This study evaluated the effects of a fluency building activity on the oral reading fluency (ORF) and comprehension of four first-grade students identified as at risk for reading failure. The participants in this study were selected because they were members of a group at the highest risk for reading problems, specifically African American boys…

The purpose of this study was to determine what difficulties King Saud University students encounter when learning to write academic English and to differentiate between students' learning needs and objectives. The sample consisted of 50 postgraduate students enrolled in King Saud University during the academic year 2009-2010. Analysis of the data…

Attaining a satisfactory level of oral communication in a second language is a laborious process. In this action research paper we describe a new method applied through the use of interactive videos and the Babelium Project Rich Internet Application (RIA), which allows students to practice speaking skills through a variety of exercises. We present…

This article focuses on the difficulties encountered by newcomers from diverse backgrounds who come to the United States with the desire to learn English and further their studies. Most of these newcomers sometimes face insurmountable difficulties while trying to learn the new language. In some cases, they hit brick walls and the only negative…

The entire diversity landscape of our university campuses is changing. As American colleges and universities address their need for more globally aware campuses, academic institutions are hiring well-qualified foreign-born scholars to teach in their programs. Both non-resident alien faculty as well as those who are foreign-born but are classified…

Research into complexity, accuracy and fluency (CAF) as basic dimensions of second language performance, proficiency and development has received increased attention in SLA. However, the larger picture in this field of research is often obscured by the breadth of scope, multiple objectives and lack of clarity as to how complexity, accuracy and…

This study investigated the possibility that initial-level learners may acquire oral skills through synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC). Twelve Taiwanese French as a foreign language (FFL) students, divided into three groups, were required to conduct a variety of tasks in one of the three learning environments (video/audio, audio,…

This study examines the self-perceived speaking proficiency development of 204 learners of Japanese who studied abroad in Japan and analyzes connections between self-reported social network development, language use, and speaking development. Learners perceived that they gained the most in areas associated with the intermediate and advanced levels…

This study aims to provide a greater insight into how formative assessments are experienced and understood by students. Two different formative assessment methods, an individual, written assessment and an oral group assessment, were components of a pathology course within a medical curriculum. In a cohort of 70 students, written accounts were…

This study examines to what extent L2 gains obtained during a study abroad (SA) experience are durable. Participants were 16 Catalan/Spanish bilingual children, learning English as an L2, who were distributed into two groups depending on their learning context (SA vs. at home [AH]). Participants completed a pre-test before the SA participants'…

This study examined the differences in processing between regular and dyslexic readers in a lexical decision task in different visual field presentations (left, right, and center). The research utilized behavioral measures that provide information on accuracy and reaction time and electro-physiological measures that permit the examination of brain…

In this ethnographic study, I investigate heterogeneous-language peer interactions in an English-only kindergarten classroom. English Learners and English Proficient students co-created language necessary to build an argument, one discourse valued in schools. Students developed complex oral language proficiency skills but were viewed as engaging…

Emergent literacy activities are considered to be important for promoting children's emergent literacy skills. However, little research exists, especially in Germany, regarding how often such activities occur and in what context. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of emergent literacy activities occurring in the final preschool…

This article argues that both traditional literacy (reading and writing print) and new digital literacies (for example, playing video games) come in two grades or forms, one of which can lead to success in the modern world and one of which is less likely to do so. In both cases, the role of "academic" or "specialist" language is crucial in…

Purpose: This study examined the development and validation of a criterion-referenced Spanish-English Language Proficiency Scale (SELPS) that was designed to assess the oral language skills of sequential bilingual children ages 4-8. This article reports results for the English proficiency portion of the scale. Method: The SELPS assesses syntactic…