second language (L2) reading. It is still unclear, however, whether L1 metalinguistic awareness transfers in the same manner across typologically…

Although virtually all Inuit children in eastern Arctic Canada learn Inuktitut as their native language, there is a critical lack of tools to assess their level of language ability. This article investigates how mean length of utterance (MLU), a widely-used assessment measure in English and other languages, can be best applied in Inuktitut. The…