A fundamental distinction in the field of second language acquisition (SLA) is route versus rate of acquisition (or L2 development). While the former has traditionally referred to developmental sequences of learning, the latter denotes the speed with which learners progress through developmental trajectories (Muñoz, 2006). A second distinction at…

Librarians love stories, and libraries are among the few forums that can offer exposure to collections of stories in various formats as well as encourage independent exploration and group discussion. Librarians read, encourage talking, writing about, and searching for stories, but this is text-based. What of the students new to the English…

Peer collaboration benefits second language (L2) learning and is a cornerstone of effective classroom instruction. It is, therefore, essential for teachers to consider how tasks work to promote peer collaboration and thus maximize learning. These considerations concern the task type, a task's inherent characteristics, and possible ways of task…

Design and content of classroom activities are crucial to foreign/second (L2) language learners' motivation, be they children or adults. Lifeworld relevance and learner autonomy are two important aspects in building motivational L2 curricula for adults (e.g.), but such considerations rarely filter through to primary school learners due to…

A great deal of research has focused on tasks, particularly for adult second language learners. In this paper we provide an account of studies that have investigated children and tasks -- an age group that have received far less attention. We consider, in particular, the impact of tasks on children's language learning, how their design features…

One of the challenges of developing assessments for young language learners is the shortage of evidence-based information about such assessments for languages other than English. In light of this situation, this paper discusses the development of an assessment for young languages learners in the context of Japanese as a second language (JSL). In…

Culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) which provides a general framework for working with culturally and linguistically diverse learners has become the reality in the contemporary elementary classroom in Canada and around the world. This theory-to-practice article presents five research-based teaching practices which make a tangible impact on…

Over the last decades, migration across Europe has continued to increase. Consequently, offering educational support for migrant students in the schools of host countries has been an extensively debated issue across Europe and further afield, especially in countries with a history of immigration. However, less is known about how education systems…

Doing national program so called School Literacy Movement (GLS), classes are expected to do 15-minute regular reading activity every day; including English classes in elementary schools. Witnessing that some classes are having limited English story books to read as well as ready-to-use follow-up activities, this article proposes reading activities…

About one-third of children under age 8 in the United States have at least one parent who speaks a language other than English at home. And as of 2016, 9.6 percent of all U.S. public school students were identified as English language learners. It is obvious that the American student population is becoming increasingly multilingual. This trend is…

The aim of this article is to stress the importance of a dynamic systems or complexity theory approach as a necessary prerequisite to understanding the development of multi-competence in multilingual learners. Selected results from a study on emergent multilingual awareness in children, carried out in South Tyrol, are outlined and discussed. The…

The author explores the interdisciplinary use of music in teaching English as a foreign language to children in the context of function, genre, character and expression, trying to decipher the role and influence of music on various contexts of language learning, such as memory and concentration span, and takes under consideration a wide variety of…

Amaral & Roeper's Multiple Grammars (MG) proposal offers an appealingly simple way of thinking about the linguistic representations of bilingual speakers. This article presents a commentary on the MG language acquisition theory proposed by Luiz Amaral and Tom Roeper in this issue, focusing on the theory's implications for child…

From previous research on second language acquisition and early language learning, educators know that young children have a cognitive advantage to learning a foreign language over other age groups (e.g., Garcia-Sierra et al.; Hyltenstam and Abrahamsson; Singleton and Ryan; Werker et al.). More recently, an increase in functional benefits for…

This paper is intended for researchers considering using ethnography as a methodology to investigate home literacy experiences of children learning English as a Second Language (ESL). After briefly setting ethnographic study in the context of English language learners' home literacy practices, I identify five opportunities and five potential…