Stern (1983) reminds us of the ethical reasons for doing second language (L2) research. That is, given the considerable human and financial investments that go into language education, the practical activities of teaching "should not exclusively rely on tradition, opinion, or trial-and-error but should be able to draw on rational enquiry,…

One of the most important factors among those that play key roles in second language acquisition is language learning styles and strategies. This article identifies the unique and multifarious learning-style preferences that characterize Saudi English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' learning, and explores how multidimensional causal factors…

Native language acquisition is one of the initial processes undertaken by the human brain in the infant stage of life. The linguist community has always been interested in finding the method, which is adopted by the human brain to acquire the native language. Word segmentation in one of the most important tasks in acquiring the language.…

This paper presents the primary benefits digital storytelling affords teachers and students. Maximizing the multimodal authoring conditions for optimal online/offline learning comprises the paper's main focus. Throughout, it is asserted that stories worth telling are stories worth sharing but only if embedded in dialogic constructs supporting…

Multimodal learning refers to teaching strategies that involve multiple sensory systems simultaneously. Teachers can create materials for students with different learning styles (auditory, visual, kinesthetic reading, and writing). Multimodal learning keeps students engaged, encourages them to apply what they learn in real-life situations,…

This year marks the fortieth anniversary of the publication of two landmark articles concerning the "good language learner". In the years since, vigorous debate has revolved around both theoretical issues (including definition, classification, theoretical foundation, and the relationship of strategies to successful learning) and…

Study Abroad (SA) has long enjoyed the unquestioning support of the general public, governments, and its benefits for language learning in many ways have been naturalized as "common sense" (Twombly et al., 2012). Language ideology scholars would say that this naturalization itself is indication that there are strong ideological forces at…

A number of studies attest to the late language learner's ability to attain native-like outcomes in morphology and syntax, with accent often the only linguistic hint of their non-native status. Nevertheless, some do end up sounding native-like despite a late start. This article explores possible explanations for "exceptional"…

Empirical research conducted over the past few decades suggests that the age at which an individual is first exposed to a second language affects long-term outcomes, in particular for phonology. The question that has occupied scholars of various bents is what, exactly, underlies the robust age effects observed. Does age imply immutable changes in…

Teaching reading and vocabulary to Mexican American children in the United States of America today requires an acknowledgment of historical social injustice that continues to affect many communities in South Texas. This article debriefs some vocabulary teaching strategies--such as mnemonics and game play under the learning centers…

Response to intervention (RtI) originates from national legislation and critical research of evidence-based practices for low performing students and students at-risk of failing or receiving special education services. RtI proactively facilitates culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy for culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD)…

This article explores how teachers in one urban district understand and engage multicultural education in two very different school contexts. My data highlight how teachers' understandings of multicultural education vacillate between what I call "powerblind sameness" and "colorblind difference." In the end, I suggest that our…

One of the questions facing language instructors is how direct vocabulary instruction should be. Much recent research into vocabulary acquisition and studies of learning strategies strongly indicates that the explicit vocabulary learning vs. implicit vocabulary learning issue is not a dichotomy, but rather a continuum (Hunt and Belgar, 2005; Lee…

At a time when languages in universities are under pressure, community-based learning language courses can have many positive benefits: they can increase interest in language learning, they can foster greater engagement with learning, and they can encourage active learning, creativity and teamwork. These courses, which link the classroom and the…

When adult ESL (English as a Second Language) learners enter our classrooms with little or no first language literacy, their instructors teach them to read for the first time in an unfamiliar language. It is a tremendous task, and the context for teaching "adult emergent readers" is complex. This complexity is coupled with a growing, but still…