English language learners (ELLs) who experience slow vocabulary development are less able to comprehend text at grade level than their English-only peers. Such students are likely to perform poorly on assessments in these areas and are at risk of being diagnosed as learning disabled. In this article, we review the research on methods to develop…

In their target article, Clahsen and Felser (CF) review studies that they and others have conducted in recent years to confirm the dual mechanism hypothesis and to extend its application to first and second language (L1 and L2) learners. They interpret the findings as supporting both the dual mechanism hypothesis and the claim that the…

English as a Foreign Language (EFL) freshman students at the College of Languages and Translation received direct instruction in adjective-forming suffixes, then they took an immediate and a delayed test. Error analysis showed that 36% of the responses were left blank or the subjects duplicated the stimulus word. In 32% they mismatched the word…

Course designs for Basic English Writing classes vary from one course to another. The objective of this study was to investigate the semantic misinterpretation of English words found in the English compositions written by native-Chinese-speaking undergraduate students and to overcome if such a barrier occurred in the process of writing. First,…

In Taiwan, lectures are commonly used for younger students to learn their own language, which is traditional Chinese. Passively listening to lectures has led to this group of students making such mistakes as forgetting strokes and word meanings, combining phrases to create incomprehensible blurs of information, and switching radicals with phonetic…

This study highlights the complexities associated with learning a heritage language (HL) abroad, specifically with regard to identity, expectations, and beliefs about language and language learning, by examining the ways that HL learners talk about themselves. These are important topics to study because perceptions of language learning have been…

This report describes a study (part of the IEA Written Composition Study) which used a questionnaire to collect curricular information from 16 countries about mother tongue teaching in general and teaching writing in particular. The report describes some basic dimensions of mother tongue curricula and writing composition curricula as well as how…

A major controversy in education in Papua New Guinea (PNG) has been the choice of language for initial literacy education. It is now generally accepted by academics, education leaders, and politicians that this should be a language already spoken by the learner. Research suggests that this will contribute to better, not worse skills in English at…

Part of a set of Marathi teaching materials, this book is designed to help the student learn vocabulary through the association of printed words and pictures. The book represents more than 400 basic vocabulary items in pictorial form. It includes sketches of the natural world, the human body, clothing, house and furnishings, town and village,…

A seminar held in Italy was in line with the Council of Europe's project activities for dealing with educational problems caused by the rapid transformation in social groupings, in the wake of increasing labor-market mobility and migratory phenomena. Four themes were discussed: (1) official strategies set up in certain European countries with…

In the controversy over the conceptualization of language and verbal behavior there is an underlying unity of goals and concepts, characterized in the teaching and learning of the first language as acquisition or transmission of skills. Both the behaviorist and cognitive perspectives of learning accommodate this point of view conceptually, if not…

The present language situation among Alaskan natives and the prospects for maintaining the traditional languages are such that in order to plan for a continued native language presence, it must be recognized that: (1) the shift to Engish is a natural result of a set of social conditions, with no single factor or group to blame; (2) the decline of…

Preliminary results of an extensive study of 50 native Yugoslav students who migrated to Denmark but still attended mother-tongue classes indicated that most had mastered the Danish language and used it with their peers and most learned their native language from their parents and continued to use it with them. (Author/CB)

Discusses some current developments in mother tongue teaching in Great Britain and the United States. British approaches to bilingual education, curricular materials, and teaching methods are highlighted in the description of the Mother Tongue Project and are compared with American projects and studies. Considers the controversy surrounding mother…

Using Hindi and Urdu as examples, illustrates the shortcomings in the definition of South Asian languages that has been attempted in Britain so far. Argues that description and definition of a language have to include aspects of culture, religion, script, politics, and the speakers' own perception of their language and language choice. (SED)