As a language, Irish is unique to Ireland and is, therefore, of crucial importance to the identity of the Irish people, to Irish culture and to world heritage. The Irish language however has had a turbulent and traumatic history and has endured a complex and varied relationship with the Irish people. Since the foundation of the Irish Free State,…

The immersive method is a new concept of visual education that is better suited to the needs of students in contemporary post-industrial society. The features of the immersive method are: (1) it emerges from interaction with visual culture; (2) it encourages understanding of contemporary art (as an integral part of visual culture); and (3) it…

This paper addresses a niche in studies on immersion programmes for English as second language learners. While studies on the impact of the experience of studying abroad are replete with reports about the enhancement of participants' language proficiency or intercultural skills, the present study investigates the types of language and culture…

While much research has demonstrated that English-only rhetoric negatively affects bilingual education for the children of US immigrants, few studies have examined the local negotiations and discourses that shape the development of multilingual programming for English-speaking students. Across the USA, educational leaders and policy-makers today…

Two-way bilingual immersion (TWBI) programs have demonstrated great success in improving Latino English learners' educational outcomes. Nevertheless, TWBI classrooms are not immune to the greater power dynamics and influences of United States society. This Participatory Action Research study brought together eight two-way bilingual immersion…

This article describes a department-coordinated Facebook group for psychology students and graduates. An evaluation of the postings in the past year by the group, with 900 members, showed that the group averaged 2.5 postings per day. The most common types of postings involved (1) information about recent research findings, (2) information about…

Though it is estimated that about half of the world's population is bilingual, the estimate for the United States is well below 20% (Grosjean, 2010). Amid growing recognition of the need for second language skills to facilitate international commerce and national security and to enhance learning opportunities for non-native speakers of English,…

Authentic materials are especially important for ESP trainees, since they reproduce an immersion environment and provide a realistic context for tasks that relate to learners' needs. Realia and authentic materials increase learners' motivation but are difficult to adapt to the learner's level of language, especially at the beginning level. It is…

The main purpose of this study is to fill a substantial knowledge gap regarding reaching a uniform group decision in English curriculum design and planning. A comprehensive content-based course criterion model extracted from existing literature and expert opinions was developed. Analytical hierarchy process (AHP) was used to identify the relative…

This action research project was carried out in order to identify the role of first language in the second-language classroom. This study was conducted in a Colombian international school with an English immersion program for kindergarten students attending their first year of school. The purpose of this study was to identify if the use of the…

Using an ecology of language framework, the purpose of this study was to examine the degree to which English as a medium of instruction (EMI) at a private university in eastern Ukraine allows for the use of Ukrainian, the state language, or Russian, the predominantly spoken language, in large cities in eastern Ukraine. Uses of English and Russian…

This study examined beginning English literacy-skill development and achievement among Spanish-speaking children enrolled in state-mandated English-only classrooms. The children possessed Spanish skill at or above age-appropriate level, yet minimal English skill, and came from a Spanish-speaking community adjacent to the U.S.-Mexico border. Under…

This article aims to analyse different ubiquitous learning (u-Learning) platforms used when learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) as part of the Modern Languages Degree at the Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC). The combination of face-to-face lessons with multimedia content and digital mediated learning allows today's native…

Students of second and international languages in Alberta do not receive sufficient hours of instruction through formal classroom time alone to achieve distinguished levels of proficiency (Archibald, J., Roy, S., Harmel, S., Jesney, K., Dewey, E., Moisik, S., et al., 2006). This research study uses a constructivist approach (Guba & Lincoln,…

Compared with other countries in Asia, Japan is far behind in terms of introducing and delivering bilingual education, let alone effective immersion programmes. In order to make its citizens more bilingual, Japan has been introducing innovative measures including the implementation of the teaching of English in elementary education and a new…