Indigenous peoples face specific challenges to the revitalisation of our heritage languages. I explore the role of emotions and socio-cultural contexts in shaping how young Maori men engage with te reo Maori (the Maori language). Through engaging in poetic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 16 young Maori men, I demonstrate how emotions…

This Case Study is based on research conducted in a higher-education institution in the United Kingdom. It examines the role of spoken language and how aspects of three different levels mediate learning: interpersonal (i.e., dialogue and personal information/interaction), sociohistorical (i.e., learning about the culture, traditions, and history…

The rapid expansion of online education, accelerated by global disruptions, has transformed how English as a foreign language (EFL) courses are taught. While virtual platforms offer flexibility and easy access to resources, they also present unique challenges to effective language learning--especially in areas like speaking practice, where student…

Research on newcomers' language and literacy (L&L) skills has expanded recently in response to the growth of this population. To inform teachers and researchers, this paper reviewed 41 empirical studies (2010-2022) on high-school newcomers' L&L. Most studies used qualitative methods, working with few participants for short time periods.…

American Norwegian (AmNo), a moribund heritage variety of Norwegian spoken predominantly in the Upper Midwest of the US, licenses "wh"-infinitives (i.e. indirect questions), which are structures that are not acceptable in either standard Norwegian Bokmål or Norwegian dialects. Adopting a spanning-account of syntax (Blix, 2021; Julien,…

Heritage language (HL) learning is often facilitated by consistent exposure to the HL in family language policy (FLP). However, when children develop a preference for the majority language, family members may negotiate their use of both languages to establish a stronger emotional bond with their children while providing rich HL input. This article…

Most L1 (first language) Japanese speakers in Japan seem to think that they are monolingual. While it appears that Japanese people accept monolingual-ness as normative in the nation, there is little situated understanding of what makes up this Japanese monolingual-ness. This study reports on repeated, long, and mostly unstructured interviews with…

This study counters the popular assumption that Spanish Heritage Language Learners (SHLLs) on study abroad (SA) in a place of cultural origin can easily adapt and find acceptance due to the linguistic and cultural resources they bring with them. Our study builds on previous work to illustrate a more nuanced and complex story of desires for…

Extensive evidence indicates that early vocabulary skills predict later reading development among monolingually developing children. Some evidence suggests that a relationship between vocabulary and later reading also holds across languages among children whose home language differs from the school language. However, these findings have been mixed…

The current study reported an empirical investigation that tested the collective and individual effects of morphological awareness and cognate awareness on Japanese word learning among Chinese learners of Japanese. 131 Chinese learners of Japanese participated in this study. They completed morphological awareness measurements (morpheme…

The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences and factors that contribute to how refugee families support their children's educational success. Through their lived experiences, refugees bring various perspectives and insights into their families' pursuits in supporting their children. More attention needs to be paid to understanding…

This is a pilot study on the relationship between speaking Irish and belonging, with a focus on Irish-speakers of diverse ethnicities and/or nationalities in Ireland. The research includes twelve respondents with diverse backgrounds in terms of nationality and/or ethnicity. We examine whether the language gives them a sense of belonging to…

Research on the acquisition of American Sign Language (ASL) by deaf autistic children has documented similarities to the linguistic profile of hearing children on the autism spectrum and has identified sign-specific phenomena that could serve as clinical markers of autism in the deaf population. However, the acquisition of a signed language by…

Language plays a crucial role in education; yet, while issues of language are undoubtedly relevant to all teachers, school-level language policies, which aim to provide explicit guidance underpinned by a clear set of principles, are too often conspicuous by their absence. In a range of educational contexts around the world it has been found that…

The notion of multilingual students' first language has been advocated as a resource in mathematics learning for some time. However, few studies have investigated how implementing students' L1 in the teaching practice impacts multilingual students' mathematics learning opportunities. Based on a 9-month-long ethnographic study conducted in Iran, we…