This book highlights the experience of Liberia in both assessing and improving reading in primary schools. As a result of an Early Grade Reading Assessment, the Ministry of Education and partners, including the United States Agency for International Development, came together to identify and develop strategies for improving reading in schools.…

Bilingualism is a common phenomenon in India. We are all instinctively bilingual. A large proportion of the world's population is bilingual. A bilingual speaking to the other bilingual chooses the language unconsciously or semi-consciously with no extra time or effort. Language alternation has become significant in the Indian context in view of…

This article examines the language-related challenges that first-year students face when adjusting to the demands of English-medium higher education in Hong Kong. The article is based on the findings of a longitudinal study which tracked the university careers of 28 students from a range of backgrounds via in-depth, semi-structured interviews…

Previous research has emphasized the importance of language for learning mathematics. This is especially true when mathematical problems have to be extracted from a meaningful context, as in arithmetic word problems. Bilingual learners with a low command of the instructional language thus may face challenges when dealing with mathematical…

In countries where English is a second language, there has been a movement over the last 60 years from supporting indigenous languages over foreign language--English--to the present one where, with globalization and market demands, English is beginning to be seen as an indigenous language in itself. The teaching of English from Grade 1 about five…

Whereas there has been much research on language and identity with respect to learners, teachers, and teacher educators, there has been little focus on the identity of the researcher, an important stakeholder in language education. Our research therefore addresses the following question: To what extent can narrative inquiry illuminate the ways in…

Academic support for higher education students in multilingual contexts often focuses on the development of separate language proficiencies, on the one hand, and on general study skills, on the other hand. In bi/multilingual education contexts where students are presented with lectures and study material in more than one language, successful…

Fixation on language in language policy debates is not a natural given. In fact, it has to be re-examined. This paper argues that another effective way to look at language policy is to suspend talk on language, and instead first engage with social development issues where people are at the heart of the social landscape. It discusses three ways of…

This article addresses the issue of whether TESOL should clearly articulate a set of pedagogical principles that challenge the assumption that English language teaching (ELT) should be conducted monolingually through English. This "monolingual principle" emphasizes instructional use of the target language (TL) to the exclusion of students' home…

Drawing on the literature on Asian international students, current debates surrounding English as an international language (EIL), and the conceptual tools of appropriation, this article reports the findings of a qualitative research study with eight Asian international students studying at a university in Thailand to explore their taking…

This article explores the language and literacy practices of Latino immigrant children in preschool. In spite of the monolingual framework and the readiness emphasis of current educational language policies, children draw on their home language as a resource to literacy learning. The author argues that children's use of their home language is a…

The territories where Catalan is traditionally spoken as a native language constitute an attractive sociolinguistic laboratory which appears especially interesting from the point of view of language-in-education policies. The educational system has spearheaded the recovery of Catalan during the last 20 years. Schools are being attributed most of…

One of the most important issues in Tibetan education is resolving the problem of instruction language in the Tibetan regions. This paper provides a preliminary exploration of this issue and makes some proposals based on the bilingual state of today's education in the Tibetan regions and the needs of Tibetan as a language of instruction for social…

Arguments for bottom-up approaches in language planning are currently in vogue. Rarely, however, are such arguments supported by evidence demonstrating how such bottom-up planning leading to successful implementation can be achieved. This article presents evidence based on archival documentation in the form of annual reports and manuscripts…

This paper investigates the development of writing initiatives in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, an area where prior to 1989, writing in universities played a very minor role. Using data gathered from eight institutions that currently have writing programs of some sort, I identify three typical paths writing initiatives…