Our world is globalizing at a rapid rate right before our eyes. The world as we know it is becoming much more diverse and colorful. The population of school-aged English language learner (ELL) students in the USA has steadily and markedly increased over the past decade with projections indicating that this trend will continue. If the trend…

The aim of this paper is to determine the elements which hinder peace, and emphasize the importance of the contribution of foreign language learning to international peace. Language affects the thought and behavior of human beings. The attitude of a person knowing more than one language of a position is not the same as a person not knowing a…

As the Race-to-the-Top Assessment Consortia develop their assessments, they will need to develop shared accommodations policies to ensure that their tests are used in consistent ways across the participating states. Developing a common set of accommodations policies will require that Consortium members recognize the divergent viewpoints that…

Lexical errors are a determinant in gaining insight into vocabulary acquisition, vocabulary use and writing quality assessment. Lexical errors are very frequent in the written production of young EFL learners, but they decrease as learners gain proficiency. Misspellings are the most common category, but formal errors give way to semantic-based…

This qualitative case study seeks to identify factors that have a significant impact on the second language proficiency levels of adult English as a Second Language (ESL) learners at a four-year university in Puerto Rico. Current data indicate that a significant percentage of adult ESL learners encounter major difficulties within the process of…

Across the country, resource-strapped school districts are looking for opportunities to work strategically with other districts to increase efficiencies and learn from each other's experiences. The Fresno-Long Beach Learning Partnership, established in 2008, serves as a useful example of such collaboration. The overarching goal of the Partnership…

The purpose of this case study was to identify the challenges and opportunities that school principals face when leading the implementation of dual language immersion programs as instructional strands. This case study also sought to determine what skills and strategies principals utilized to facilitate the change process for all the stakeholders…

For an educator who speaks only English, engaging immigrant English language learners (ELL) in the classroom can be a significant challenge. As a former classroom teacher, elementary school principal and guidance counselor, the authors have worked with immigrant student populations in K-12 schools. They have found that a good way to overcome the…

Using both data from my dissertation and ideas from my most recent research and academic projects, this paper will discuss some challenges and potential opportunities that the inextricable links between literacy and technology pose for second language educators in this decade and beyond. In the first part of this paper, I will describe a series of…

The purpose of this study was to explore whether teacher characteristics such as teacher quality, skills in teaching English language learners (ELLs), knowledge of second language acquisition, and attitudes towards ELLs impacted teachers' perceived importance and reported use of culturally responsive practices within their classrooms. The numbers…

Independent learning is a buzz word that is often used in connection with computer technologies applied to the area of foreign language instruction. This chapter takes a critical look at some of the stereotypes that exist with regard to computer-assisted language learning (CALL) as a money saver and an easy way to create an "independent"…

The chapter discusses the potential of personal learning environments (PLE) based on Web 2.0 applications for language courses in higher education (HE). This novel approach to the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in education involves learners in the design of learning environments, tools and processes. The chapter begins…

The purpose of the current study is to explore the effects of pre-service teachers' language learning beliefs on their practice teaching. Two randomly chosen pre-service teachers were recruited in the study (one male, one female). This research mainly adopted a qualitative approach using a structured interview, philosophy statements, field-notes…

Over the past four decades, scholars have debated the pedagogical and sociolinguistic needs of heritage language learners. It is widely accepted that these learners present several characteristics that are different from those of foreign (or non-heritage) language learners. However, scholars have also pointed to similarities between the two groups…

In this article the author shares two ways in which letters can be used to tell stories with different groups of learners, beginners and advanced, and in so doing develop their English language learning. Based on some theoretical concepts that connect English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning with authenticity and communicative competence, he…