Whereas most research in SLA assumes the relationship between the first language (L1) and the second language (L2) to be unidirectional, this study investigates the possibility of a bidirectional relationship. We examine the domain of manner of motion, in which monolingual Japanese and English speakers differ both in speech and gesture. Parallel…

The essence of my argument is that Practitioner Research can be pursued not only by observing whole classes, but also by observing what happens when a teacher talks to a student outside of the classroom setting. What this setting offers to practitioner-researchers is a unique opportunity to understand what both the teacher and the student do to…

This article draws on three in-depth interviews with teenage migrants, two asylum seekers and one from Portugal. The interviews reveal experiences particular to young new arrivals attempting to find ways of being in a global city where they find themselves living in multicultural localities that are occasionally the sites of conflict as well as…

This paper addresses the comprehension of relative clauses in audio prompts using online listening exercises implemented in a classroom. Reaction time to short and long sentences containing subject and object relative clauses was assessed in subjects attending an intensive ESL course for graduate students. The results indicate the possibility that…

The purpose of this study was two-fold: it primarily intended to incorporate some insights into the newly-explored field of L3A: secondly, it aimed to highlight the significance of translation as a valid language activity in exploring the native language influence on non-native language acquisition process. To this end, it investigated the…

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the teaching of conversation strategies in the EFL classroom. This is reflected in how institutional programs and textbook series regard conversation management as crucial in the learning of the L2. Classrooms, in this sense, have become spaces for active socialization, and have given the study…

The Civil Rights Project (CRP) is in the midst of an analysis of rapidly growing charter school enrollment, which the authors anticipate releasing next month. Similar to trends described in their 2003 report and in other research on racial isolation in charter schools, they find higher levels of segregation for black students in charter schools…

On July 17, 2008 the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) awarded a contract to the American Institutes for Research (AIR) to assist OVAE in conducting a descriptive study of instructional and programmatic practices that support the transition of English language learners (TELL) from English as a second…

The study is an evaluation of an English as a Second Language (ESL) program at a southeastern technical college. Thousands of adults who enroll in ESL programs are individuals who appear to be intelligent. They have worked diligently for a year or more to learn to speak, read, write, listen and improve English comprehension skills. However, some…

Six experiments explored how native and non-native Spanish speakers process article-noun sequences in real time, using eye movements as a response measure. Can listeners use gender-marked articles ("la" and "el", the feminine and masculine forms of "the") to rapidly identify familiar and novel nouns? In Experiment 1, adults who learned Spanish as…

Holistic education is a popular trend in the midst of various educational reforms, yet little systematic research has been done to consider its application in the teaching of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and English as a Second Language (ESL) for Asian Chinese learners. According to the New Zealand Ministry of Education, holistic education…

Second language teacher education community has become increasingly interested in the pedagogical knowledge base of teachers as a window into practitioners' mental lives. The present study was conducted to document likely differences between the pedagogic thoughts of experienced and less experienced teachers. Eight teachers participated in the…

This paper reported the results of a study that aimed to construct a sensor and handheld augmented reality (AR)-supported ubiquitous learning (u-learning) environment called the Handheld English Language Learning Organization (HELLO), which is geared towards enhancing students' language learning. The HELLO integrates sensors, AR, ubiquitous…

This paper presents an ethnographic case study of advanced second language (L2) students from Hong Kong who took part in a short-term sojourn in England after 14 weeks of preparation. While abroad, they lived with a host family, took literary/cultural studies courses, visited cultural sites, participated in debriefing sessions, and conducted…

The purpose of this paper is to describe a variety of teaching and learning strategies that were used within a classroom of Deaf adults participating in a high school English course as part of an upgrading program. The class was conducted in a bilingual manner; that is, being Deaf and communicating with American Sign Language (ASL) was not…