This semi-longitudinal study examined the development of narrative writing quality of young Turkish second language learners in mainstream Dutch-only education, and the impact of student-level and classroom-level predictors of narrative writing quality, using hierarchical linear modelling. Writing samples of 106 third graders and 111 fourth…

How do youth view Spanish in our changing multiethnic urban schools and communities? In this article I explore this question by analyzing the perspectives and social interactions of students in an urban charter high school located in a community undergoing dramatic demographic shift from a predominantly African American city to a predominantly…

As classrooms across the U.S. are becoming increasingly more multilingual and multicultural, there is a need for research that provides insight into literacy instruction that builds on students' linguistic knowledge. The qualitative study of a fourth-grade dual-language classroom examined the ways that peer mediation in Spanish and English…

This article offers an empirical critique of recent social and educational policy responses to cultural diversity in an Irish context, with a particular focus on anti-racism, integration and intercultural education policies developed during the so-called "Celtic Tiger" era. Combining ethnographic and discourse analytic techniques, I…

This paper chronicles the development of Drehort Neubrandenburg Online, an interactive, content-rich audiovisual language learning environment based on documentary film material shot on location in Neubrandenburg, Germany, in 1991 and 2002 and aimed at making language learning more interactive and more real. The paper starts with the description…

This paper provides an account of social integration and professional recognition of non-English-speaking-background (NESB) teachers of English in Australia. The case study profiles two Iranian postgraduate students of English teaching in an Australian university and describes their struggle to construct a social and professional identity. The…

The relationship between linguistic experience and phonemic representations in spelling was investigated in two groups of Mandarin-English bilingual children (aged 5-6 years) who spoke mostly Mandarin-L1 (n = 23) or mostly English-L1 (n = 27) at home. A 60-item cloze task including high- and low-frequency words with word-initial and word-final…

Though recent research has shown that written corrective feedback (WCF) may improve aspects of writing accuracy in some English as a second language (ESL) contexts, many teachers continue to be confused about the practical steps they should utilize to help their students improve their writing. Moreover, some have raised concerns as to whether…

This study compares integrated and isolated form-focused instruction for vocabulary development in an English as a second language (ESL) reading lesson. Two classes of ESL learners (N = 20) from a university preparation academic English course were involved in the study. Each class did two reading treatments in which they read an article and…

Critical thinking is deemed as an ideal in academic settings, but cultural differences in critical thinking performance between Asian and Western students have been reported in the international education literature. We examined explanations for the observed differences in critical thinking between Asian and New Zealand (NZ) European students, and…

One innovative practice in higher education arising from advances in computer technology is the use of ePortfolio for learning and assessment. Although in theory ePortfolios are believed to yield benefits for learning, in practice ePortfolio use often leads to confusion and frustration. In this paper we ask: what is the relationship between…

Currently, there are no Hebrew (L2) reading assessments that have been tested to obtain evidence for reliability and validity on which to base decisions about Hebrew instruction. The authors developed a Hebrew benchmark assessment tool for first grade students modeled after Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills, a standardized test of…

One of the concerns foreign language teachers may have about using small group (and pair) work is that students will use their shared first language (L1) instead of the target language. This study investigated the effect of learner proficiency pairing and task type on the amount of L1 used by learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) in pair…

This longitudinal study investigated 196 Hispanic English learners' responses to an English instructional intervention from kindergarten to second grade. The effect of student gender was also examined as a secondary focus. The intervention consisted of ongoing professional development and structured and systematic English intervention during an…

Over the past few decades perspectives on second language (L2) pronunciation have evolved from pessimistic appraisals of the capabilities of L2 learners and doubts about the value of instruction to a view of pronunciation teaching as an effective and important part of language pedagogy. Earlier research on the teaching of pronunciation dwelt…