This article examines the role of transnational literacy practices in the biliteracy development of Mexican-American teachers who grew up on both sides of the US-Mexico borderlands. Through an analysis of literacy narratives and language history maps of bilingual education pre-service teachers, the pre-service teachers recall their memories as…

As teachers, schools and school leaders work to better prepare California's culturally and linguistically diverse students, methods for doing so vary widely. One approach prioritizes safe spaces, welcoming environments, well-structured routines--school and classroom culture features essential for students' well-being. A second key priority, often…

This article is an abbreviated version of the BAICE Presidential Address held at the 11th UKFIET International Conference in Oxford on September 16, 2011. It discusses debates on the use of a foreign and ex-colonial language as a language of instruction (LOI) in African schools and argues that the quality of education cannot be seen as an issue…

Ability grouping--defined as a practice that places students into classrooms or small groups based on an initial assessment of their readiness or ability--has received considerable attention in educational research for years in many countries (Ireson & Hallam, 1999, 2001; Slavin, 1987). In Korea, ability grouping has been implemented in…

This paper investigates the development of academic language proficiency through immersion in middle school programmes in Hong Kong and Xi'an. The study reveals that in both contexts students have exposure to complex academic language through teacher talk and textbooks; however, there is not sufficient support for students' academic language use…

In this article I describe my interaction as an English for academic purposes (EAP) practitioner with a supervisor and her two postgraduate international students, both of whom were second language speakers of English (L2). Because of linguistic and relationship issues the supervisory experience for the parties was challenging and frustrating. I…

We investigated the relations of L2 (i.e., English) oral reading fluency, silent reading fluency, word reading automaticity, oral language skills, and L1 literacy skills (i.e., Spanish) to L2 reading comprehension for Spanish-speaking English language learners in the first grade (N = 150). An analysis was conducted for the entire sample as well as…

Through a qualitative research design, this article investigates the impacts of differentiated laboratory instructional materials on English language learners' (ELLs) laboratory task comprehension. The factors affecting ELLs' science learning experiences are further explored. Data analysis reveals a greater degree of laboratory task comprehension…

The goal of this article is to further our understanding of how learning opportunities are created in interactions. Based on a conversation analysis of peer interactions of foreign language learners, we investigate how the negotiation of expert positions among these learners affects this process. The focus of the analysis is on the relationship…

Many commentators have observed that late modernity has profoundly reshaped the nature of employment such that workers have become more reflexive, mobile, individualistic and entrepreneurial, free to re-invent themselves as they choose in a world of endless possibilities. Theorists of reflexive modernity suggest that the family unit and class have…

Education, whether formal or informal, is perceived as development and language is the major medium of instruction and communication through which knowledge is transmitted. Documented substantial evidence indicates that Africa was on a positive trend to steady development before colonialism set in. Colonialism ushered in a foreign medium of…

This study explored the application of a holistic bilingual view to assess the writing of emerging bilingual children. The study is part of a 5-year longitudinal research and intervention project that explores the biliteracy development of Spanish-English emerging bilingual students who are receiving instruction in both languages. Participants…

This paper reports the findings of a study aiming to reveal the recurring patterns of lexical, syntactic and textual errors in student translations of a specialized EU genre from English into Hungarian. By comparing the student translations to the official translation of the text, this article uncovers the most frequent errors that students made…

The purpose of the study reported in this article was twofold: First, to see whether guided careful online planning assists intermediate learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) in accurate oral production of English articles ("an/a" and "the"); and, second, to see whether guided careful online planning has any effects…

This article describes a study that examines Canadian-born and internationally educated teachers' (IETs') self-perceived preparedness to teach English language learners (ELLs). The study employed a survey and interviews to examine teacher candidates': (a) level of empathy with ELLs, (b) sense of preparedness to teach ELLs, and (c) beliefs about…