This monograph focuses on the literacy performance of U.S. adults in comparison to adults in other high-income countries, underscoring the fact that the overall U.S. performance is mediocre at best and that the U.S. is a world leader in the degree of inequality between the best and poorest performers. The monograph describes the National and the…

This compendium is designed to provide a quick overview of assessment instruments that can be used with kindergarten-aged children. It provides a starting point for gathering information on assessment instruments by giving information on approximately 40 instruments published since 1986 that are commercially available. Information on each…

This paper reports on a classroom-based research project that examined the impact of strategy training on listening performance. Participants were 46 students enrolled in the preparatory year of the English Language Education Department of Trakya University, Turkey. Students were divided into an experimental and a control group, and their learning…

This study examined data elicited by the Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory (BALLI), which was administered to first-year, advanced learners of French at the University of the West Indies. The questionnaire looked at students' attitudes regarding the difficulty of language learning, foreign language aptitude, the nature of language…

This paper looks at the nature of second language immersion learning and instruction through the lens of situated learning theory. This theory has strong relevance for language immersion practice and research. An emerging research program is introduced that is focused on the overlap of immersion learning and situated learning theory, and an…

This qualitative study provides a deeper understanding of foreign language learners' attitudes toward authentic input and examines their changes in attitude and proficiency after instruction using authentic input in the foreign language classroom. Twenty-six Korean university students from two groups were randomly selected and interviewed. The…

Many students in the United States who are required to take educational tests are not fully proficient in English. To address this problem, a state-mandated testing program created dual language English-Spanish versions of some of their tests. In this study, the psychometric properties of the English and dual language versions of a fourth-grade…

This article reports an empirical research study into the relationship between second language learners' target language proficiency/task type and their ability to transmit comprehensible messages to their listeners. In order to test the assumption that even low-level English learners can transmit comprehensible messages despite their limited…

This article offers the pedagogical norm as an approach to dealing with linguistic variation in instructed second language learning, suggesting that an invariant target language (TL) norm, based on the planned discourse of educated and cultivated TL speakers, is both elusive and illusory as a target for learners, especially at the beginning and…

This guidebook examines strategies, roles, and accountability measures necessary to embrace, share, and support the learning community in totality. The 16 guidelines offer strategies for each of five groups: learners, educators, schools/institutions, families, and communities. The guidelines include: incorporate cultural traditions, language,…

This paper examines the language dominance and oral bilingual proficiency of Tarahumara-Spanish speaking students from Chihuahua, Mexico, within the framework of Cummins' model of bilingual proficiency development. Cummins' model distinguishes between basic interpersonal communicative skills (BICS) and cognitive academic language proficiency…

This standard course of study for North Carolina public schools establishes competency goals and objectives directing the teaching and learning of foreign languages in North Carolina. It is a flexible guide to instruction, emphasizing what students should know and be able to do as they progress through various levels of proficiency and ultimately…

A study examined the role of grammar instruction in second language (L2) learning by investigating: (1) whether L2 learners significantly improved their language skills after formal grammar instruction, (2) to what extent grammatical knowledge predicted a learner's next level of overall language proficiency, (3) to what extent grammatical…

States have made significant progress towards implementing Title III in a very short period of time. States have developed and implemented English language proficiency standards and aligned assessments; provided for annual assessment of the English language proficiency of all limited English proficient students in the four language domains of…

The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), through the Immigrant Students and Secondary School Reform project, seeks to strengthen the capacity of state education agencies and districts to improve delivery of educational services to English language learners (ELLs) enrolled in high schools undergoing reform. This compendium was developed…