This research study evaluates the effectiveness of a Spanish-English dual language immersion (DLI) program. Many researchers have found that high-quality and long-term DLI programs promote academic achievement and high levels of language proficiency for both language groups. Despite the evidence, leaders from the field of bilingual education have…

This study investigates the effect of Iranian EFL students' proficiency level on their ability in identifying paragraph boundaries of unparagraphed expository texts and in producing paragraph boundaries in their own L2 expository writings. Further, this study seeks the correlation between advanced and intermediate learners' ability to identify and…

This brief is an introduction to a "Framework for High-Quality English Language Proficiency Standards and Assessments" (Framework). It presents the intended purpose, uses, and organization of the Framework, as well as key background information and assumptions. The Framework was conceived as a critical tool in states' efforts to ensure that their…

To ensure fairness, it is important to better understand the relationship of language proficiency to standard psychometric analysis procedures. This paper examines how results of differential item functioning (DIF) analysis are affected by an increase in the proportion of examinees who report that English is not their first language in the…

Background: Deaf children vary in the use of and proficiency in signed language. The majority of studies on writing skills of children who are deaf did not assess deaf children's proficiency in signed language and/or grouped together deaf children with varying sign language skills. Aims: Adopting a bimodal bilingual perspective, we examined…

This phenomenological study explores the experiences of non-native English-speaking international students regarding language, culture and identity in the context of their graduate studies. Interviews were conducted with each of the eight participants. Interpretive analysis was used within a constructivist frame. The findings of this study are…

Contemporary humankind is witnessing the spread and impact of the English language on the global educational space. Such an influx is occurring irrespective of people's objective or subjective will. English has become a vital means for accessing and acquiring information and knowledge about the world. It promotes the reformation of language…

This study was motivated by the continuous quest to explore ways of enhancing students' learning and achievement in social studies in Nigerian secondary schools. The focus of this investigation was the assessment of the communication proficiency of social studies teachers, believing that the teachers' proficiency is a strong factor in effective…

Research suggests that Asian Americans underutilize mental health services but an understanding of the multiple factors involved in utilization has not been examined in a nationally representative sample. The current study analyzed data from the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS) and examined 368 individuals with disorders to…

The incidence of nativelikeness in adult second language acquisition is a controversial issue in SLA research. Although some researchers claim that any learner, regardless of age of acquisition, can attain nativelike levels of second language (L2) proficiency, others hold that attainment of nativelike proficiency is, in principle, impossible. The…

This article presents the methodology adopted for transcribing and quantifying temporal fluency phenomena in a spoken L2 corpus (L2 English, French, and Italian by learners of different proficiency levels). The CHILDES suite is being used for transcription and analysis, and we have adapted the CHAT format in order to code disfluencies as precisely…

This article investigates the effects of language anxiety on course achievement in three foreign language proficiency levels of Spanish, namely, beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Participants completed the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986) and a background questionnaire. Results showed that language…

Immigrant children from diverse language backgrounds face not only linguistic challenges when enrolled in mainstream English-medium classrooms, but also difficulties adjusting to an unfamiliar learning community. The culture of primary school classrooms in New Zealand typically reflects conventions across three dimensions: interactional,…

The paper explores the status of English in Jordan as reflected in newspaper job advertisements (ads) published in 1985, 1995 and 2005, and English language documents in the educational domain. The study shows a steady increase in the percentage of English ads paralleled with a steady decrease in the percentage of Arabic ads. Further, it reports a…

The second language group oral is a test of second language speaking proficiency, in which a group of three or more English language learners discuss an assigned topic without interaction with interlocutors. Concerns expressed about the extent to which test takers' personal characteristics affect the scores of others in the group have limited its…