Experts throughout the United States tell us that teachers must support the home language development of all young children. Karen Nemeth emphasizes the important role early childhood educators play in ensuring that young dual language learners retain skills in their home language while building new English language skills. She invites educators…

The author spent four years embedded in a multilingual kindergarten classroom in which children spoke six different languages and several more years observing multilingual Head Start classrooms. She shares numerous examples of young dual language learners actively figuring out the way written language works in their first and second languages.…

This study investigates the efficacy of Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) in enhancing English proficiency among foreign secondary school students in Auckland, New Zealand. With the city's increasing cultural diversity and the growing importance of English language skills in a globalized world, addressing the linguistic needs of foreign students…

In spite of the urgent need for research into the socio-political contexts of the teaching and learning of English as a second/foreign language, the predominant paradigm of inquiry into EFL in the Chinese context still focuses on the functional aspects of second language education. In order to provide a critical understanding of the larger context…

As a sixth year student of Spanish looking back on her foreign language education, the author believes she has a greater understanding of what attracted her to and maintained her interest in the language. Yet she also recognizes areas in her education that could have benefited from change, including flexibility in creating her own program of study…

Issues regarding English language learning such as pronunciation, motivation and learning strategies are raised. Li Yang, an example of successful learner is cited for learners who are less successful in China. Fundamental issues that need to be dealt with include pronunciation. Phonetics is an area where there has been little emphasis in foreign…

This paper will examine English education, especially with regards to speaking and communications in Japanese middle and high schools using the theory of Language acquisition described by Lightbown and Spada. Firstly the study will speak about cases of English Education in Japan and after that, it will review Lightbown and Spada's theory. Finally,…

Multiculturalism becomes the buzzword in educational fields. The implication of multiculturalism is critically examined to appreciate its relevance to English language teaching. Critical multiculturalism is advocated whereby L2 learners need to examine how social and historical discourses construct their identities and have a critical reflection…

Metacognition is a concept in psychology that refers to a variety of self-awareness process that help learners learn better. It grew out of the developments over the past few decades of cognitive models of learning. This paper will present a brief overview of these models and discuss their main features. It begins with a discussion of…

During the English language learning, it is common for Chinese students to have to guess the meaning of new word groups or phrases. The guessing ability may be related to the cognitive sameness and differences between Chinese and English people. In order to validate this hypothesis, the author carried out a research by having students doing test…

Fluency in reading refers to the speed and ease with which we read, according to the Government Partnership for Reading Publications. You might ask, "Why should fluency be taught?" According to "Research-Based Principles for Adult Basic Education Reading Instruction," National Fluency Government Partnership for Reading from 2007 "Students who are…

This report introduces a quantitative index that measures the degree of similarity between native- and foreign-born adults in the United States: the ability to distinguish the latter group from the former is defined as "assimilation." The Index of Immigrant Assimilation relies on Census Bureau data available in some form since 1900 and…

The second language (L2) teaching profession has gone through a number of dramatic changes during the last two decades. A look at journal articles and topics included in teacher development books shows a broadening of scope in terms of the number and the depth of the topics addressed. Language teaching, one can conclude, has become more inclusive…

This article overviews the status, ecology, use, and the teaching/learning of English in the southern Indian state of Kerala. It does so along two overlapping dimensions. A socio-demographic dimension situates the ecology of English in Kerala in the general Indian context, and relates it to the ethno-linguistic identity of Kerala. A second applied…

Teacher education seems to exhibit a shift from product-oriented mode to social constructivist, process-oriented mode of working. The emergence of professional learning communities (PLCs) of teachers may be seen as one manifestation of this shift. PLCs are increasingly seen as an effective channel for teacher learning and professional development.…