How the young children of immigrants experience their early school years may in large part determine their academic future and negatively affect their emotional, social, and mental development. Children benefit from a positive, supportive learning environment where their contributions are valued; many from immigrant families, however, experience…

This instructional paper examines the lack of L2 English skills demonstrated by Chinese post-secondary education students and the results of empiric testing to determine what key language functions were missing from a student's tool box when exiting their primary education phase.The identification of these skills and ability gaps allowed for…

This report is part of a long-term collaboration of the Quality Teaching for English Learners initiative at WestEd with the Fort Worth Independent School District. The focus of this report is on a historical cohort of ninth graders who were enrolled at the International Newcomer Academy in the 2009-2010 school year. This report follows this cohort…

This report is part of a long-term collaboration of the Quality Teaching for English Learners initiative at WestEd with the Fort Worth Independent School District. The focus of this report is on comparisons between ninth grade newcomers and other groups of English language learners (ELLs). Analyses compare newcomers to 1) long-term ELLs who were…

The study investigated the learner perceptions of a CALL component in a blended language learning context. 52 Taiwanese college students attended instructional classroom sessions and did weekly online assignments in the form of interactive web-based exercises over one semester. Their learning performance was measured by means of two computer-based…

The present study investigated how fifteen Iranian EFL learners developed the ability to self-assess their writings through having access to the rater's scores. The participants were supervised for four weeks as they went through their first experience in self-assessment. They were provided with a detailed evaluation sheet for assessing their…

This paper presents findings from a large-scale, in-depth study of secondary schools in one Australian state that were achieving exceptional outcomes. The element of that study on which this paper focuses is equity and inclusion. We examine the Equity programs operating in seven sites where schools were including students experiencing some form of…

This study examined specific issues and concerns faced by Bachelor of Education student teachers majoring in Language and Literature during their 12-week teaching practicum experience. Specifically, three main areas of concerns were examined. They were: (1) specific issues and concerns related to the implementation of teaching practicum faced by…

Learning a third language (TL) brings with it particular pedagogical demands. In the pedagogy of TL learning now emerging, the development of students' metalinguistic and crosslinguistic awareness is of central importance. In particular, emphasis is placed on the benefits of cross-referencing with supporter languages. While comparisons with…

This article discusses a study that investigated pronunciation development in second language learners by monitoring willingness to communicate variables. Students (N = 37) in a second-semester, introductory French course participated in online interpersonal audio discussions with classmates through VoiceThread. Pronunciation development and…

This paper, fundamentally a procedural paper, outlines pedagogical practices which others may want to adapt for their own purposes. We demonstrate how a strong form of task-based language learning and teaching (TBLT), classroom implementation of the CEFR, cyclical learning, and assessment fulfilling roles, such as informing the next learning…

There are increasing numbers of non-native English speaking applicants to Canadian universities (AUCC 2008a, 2010), which are committed to promoting linguistic and cultural diversity (AUCC 2008b). One result of this trend is that university admissions officers, as gatekeepers, are faced with a growing and potentially confusing array of language…

This study investigated the effects of differing densities of glossing on the uptake of target words and the comprehension of idea units from a reading text. The focus was whether different densities of glossing would create trade-off effects. Thirty-three Malaysian ESL learners were assigned to three different conditions: high-density glossing,…

Some researchers argue that linguistic knowledge of one's native language facilitates the acquisition of additional languages (see, for example, Cenoz & Valencia, 1994; Grenfell & Harris, 2006; Hakuta, 1990; Keshavarz & Astaneh, 2004). To contribute to this line of research, the present study investigated the probability of significant…

This article provides an in-depth analysis of a play that I wrote centering on 4 international students' experiences studying and living in the US. It consists of 5 scenes, which delve into the topics of cultural differences, first impressions of the US, university systems, friendship, time and personal space, stereotyping and discrimination, and…