Noting that one of the most challenging tasks educators face in improving parent involvement, particularly among parents of English as a Second Language (ESL) students, this paper describes categories of parent involvement, examines several barriers to parent involvement, and offers suggestions for improving parent involvement. Suggestions for…

The Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT) was part of a project examining biographical, motivational, attitudinal, personality, and cognitive aptitude variables in 1,000 adult students preparing at the Foreign Service Institute for overseas assignments, with various subsamples completing different instruments. Data were analyzed using correlation,…

This document is intended to help foreign language teachers prepare students for the exit exam of essential skills required by the Student Accountability Standards enacted by the North Carolina State Board of Education. The North Carolina High School Exit Exam (NCHSEE) focuses on skills across all disciplines K-12 rather than content areas. This…

Discussions of training and preparation needs for nonnative English speaking (NNES) master's students in teachers of English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) graduate programs have seldom given voice to the students themselves nor addressed their perceptions of whether their needs are being met in existing programs. This study reports on the…

This pamphlet explains the U.S. Department of Education's mission to ensure equal access to education and promote educational excellence. The Office of English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement for Limited English Proficient Students (OELA) provides national leadership in promoting English language proficiency…

This book presents papers, written in both English and French, from a symposium entitled "Promoting Learner Autonomy: New Insights." After "Introduction" (Leni Dam), the eight papers include the following: "Examining the Discourse of Learner Advisory Sessions" (David Crabbe, Alison Hoffman, and Sara Cotteral);…

This ethnographic case study examines the language socialization experiences of Hari, a Punjabi-speaking English language learner integrated into a mainstream kindergarten classroom in an urban area of British Columbia, Canada. The book begins by discussing theory and literature (e.g., mainstream second language acquisition research, language as…

This teacher's guide, intended for the instruction of both French as a first language and French as a second language in an immersion setting, provides a host of strategies for teaching writing skills in the classroom (Grades 6 through 12). Section 1 is designed to bring the teacher's awareness to the training procedure, discussing the motivation…

These eight papers address the five goals of the national standards for foreign language learning: communication, cultures, connections, comparisons, and communities. They include the following: (1) "From Rhetoric to Reality: Applying AATSP Standards to the Spanish Classroom" (Maria J. Amores and Frank W. Medley, Jr.); (2) "Standards for Teaching…

"Dimension" is the annual volume containing the selected, refereed, edited proceedings of each year's conference. By selecting "Models for Excellence in Second Language Education" as the 2003 conference theme, the Board of Directors of the Southern Conference on Language Teaching (SCOLT) demonstrated an eagerness to invite presentations…

The main purpose of this paper is to describe the basic findings obtained as a result of the implementation of two projects of Computer and Information Technologies held in Valencia (Spain) between 2002 and 2003 with 92 second year university students enrolled in English as a foreign language to find out their ICT and foreign language needs both…

Ensuring that language tests for adult English language learners are appropriate, valid, and reliable is a challenge. Performance-based assessments are complex to develop and implement. Yet, because the focus of assessment, both in the National Reporting System for Adult Education (NRS) descriptors and in the Department of Education's definition…

Learning to read in English is difficult for adult English language learners. Teachers know that their learners come from diverse backgrounds, have different experiences with literacy in their first languages, and have various reasons for learning English. They also know that there is no simple recipe to help their students become proficient…

In June of 1998, Proposition 227 was passed by 61 percent of the California electorate. Intended to change how the state's English learners (ELs) are instructed, Proposition 227 required that ELs be taught "overwhelmingly in English" through sheltered/structured English immersion (SEI) programs during a transition period and then…

This digest presents information on bilingual-bicultural education for children who are deaf or hard of hearing. The premise of bilingual-bicultural education is that all children who are deaf or hard of hearing should develop communicative competency and that they need to be bilingual in order to function successfully in the family, school, and…