This study examines the language practices of Chinese visiting scholars on WeChat and explores the representational meanings of their translanguaging practices. An ethnographic approach combining with systematic observation, WeChat screenshot data and interviews with Chinese visiting scholars is adopted to get hold of the richness of situated…

This study was designed to determine if language acquisition can occur in a virtual situation in the absence of explicit instruction. After spending 1 year establishing a virtual community, the authors observed and analyzed interpersonal interactions and the development of Chinese communication competence, communication models, and interaction…

In this article, the author explores the phenomenon of children's language choice and language use in a Korean-English two-way immersion (TWI) program. She does so by drawing on situations in which the children spoke of the principles guiding their choice of languages, and instances in which they voluntarily adopted Korean as the means of…

This study examined how participation of Latino students in two-way dual immersion versus mainstream programs might have impacted students' relationships with Spanish-speaking adults, thus affecting contexts for students to develop resiliency. Participants were parents of 90 fifth- and sixth-grade students (initially English proficient [EP] as…

This article compares data from service encounters conducted in person and over the telephone in New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area. During the in-person phase, the author and 8 fieldworkers entered businesses and initiated conversations with Latino service providers in Spanish, noting the language of response. The rate of non-reciprocal…

Framed within the growing population of English language learners (ELLs) in urban schools, this study examined the learning experiences of bilingual Latino/a students who were taught to serve as on-site interpreters at their inner-city K-8 school in California. Participants in the Young Interpreters Program had significantly higher scores in…

This paper examines language-brokering events to better understand how children utilize their linguistic resources to create spaces where the coexistence of two languages can enable or restrict understanding and learning of academic content for themselves and others. An analysis of the structure of language-brokering events reveals that different…

Past studies in language teaching have addressed the issue of whether the benefits of formal instruction outweigh those of naturalistic instruction, or vice versa. This study examined 1 aspect of naturalistic instruction closely: the conversation partnership. There were 3 conversation partnerships (English/Mandarin, English/Arabic, and…

The Problem: The purpose of this study was to identify and analyze the information structure of native-English speaking (NES) ESOL teachers in giving explanations in a grammar class at an Intensive English Program (IEP) at a university in southern California Method: This mixed-method study employed a sequential-exploratory design. Six grammar…

This paper suggests that language training should be founded on an initial student familiarization with the dimensions of intercultural communication. Using as exemplars problems encountered by Japanese familiar with English but unfamiliar with communication theory, the paper argues that while limited linguistic competency may make it difficult…