English proficiency is advantageous for any graduate. In Malaysia, despite English being formally introduced around age 5, proficiency in the language is still lacking in some graduates. English should be introduced to children during their formation years so they can be proficient. However, in many private preschools, English proficiency is not a…

This study examines a critical but understudied group in Massachusetts: immigrant newcomers in public high schools. We define newcomers as English learners (ELs) in their first 12 months of schooling in the United States and focus on those who arrive in grades 9-12. These students, many of whom are overage and with interrupted formal educational…

In this paper, I first provide a brief review of how scholars have conceptualized, tested, and elaborated aptitude frameworks relevant to second language (L2) speech learning. Subsequently, I introduce an emerging paradigm that assigns a fundamental role to domain-general auditory processing (i.e., having a good ear) in L1 speech acquisition and…

The first goal of this study was to examine how individual differences in initial L2 proficiency help explain L2 grammar development in oral production during short-term immersion abroad. The second goal of the study was methodological, and evaluated challenges that can result from operationalizing learners' initial L2 proficiency as pretest…

Recent research suggests that multilingualism, advanced knowledge of several languages and frequent use of them can -- to some extent- shape personality traits and psychological dimensions. The present study focuses on the effect of multilingualism on emotional intelligence which has been linked to increased emotional granularity, i.e. a greater…

This dissertation examines the acquisitional process of middle se constructions by English- and Korean-speaking L2 learners of Spanish. Although clitic se is well known for its multifunctionality, there is a general tendency in the literature to analyze any use of "se" as a reflexive marker. This tendency is especially prominent in the…

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) provide a vision for contemporary science education with all students, including the fast-growing population of multilingual learners in the United States K-12 context. The shifts heralded by the NGSS have resulted in significant changes to English language proficiency (ELP) or English language…

Our preferences and evaluations are often affected by contextual factors. One unavoidable context is language. We used an evaluative conditioning (EC) paradigm (pairing neutral stimuli with emotional or neutral stimuli) to investigate whether our evaluations are equally conditioned in a first (L1) and a second language (L2). An EC effect was…

In L1 attrition research, it's recognized that a previously acquired language can transform under the influence of a newly acquired one. However, the precise L1-L2 relationship is intricate and warrants further study. Some research suggest that L2 mastery might reduce L1 proficiency, while others show that both languages can be maintained. Age of…

English language proficiency (ELP) assessment scores are used by states to make high-stakes decisions related to linguistic support in instruction and assessment for English learner (EL) students and for EL student reclassification. Changes to both academic content standards and ELP academic standards within the last decade have resulted in…

Professional development is a vital process enhancing in-service teachers' professional qualities. This case study investigated an in-service teacher's possible selves and factors influencing his professional development. The participant was a project-based teacher in a constructionism school in Bangkok, Thailand. He was selected as the subject…

Digital reading facilitates L2 development by allowing anytime-anywhere learning with various digital resources. Although there has been increasing research exploring the role of digital reading on L2 vocabulary learning, synthesized evidence regarding the overall facilitating power of digital reading is still lacking. This meta-analysis…

Corrective feedback (CF) has long been a hot topic in language education circles and has received extensive research attention. However, there is still controversy over the effectiveness of CF use and error correction in language classes. To address this discrepancy, the current study probed the effectiveness of different CF types in improving…

This study examined how Mandarin-speaking preschoolers with and without a history of late talking (LT) process familiar monosyllabic words with unexpected lexical tones, focusing on both phonological and semantic violations. This study initially enrolled 64 Mandarin-speaking toddlers: 31 with a history of LT (mean age: 27.67 months) and 33 without…

This study investigates the relationship between acculturation and language attitudes among Turkish immigrant parents and their children's heritage language proficiency, using Vygotsky's sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 1978) and Berry's acculturation theory (Berry, 1997). Fifty-two Turkish parents (M age = 38.15, SD age = 4.84) completed…