While some students have the opportunity to engage in the kinds of structured inquiry and real-world problem solving called for in the science education reform literature, many other students receive only a daily grind of note taking, end-of-chapter questions and sample test items from state assessments. The result is an engagement gap whereby…

Although much research has now accumulated on the dominance of English in world science, attention to the specific reality of Southern European countries has been comparatively scarce. This paper intends to partly redress this imbalance by reporting on survey data gathered at the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Data were collected by…

Research Findings: This study investigated the effects of full- and half-day kindergarten programs on classroom instructional quality and children's academic achievement. Considerations were given for how the length of the school day, language status (English language learner [ELL] and non-ELL), and children's attendance patterns influenced…

Previous studies have found that proficiency in a second language affects how the meanings of words are accessed. Support for this hypothesis is based on data from explicit memory tasks with bilingual participants who know two languages that are relatively similar phonologically and orthographically (e.g., Dutch-English, French-English). The…

This study examines the influence of length of residence in the target language community and overall L2 proficiency on L2 pragmatic competence with a reference to L2 grammatical competence. Participants were 126 international students in the US with two academic levels of English proficiency from 17 countries, speaking 20 languages. A…

The major European testing agencies have calibrated their exams to the levels of language proficiency described in the Common European Framework (CEFR). In Italy, where the Framework has been enthusiastically embraced, external exams are now frequently used within the state education system as they are believed to provide reliable, widely…

This study examines academic and research librarian positions that require foreign language skills. Technical and public services are most likely to require language knowledge, while administrator and system librarian positions are the least likely. Overall, the requirements show a continued rise until the mid-1980s and a declining trend after…

This study examines the interrelated issues of private and public domains of self-esteem, ethnic identity formation, and bilingual confidence among youth of a minority group in a city in western Canada. One hundred, ten Chinese students aged 11-18 from a Chinese-language school were randomly surveyed. Most items of the instrument are derived from…

Extensive reading has been drawing increasing attention from L2 educators as a potentially effective form of L2 reading instruction. However, some researchers argue that it is not easy to observe the benefits of extensive reading in the short term. The present study was motivated by the need to elucidate the differential effects of extensive…

Purpose: To examine how age of immersion and proficiency in a 2nd language influence speech movement variability and speaking rate in both a 1st language and a 2nd language. Method: A group of 21 Bengali-English bilingual speakers participated. Lip and jaw movements were recorded. For all 21 speakers, lip movement variability was assessed based on…

All English language learners (ELLs) are to participate in an annual assessment of English language proficiency (ELP) under Title III of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. This includes ELLs with disabilities, regardless of whether they are high-incidence disabilities (e.g., learning disability) or low-incidence disabilities (e.g., deaf or hard…

This study describes limited English proficient (LEP) student enrollment and achievement trends in Maryland. Two research questions guide this study: (1) How did the enrollment of LEP students in Maryland public schools change between 2002/03 and 2008/09?; and (2) How did performance (the percentage scoring at the proficient or advanced level) on…

This study describes English language learner (ELL) student enrollment and achievement trends in Pennsylvania public schools between 2002/03 and 2008/09. Two research questions guide this study: (1) How did the enrollment of ELL students in Pennsylvania public schools change between 2002/03 and 2008/09?; and (2) How did performance (the percentage…

This study describes English language learner (ELL) student enrollment trends between 2002/03 and 2008/09 and achievement trends between 2006/07 and 2008/09 in the District of Columbia. Two research questions guide this study: (1) How did the enrollment of ELL students in District of Columbia public schools change between 2002/03 and 2008/09?; and…

This study describes English language learner (ELL) student enrollment and achievement trends in Pennsylvania public schools between 2002/03 and 2008/09. Two research questions guide this study: (1) How did the enrollment of ELL students in Pennsylvania public schools change between 2002/03 and 2008/09?; and (2) How did performance (the percentage…