Controversy surrounding the role of non-English languages in American education has a long history. In the 100 years in which the American Educational Research Association (AERA) has been in existence, two Supreme Court decisions have addressed this issue ("Meyer v. Nebraska," 1923, and "Lau v. Nichols," 1974); federal…

In the literature of second language teaching and learning, the use of students' first language (L1) has been an issue of debate for many years. Despite the changing state of teaching and learning aspects over the years, the belief that L1 should not be used in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms has stood the test of time.…

Second Life is one of the many three-dimensional virtual environments accessible through a computer and a fast broadband connection. Thousands of participants connect to this platform to interact virtually with the world, join international communities of practice and, for some, role play groups. Unlike online role play games however, Second Life…

This paper reports an empirical study on the application of the immersion approach to English teaching in North China Institute of Science and Technology (NCIST) in line with the basic principles of the Canadian immersion teaching mode. The experiment result and survey shows that the students involved in the immersion course improve faster in…

This document is the result of two years of intensive, dedicated work by a remarkable team of nearly two dozen researchers. It takes the first steps on a long overdue journey to fully understanding the realities and promise of ESL program service in community colleges across the nation. The report offers an in-depth look into several community…