Many scholars have identified teacher education (TE) as a crucial site for strengthening the research-practice interface. Much of this work has focused on formal TE opportunities, English-language instructors, or university-level contexts. Less is known about how other educator demographics engage with second language (L2) research throughout…

An extensive body of research has investigated the role of syntactic complexity in gauging the linguistic complexity of reading texts, particularly for the purpose of determining their grade appropriateness. However, little such research has focused on adapted teaching materials for English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts, and to date there…

The Seal of Biliteracy is as an initiative to incentivize and credentialize bi-/multilingualism in K-12 education in the United States. While it has been widely celebrated as a positive development in U.S. educational language policy, it is important to consider to what extent marginalized students benefit from this initiative. This critical…

The Seal of Biliteracy (SoBL) is a language policy that has gained traction across the United States as stakeholders seek to recognize students' competencies in languages other than English. Despite its potential to enhance language proficiency and encourage participation in language education, the SoBL has been unevenly implemented, with…

This group of articles contains a discussion and commentaries on implications of language education policies for language study in schools and universities. The situation in Africa, Europe, Japan, and Latin America are highlighted. (Author/VWL)

Responds to an article on learning disabilities and foreign language learning. Discusses assumptions about students classified as learning disabled (LD) with foreign language learning problems, and the assumption that students classified as LD need a different approach. (Author/VWL)

Responds to an article on learning disabilities and foreign language learning. Highlights the distortions and omissions in that article. (Author/VWL)

Explores questions related to who educational policymakers are in the United States, the policies that they make, and the implications of these policies for foreign languages. Six commentaries are provided in response to the topic. (Author/VWL)

A survey, sponsored by the Joint National Committee for Languages, attempts to document the extent of the foreign language teacher shortage in the United States, avenues for curtailing shortages where they exist, and opportunities and incentives available for attracting new teachers or allowing teachers currently working to maintain or improve…

Describes a small-scale study into learners' attributions for success and failure in learning French. The study investigated the way in which learners conceptualize the notion of doing well, together with perceived reasons for successes and failures. Interviews were conducted with students (10-15 years of age) who were learning French in the…

Explores the process of implementing the Nebraska Foreign Language Frameworks in an urban, Midwestern school district. Participants were two elementary, two middle school, and two high school teachers; the languages taught were French and Spanish. Findings show that the six teachers implemented the frameworks differently, depending mainly on…

Examines the role that Yoruba greetings play in understanding the culture of the speakers. Illustrates that these greetings not only establish an atmosphere of sociability, but also communicate cultural information and serve as value reinforcement for participants and observers. Also emphasizes that teaching greetings in Yoruba involves teaching…

Depicts the state of two-way immersion programs in the United States. Data indicate that these programs educate nonnative- English-speaking students, expand the nation's language resources by conserving the native-language skills of minority students and developing second-language skills in English-speaking students, and enhance crosscultural…

Examined the motivation of 140 elementary- and 451 secondary-level students toward the learning of Chinese, Japanese, or Korean in formal classroom settings in public schools. Information was also gathered from 847 parents concerning attitudes toward foreign-language learning and involvement in their child's study. (Author/JL)

Various sources of learner problems are identified and specific remedial activities are suggested for difficulties in speaking, listening, reading, writing, vocabulary acquisition, and grammar tasks. Some of the more common sources of learner difficulties that are discussed are: poor memory, lack of flexibility, too impulsive, too reflective,…