The vocabulary research of the 1980s and 1990s brought a breath of fresh air into the language classroom. Teachers in many remote EFL locations had long suspected that vocabulary was their learners' main challenge, but there was little research evidence to confirm this or say what to do about it. Then, suddenly, work by Nation, Laufer, Meara,…

This is the first international and interdisciplinary handbook to offer a comprehensive and an in-depth overview of findings from contemporary research, theory, and practice in early childhood language education in various parts of the world and with different populations. The contributions by leading scholars and practitioners are structured to…

Previous corpus research on English for academic purposes (EAP) writing has analyzed how often additional language (L2) writers use words from the Academic Word List (AWL) (Coxhead, 2000), but few studies to date have explored how accurately those words are used. Therefore, the current study investigated how accurately and appropriately EAP…

In children with a hearing loss who receive cochlear implants (CIs) under the age of 2, regular assessments are conducted to monitor auditory and linguistic progress. However, the collection of authentic, representative, and reliable expressive language data on young children with CIs remains a challenge. The purpose of the study was to determine…

This paper describes the process of designing, administering, and assessing a language-sensitive and culture-specific lexical test of Labrador Inuttitut (a dialect of Inuktitut, an Eskimo-Aleut language). This process presented numerous challenges, from choosing citation forms in a polysynthetic language to dealing with a lack of word frequency…

Patterns of students' language learning were examined through an asynchronous cross-cultural bilingual communication project conducted between Japanese university students learning English and Canadian university students learning Japanese. Previous studies on cross-cultural communication projects have reported positive outcomes in providing…

The increasing numbers of English language learners (ELLs) in Canadian schools pose a significant challenge to the standards-based provincial tests used to measure proficiency levels of all students from various linguistic and cultural backgrounds. This study investigated the extent to which reading item bundles or items on the Ontario Secondary…

This article examines student attitudes towards and perceptions of technological activities in the language classroom. Data collected from students (n = 71) in the French language departments of five Canadian universities were used to examine which technological activities students preferred, whether and to what degree different activities were…

A variety of French language classroom activities are described, including a game to familiarize immersion students with Canada; exercises using songs; a teacher-student competitive vocabulary game; communicative activities; three games to practice verb conjugations, previously learned structures, and vocabulary; and a whole-language activity…

Presents the results of a study of Francophone pupils in the French schools of Windsor, Ontario. The article gives examples of nonstandard features pervading students' French vocabulary and syntax and concludes that a hybrid vernacular may be emerging as a result of the Canadian sociolinguistic situation, creating a challenge to the teaching of…

The role of grammatical knowledge in second language (L2) lexical processing is far from clear. Providing evidence from a recent introspective study, this paper seeks to demonstrate the significant contribution that such knowledge can make to inferring the meanings of unfamiliar words while reading, and to possible consequent acquisition of L2…

A study investigated the relationship between reading habits and writing skills in French of 223 Canadian secondary school students. Students were surveyed concerning their demographic characteristics, attitudes about learning and reading, recreational activities, and reading habits and reading materials. Writing skills were evaluated using a…

The set of three workbooks is designed for Canadian introductory-level instruction in Blackfoot, an American Indian language. Each workbook is intended to provide basic understanding of language use and daily language functions. The first volume focuses on the Blackfoot oral tradition, alphabet, and phonology, and some basic daily living skills.…

Analyzes how Canadian immersion education has developed from its origins to the present in terms of a cycle guided by the interplay between theory and classroom practice of second- language acquisition. Johnson responds by questioning the extent to which bilingual education theory and practices are universal or context specific. (38 references)…

This bibliography is intended as a resource for teachers and service-providers who work with participants in LINC (Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada) programs of basic English-as-a-Second-Language education. It lists and describes Canadian teaching materials appropriate for adult immigrants' English language learning and their…