The question going into this action research was, "How can a language teacher encourage more positive attitudes toward language learning while building a learning community?" After incorporating "I Can" statements into the curriculum, more than 100 third grade students were surveyed. The survey asked what they thought they could do in Spanish.…

The Dearborn Public Schools, with 18,300 students, is located in the Detroit urban area with the largest concentration of Arabic-speaking people in the United States. In order to prepare the students for the 21st century skills and global awareness and in response to parents' requests, the author in collaboration with the school principal and…

Young learners of Japanese heritage language (JHL) need a solid foundation of oral language to develop strong literacy skills. Considering the limited hours of instruction at JHL schools, oral language and literacy skills rely on a joint effort between the JHL school and parents. JHL schools that help parents understand the nuances of JHL…

This paper is another installment in the ongoing project on early language learning in a Japanese FLES program, conducted by ELLRT (Early Language Learning Research Team): Richard Donato and G. Richard Tucker with graduate students from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. The Japanese instructor in this FLES program, Yoko…