Traditional definitions of multilingualism have reified and divided individuals' many languages and literacies into separate compartmentalised worlds of existence--worlds that are oftentimes theorised in the literature as fraught with struggle. In this article, we illustrate how multilingual struggle is not always the case by presenting data…

This study examines the motivation of 20 Japanese students of English as a foreign language (EFL) who chatted electronically with 19 Taiwanese EFL students using online synchronous chat software. In particular, we were interested in four factors that affect task-based motivation: the willingness to communicate, task attractiveness, task…

Studies on ESL/EFL learners' use of the progressives reveal that it is one of the grammatical aspects most problematic to them. This paper presents the results of a study on the use of progressives among Year 5, Form 1 and Form 4 Malaysian ESL learners' compositions using the English of Malaysian School Students (EMAS) corpus. The purpose of this…

The classroom is an important context of second language learning for language minority children. Teachers are responsible for creating good learning opportunities by securing language use well adjusted to the children's level of comprehension. Thus, teachers should have realistic expectations of this. The purpose of the research is to increase…

Analysis of a sample of assessment tasks used in New Zealand first-year clinical and final-year secondary school Biology and Chemistry National Certificate of Educational Achievement summative assessments was conducted to assess whether similarities and differences existed in secondary and tertiary competency discourses. Findings suggested…

There have been numerous calls to increase quantitative studies examining the role of culturally responsive schooling (CRS) on American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) achievement. The National Indian Education Study (NIES) is the only large-scale study focused on (AIAN) students' cultural experiences within the context of schools. Given that…

Immigrant students may use and develop language and literacy skills differently depending on the dominance of the first and second language (L1 and L2) in the neighborhoods where they live. In this study, neighborhood effects on students' reported language use at home and with peers, and on measured language and literacy proficiency, were…

With the increasing number of preschool-age children of Latino heritage entering U.S. schools comes a growing need to accurately determine children's individual needs and identify potential disabilities, beginning with the screening process. Unfortunately, teachers face many challenges when screening English language learners. Often, parents have…

The detrimental effects of school violence on students' physical and emotional health are well studied, and research has shown that school violence affects students in every nation across the globe. However, few cross-national studies have compared direct, physical forms of school violence to indirect, emotional forms such as teasing. Using…

Bilingual education in Poland gained in popularity after the political changes in 1989 when Polish society started noticing the importance of foreign language learning. With the emergence of content and language integrated learning (CLIL) in the 1990s, which in the Polish context is still termed as "bilingual education", foreign…

This article describes an adolescent's development of multiliterate and multilingual writing practices and identities. It further explores how a literacy teacher enacted a writing pedagogy of multiliteracies that assisted the youth in building writing practices and identities. Data include interviews of the young woman and her teacher, classroom…

This article examines the Erasmus Mundus Special Educational Needs (EM SEN) programme experience and the ways in which it influenced the authors' perception of reflection and research involving inclusive education. The authors argue that incorporating reflective practice and research into an international Master's programme holds promise for…

A number of factors may affect student interaction in an asynchronous online discussion forum used in learning. This study deals with student preferences for the subject line of messages and in what ways the choice of subject line contributes to coherence and interaction reflected in the textual and interpersonal functions of the linguistic items…

Through observation, questionnaires and, particularly, ethnographic interviews with parents, pupils, teachers and community organisers associated with a Yemeni complementary school, this paper develops a portrait of language repertoires, practices and preferences in a Yemeni diasporic community in a northern English city. Also investigated are the…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if classroom configuration--departmentalized and self-contained--is related to the academic achievement of Grade 6 students in a large urban school district as measured by California Standards Test (CST) scores in mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA) when controlling for prior academic…