This study examines whether aural processing of input in a situation of implicit instruction can build a knowledge base that is available for both comprehension and production tasks. Fifty-five Dutch students learned a miniature linguistic system based on Spanish. Three training conditions were compared in which noun-adjective gender agreement was…

This paper summarizes the assessment results of the Language Online project at Carnegie Mellon University. The study investigated the effectiveness of online language courses for students' learning outcomes in four hybrid online language courses (elementary and intermediate levels) and their counterpart conventional (offline) courses from Spring…

Whereas many pre-intermediate and intermediate level students of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) might benefit from receiving detailed feedback on mistakes in their written compositions, there are obvious practical limits to the amount of corrective feedback that teachers in schools and universities can provide. This article briefly describes…

This study investigated growth in reading, vocabulary, and memory in children (ages 5 to 10) learning English as a second language identified at risk for reading disabilities (RD). A growth curve analysis showed that RD children were significantly below children not at risk in English and Spanish reading, Spanish short-term memory (STM), Spanish…

Purpose: Dementia caregiving is a rapidly growing public health problem. Logistical problems prevent many caregivers from utilizing available interventions. This article provides a demonstration of the usefulness of technology for conducting telephone-based support groups in ethnically diverse dementia caregivers. Design and Methods: Participants…

In this article the author looks at the appropriation of the monitorial system of education across a number of Spanish American countries between 1818 and c. 1844. The British understanding of the method is compared with the Spanish American perception of it (privileging the similarities rather than the differences in perception among Spanish…

This article describes the development of an English spelling measure designed to assess the progress made by Spanish-English bilingual children from Grade 2 to Grade 5. Different stages of developing the measure are described, such as selecting the focus features, the prepilot and pilot phases, and the operational version. Two underlying…

Monographs on pragmatics and language learning include: "Do We All Apologize the Same?--An Empirical Study on the Act of Apologizing by Spanish Speakers Learning English" (Montserrat Mir); "Conversational Openings in Kiswahili: The Pragmatic Performance of Native and Non-Native Speakers" (Alwiya S. Omar); "Experimental and…

This overview of bilingual education concerns definitions, rationale, program and student characteristics, background in the United States, data on bilingual programs, the sociocultural context, the politics of bilingual education, the development of specific bilingual programs, and studies and implications for the foreign language profession.…

This article presents a critical analysis of language ideologies in the instructional discourse of Spanish for heritage speakers in the United States. We focus on the discourse present in prefaces and introductions to Spanish for heritage speakers textbooks published between 1970 and 2000. Whereas previous research on language ideologies in…

This study investigated the relation of teacher characteristics, including ratings of teacher quality, to classroom instructional variables and to bilingual students' literacy and oral language outcomes at the end of the kindergarten year. Teacher characteristics included observational measures of oral language proficiency, quality, and classroom…

The series "Self-instructional Notes on Social Participation" is a six-volume series intended as teaching aids for adult educators. The theoretical, methodological, informative and practical elements of this series will assist professionals in their work and help them achieve greater success. The specific purpose of each notebook is…

Language attrition research usually attempts to elicit all types of usage from speakers of all fluency levels in a dying language in order to abstract changing linguistic patterns from situational variation. Informants adept at hiding their vernacular and improvising in an obsolescing variety are reluctant to admit to such scrutiny. In a…

From 1980 to 1990, the number of native Spanish speakers in the service region of Virginia's Germanna Community College (GCC) increased significantly. In response, GCC implemented a Spanish language occupational/technical curricula for law enforcement personnel and health professionals. Classes focused on the development of highly effective…

A program designed to improve higher-order thinking skills in secondary school students of Spanish as a second language is reported. Deficiency in higher order thinking was documented through teacher-constructed tests, students' oral presentations in Spanish, teacher observation journals, and student reflection logs. Analysis showed the students…