The major purpose of this study was to explore, in a phenomenological tradition, factors that lead some students to persist in foreign language study past the usual 2 years in high school. Factors that have been prevalent in the literature include language aptitude, motivation, grades, intellectual and cultural curiosity, language learning…

This paper describes Japan's most recent attempts to improve English teaching and learning at all levels of the education system both for students and teachers as well as for the public in general. Based on policy recommendations by several advisory committees, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has…

This paper is a case study in the form of a teacher's personal diary of experiences during a semester teaching a class of academically at-risk high school students. It focuses on the interactions among the teacher, the class, and Roberto, a student with negligible English skills. Because of his lack of proficiency in English, discovered later,…

In this theoretical dissertation my aim is to research the academic literature in the field of second language acquisition (SLA), compare it to the life experiences of past and/or present students, colleagues, children and myself to reflect and summarize my learning in the form of a conceptual framework that I have named, "Framework for…

This report presents findings about accountability from two longitudinal studies, the National Longitudinal Study of "No Child Left Behind" (NLS-"NCLB"), and the Study of State Implementation of Accountability and Teacher Quality Under "No Child Left Behind" (SSI-"NCLB"). The research teams for these two…

Texas Instruments has undertaken a research program with the goal of producing scientifically-based evidence of the effectiveness of graphing calculators and the "TI-Navigator"[TM] classroom networking system in the context of a professional development and curriculum framework. The program includes a two-year longitudinal study. The…

Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. (TESOL), introduces "Developing a New Course for Adult Learners," edited by Marguerite Ann Snow and Lia Kamhi-Stein. This volume in TESOL's Language Curriculum Development Series presents the stories of teachers, curriculum developers, and administrators from all over the world who…

We study the benefits of junior kindergarten for linguistic-minority 4-year-olds compared to their linguistic-majority classmates from the same low-income neighborhoods. At the end of the school year, linguistic-minority children made significantly greater improvements in language skills than their host society classmates. At the mid-year point,…

Few of the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) participants in adult education classes move on to academic ESL programs that prepare them for content area study or general educational development (GED) or high school equivalency instruction. The ESL literacy curriculum is currently mismatched with GED and academic ESL curricula in purpose, content,…

A study investigated certain mechanisms underlying the acquisition of phrasal verbs in English as a Second Language. Subjects were native Finnish- and Swedish-speaking students in Finland, most aged 16-25 years. The subjects were administered a multiple-choice test with each item containing two correct alternatives, a phrasal verb (preferred by…

In the Dutch Educational Assessment Program, the students' language proficiency is measured in grade 9, at age 15. Writing performance is measured through several performance-based writing tasks, rated on numerous aspects such as content, style, organization, punctuation, spelling and grammar. As a consequence, national performance levels are…

The story of Alejandro Juarez, Jr., a Mexican American youth, and his family's experiences in the parochial and public schools of Chicago (Illinois) portrays the problems that bilingual and bicultural children and their parents face. A further dimension was added by Alejandro's learning problems, which further complicated an already complex and…

This book reviews pertinent theories about writing in English, English as a Second Language (ESL), and foreign languages for teachers at secondary and postsecondary levels, to provide insight into the teaching and learning processes. Five hypotheses about the nature of foreign language (FL) writing serve as points of departure for analyzing…

As the idea of including limited English proficient (LEP) students in large-scale assessments is becoming popular among researchers, the practical question of how to do so meaningfully so that the needs and performances of LEP students are recognized while their scores are interpreted and used correctly becomes more important. This paper presents…

A study investigated the use of manipulatives-based mathematics tasks as an alternative method for assessing young Hispanic students with limited English proficiency. Students (n=45) from kindergarten and grades 2 and 3 were administered 14 manipulatives-based tasks. Each task was retested over a period of 2-3 weeks. Task performance was scored on…