This article asks two basic questions about educational policy and practice for English-language-learner (ELL) students: First, antibilingual education initiatives imply a subtractive view of teaching and learning; what are parents' views and/or beliefs regarding these policies? Second, how do these views and/or beliefs align with research and…

The "newSLATE" environment provides a Web-based infrastructure for language learning. Its design and implementation were driven by the difficulties of non-Roman-script text handling. The software features a cross-platform approach to non-Roman text input and handling and a novel method for automatically generating online quizzes from study…

The basic tenet of constructivism is that learners construct their knowledge on their own by associating new with prior information. The significance of the learner's interaction with his/her social and physical environment is here of great importance; the learner is at the center of the learning process while the tutor is seen as a facilitator, a…

This article describes how recent trends in improving literacy outcomes in the early years of schooling have provided the opportunity for Camberwell Primary School to identify the "best practice" that promotes high levels of achievement in English literacy and transfer this learning and knowledge to the French literacy program. The linguistic…

The aim of this research is to reveal the dynamics of focus on form in task completion via videoconferencing. This examination draws on current second language learning theories regarding effective language acquisition, research in Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) and empirical data from an evaluation of desktop videoconferencing-supported…

This study in the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) was conducted in a Spanish as a foreign language classroom. The study investigates dyadic face-to-face collaborative dialogue at the computer from a sociocultural perspective. Protocols for analysis were obtained by the transcription of audio recordings of twelve dyads/triads completing…

The issue of multi-level classrooms and of the increasingly differentiated nature of students' learning experiences continues to be a major challenge for language teachers. It's safe to say that wherever two or more language teachers are gathered together, the "problem" of multi-level classrooms will figure somewhere in the conversation.…

This paper provides an introduction to teacher language awareness (TLA) and a personal reconceptualisation of the relationship between TLA and other dimensions of teacher knowledge, revisiting issues discussed in Andrews (2001). In the first part of the paper, knowledge of subject matter is identified as the core of TLA. Given the increased…

The purpose of the present study was to determine what features associated with the macrolevel of lexical competence vary as a function of an increase in second language (L2) proficiency. The macrolevel of participants' word knowledge was described with respect to six variables that are commonly associated with three proposed macrolevel…

The discussion on the role of corrective feedback is part of a larger discussion on the role of "focusing on form" in foreign language teaching ("Focus on form in classroom second language acquisition," Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1998). Studies conducted in communicative and content-based foreign language teaching…

The aim of this study is to reveal the differences in the process of learning reading strategies by EFL learners whose English proficiency levels differ. For this purpose, portfolios made by 10 Japanese female college students learning English (five in the higher proficiency group and the other five in the lower) were analyzed. The results found…

As the number of non-native speakers of English studying at universities in the United Kingdom (UK) has grown, so has the need to provide pre-sessional English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses. One of the challenges facing the organisers of such courses is deciding how to determine whether students have completed them successfully and whether…

Until recently, research in applied linguistics has tended to treat learners in relative isolation from their context, and to study primarily classroom and other educational contexts. This paper in contrast focuses on the contexts which frame learning, and in particular the resources which these contexts provide. A model is outlined which includes…

With the revamping of the Canada Immigration Act in 1985, the demographic profile of new arrivals to Canada took a marked shift to place a priority on better educated, business-class immigrants. Most of these immigrants are from the Pacific Rim, and they have high expectations for the academic achievement of their children in the Canadian school.…

One of the most common uses of the World Wide Web for foreign language learning is as a resource for students to find information when researching essay topics. When language instructors ask students to perform searches for information about a given issue it is assumed that students know how to perform those searches and appreciate the usefulness…