This study deeply examines the potential impact of Project-Based Learning (PBL) on the speaking abilities of a group of seventh-grade students at a public school in Cartagena, Colombia, and its connection to language learning strategies. A mixed-gender group of thirty-five students aged between 12 and 15 was randomly chosen for this explorative…

This nonexperimental study examined academic performance profiles and contributions of language-specific and metacognitive skills to science reading comprehension of Grade 7 students of varied English proficiency. The sample included 204 regular education students, most of whom were English learners (ELs; 35 non-ELs, 86 current ELs, and 83 former…

The goal of this study was to add to the existing literature by examining the effect of 1:1 iPad integration on the achievement of Canadian Grade 7 students. The school board we worked with provided an iPad to each Grade 7 student in the district to keep for the remainder of their time in the district. We examined the impact of the iPads on…

Building on previous listening strategy research, the author aimed to explore the differences between Chinese high-proficiency listeners (HLs) and low-proficiency listeners (LLs) on their strategy use, problems, and motivation in native language (L1) listening. It involved 1,290 Grade 7 and 1,515 Grade 9 students. Both quantitative and qualitative…

In this article, we report findings from a yearlong design research project that worked to leverage the language brokering skills of Latina/Latino middle school youth in an urban school setting. We began the project by asking seventh-grade students to talk about the many languages they speak in their daily lives. Throughout the project, their…

Principals' beliefs and actions have powerful outcomes in the lives of the students and families they serve. In this article, we offer the portrait of a long-standing principal of a diverse urban school where the student body is 90% Latinx, 65% English learners (ELs), and 87% eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. We explore many key practices…

This study aims to investigate the techniques of teaching new lexis which are adopted by non-native teachers of English language. It also aims to investigate the strategies of learning new lexis which are adopted by learners in relation to their level. The work is based on two hypotheses: It is hypothesized that there is a relationship between the…

In studies dealing with language learning strategies in the school context, the variables of proficiency and age are often difficult to isolate since students accumulate more hours of foreign language instruction as they move up from grade to grade. This study aimed to deal with these two variables independently by analysing learning strategy use…

Two types of assessment instruments were developed to assess middle school students' learning strategies, and their effectiveness in predicting various learning outcomes was examined. The participants were 565 middle school students. Three subscales (rehearsal, organization, elaboration) from the "Motivated Strategies for Learning…

Studies on second language (L2) learners' strategies tended to characterize strategies as individual learners' cognitive predispositions or personality traits, leaving a critical question unanswered: Why do learners use different strategies in different contexts? From a sociocultural perspective, this article pursued this question by focusing on…

This mixed methods study aimed to assess student engagement during the flipped model of instruction in two seventh-grade English language arts (ELA) classrooms. Implementation of the flipped model required students (n = 183) and teachers (n = 2) to use digital technology via a website and teacher-made videos. It compared student perceptions during…

The purpose of this pilot study is to gain more insight into learner factors prominent in high-poverty urban schools and to suggest pedagogical approaches appropriate to this environment. To this end, three surveys were administered to students attending a high-poverty, urban middle school in order to measure their learning style preferences,…

There has been a rapid increase in the emergence of minority groups during the past few decades in the United States. Hispanics are the largest minority group that has people who speak English as a second language. The increasing proportion of English Language Learning (ELL) students has made it more difficult to maintain high learning standards.…

The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between grade level, perceptual learning style preferences, and language learning strategies among Taiwanese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students in grades 7 through 9. Three hundred and ninety junior high school students participated in this study. The instruments for data…

This study describes an investigation we carried out in order to identify how the specific roles that 7th grade public school students assumed when they worked cooperatively were related to their development of speaking skills in English. Data were gathered through interviews, field notes, students' reflections and audio recordings. The findings…