The present study investigates the relationships among motivational factors, cultural correlates and second language proficiency. The participants, from both Western and Asian backgrounds, were learning Chinese at university level in the People's Republic of China. 115 students (35 Western students and 80 Asian students) ranging from beginning to…

This paper presents a review of 39 empirical studies that investigated multilingual scholars' participation in core/global academic communities through article and research publication. These studies were analyzed in terms of multilingual scholars' reasons for publishing in English, the obstacles that stand in their way of international…

This paper compares published writing produced by British and Sudanese medical researchers. Twenty research articles were examined, 10 by British and 10 by Sudanese writers. All had been published in highly regarded international journals. As expected, all 20 articles conformed to editorial requirements and followed the conventional IMRD structure…

English has gradually become the lingua franca of medical publications and conferences across Europe, with scholars from "smaller" languages opting for English because of the greater scientific impact and prestige associated with a wide international audience; at the same time, however, this transition has disrupted well-established textual…

This paper examines the impact of the Basque Law of 1986 on the status of Basque in schools in the Autonomous Community of Navarre. The sociolinguistic situation of Navarre is outlined, and changes in enrollment figures for the three principal language models (A, D and G) in infant and primary school in the different linguistic zones are examined…

This paper first presents and then discusses the attitudes towards and perceptions of education officers regarding introducing a school-based continuous assessment of speaking in the Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) ESL examinations as provided for in the BGCSE English syllabus in Botswana. Three categories of education…

Instructions are an under-researched aspect of classroom discourse. In this paper, we attempt to describe the functional structure of teacher instructions using the framework proposed by Sinclair and Coulthard (1975). We examine nine directing transactions or sets of instructions from four lessons taught on an English for Academic Purposes course…

The purpose of this action research paper is to disseminate the results of a 2-month study which focuses on how a student's first language (L1) reading comprehension skills affect the same skills in their second language (L2). The subjects of the study are sixth grade girls, ranging in age from 11 to 13 years old. They attend a private bilingual…

Phonological awareness (PA) is the ability to analyze spoken language into its component sounds and to manipulate these smaller units. Literature review related to PA shows that a variety of factor groups play a role in PA in Mandarin such as linguistic experience (spoken language, alphabetic literacy, and second language learning), item type,…

This study investigates the effects of Cognitive Tutor Bridge to Algebra (CTBA), a computer-assisted, remedial Algebra I curriculum, on mathematics performance and mathematics attitudes of ninth-grade students (n = 177) including English Learners (n = 78) and Economically Disadvantaged students (n = 93). A total of 95 students participated in CTBA…

This mixed method research study explored the role of metacognitive awareness in reading among adult English as a Second Language (ESL) students of various academic levels enrolled in a university in the southeastern part of the United States of America while engaged in academic reading. In addition, this study examined metacognitive reading…

Chinese characters are used in both Chinese and Japanese writing systems. When literate speakers of either language experience problems in finding or understanding words, they often resort to using Chinese characters or "kanji" (i.e., Chinese characters used in Japanese writing) in their talk, a practice known as "brush talk" ("bitan" in Chinese,…

Given the potential consequences of test results, it is important that policy makers, educators, and parents understand the empirical base underlying the use and validity of assessments for measuring the academic progress of English Learners (Abedi, Hofstetter, & Lord, 2004). In order to understand how the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) school…

The "Struggle for Identity in Today's Schools" examines cultural recognition and the struggle for identity in America's schools. In particular, the contributing authors focus on the recognition and misrecognition as antagonistic cultural forces that work to shape, and at times distort identity. What surfaces throughout the chapters are…

"Talk-in-interaction: Multilingual perspectives" offers original studies of interaction in a range of languages and language varieties, including Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Swahili, Thai, and Vietnamese; monolingual and bilingual interactions; and activities designed for second or foreign language learning. Conducted…