This study describes the proficiency levels of limited English proficient (LEP) students and LEP student subgroups on the Idaho English Language Assessment (IELA). The report addresses two research questions: (1) What is the distribution of LEP students across proficiency levels on the total IELA scale and its five domains?; and (2) How does the…

This Forum challenges and problematizes the term "incomplete acquisition," which has been widely used to describe the state of competence of heritage speaker (HS) bilinguals for well over a decade (see, e.g., Montrul, 2008). It is suggested and defended that HS competence, while often different from monolingual peers, is in fact not incomplete…

This study attempts to identify the extent of using authentic materials in the new series of secondary English textbooks ("Flying High for Saudi Arabia") used currently in Saudi schools. Therefore, a content analysis instrument has been designed to analyze the first secondary English textbook. The instrument has been distributed on 112…

Standardized tests are often designed to provide only a snapshot of test takers' knowledge, skills, or abilities at a single point in time. Sometimes, however, they are expected to serve more demanding functions, one of them is assessing change in knowledge, skills, or ability over time because of learning effects.The latter is the case for the…

Adopting a longitudinal design, this study investigates the effects of foreign language anxiety on foreign language proficiency over time within English and Japanese learning contexts. It also explores the stability of anxiety in English and Japanese over time and the stability of anxiety across English and Japanese. Chinese university students (N…

Language attitudes are learned and formed in our social environment through hearing others referring to certain groups or people's languages and cultures, and also by exposure to particular varieties spoken in the context. This might lead to stereotyping English and its native speakers (McKenzie, 2008). In this sense, it is pedagogically…

Sign language interpreters work with a variety of consumer populations throughout their careers. One such population, referred to as "emergent signers," consists of consumers who are in the process of learning American Sign Language, and who rely on interpreters during their language acquisition period. A gap in the research is revealed…

This study investigates the potential use of the argument-counterargument structure in English L2 essays written by Indonesian EFL learners. It examines whether L2 proficiency affects the use of opposing views in their essays, and measures whether there is a correlation between the use of the rhetorical structure and the participants' overall…

Traditional approach of listening teaching mainly focuses on the sentence level and regards the listening process in a passive and static way. To compensate for this deficiency, a new listening approach, that is, discourse-oriented approach has been introduced into the listening classroom. Although discourse analysis is a comparatively new field…

In response to the challenges of the 21st century and to the need for students in the public school system to have a higher level of English proficiency, English was declared an issue of national interest in Costa Rica in 2008. For this reason, a decree called Multilingual Costa Rica was signed by the government, setting the stage for an…

In this article we focus on the conditions for effective development of foreign language competence that is technologically oriented methods of teaching a foreign language. The use of computers provides ample opportunities for implementation of activity and student-centered approaches, reorganization of the usual lesson structure, as well as…

The expansion of English teaching in state education systems places increasing demands on English language teachers and how they are trained. A major thrust of these efforts has focused on improving teachers' English language proficiency. This expectation is manifested in policy and pedagogical directives that teachers "teach English in…

The paper indicates the deficiencies /gaps to highlight the needs /requirements in terms of teaching competencies for the implementation of policy decision to use English as the medium of instruction. The present paper highlights the teachers' competencies for using English as a medium of instruction. The objectives of the study were to test the…

The main concern of this subject of research study a bit further was the correlation between FIRST LANGUAGE GRAMMATICAL PROFICIENCY ON SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION (INGLES / SPANISH). This study was implemented in a pre-selection of students and directors of these schools, First language and Second language. Students and Directors selected…

This book, written for both seasoned and novice researchers, presents a theory of what is called Basic and Higher Language Cognition (BLC and HLC), a theory aimed at making some fundamental issues concerning first and second language learning and bilingualism (more) empirical. The first part of the book provides background for and explication of…