The common features attributed to face-to-face classroom are rather difficult to emulate in a virtual learning environment. This is because participants may not feel obligated to participate when they do not see each other physically. This study examined the instructors' strategies in fostering interaction in their online classes. Using the…

In this conversation, two U.S.-trained German language and culture educators discuss their approaches to intercultural communicative competence (ICC). Working in different educational settings -- in a German and Global Studies program at a public university in the U.S., and at the Institute for Intercultural Communication of a German university…

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) require students to read and comprehend complex content texts. They specify three dimensions of a text that simultaneously contribute to text complexity across the curriculum: qualitative dimensions, quantitative dimensions, and reader and task considerations. In literacy instruction, recognizing and…

This paper examines student responses to a small-scale pilot of peer learning in undergraduate translation classes. It examines the possible benefits and risks of a learner-centred approach and explores these through feedback from two groups of undergraduate modern language students attending translation classes over a semester at a UK university.…

As the socio-linguistic make-up of the United States shifts from an English monolingual country to a multilingual society, it becomes imperative that a pool of linguistically, knowledgeable, competent nurses are in the pipeline to the nursing workforce to meet the needs of a diverse lingual patient population. The continued lack of…

This paper presents perceptions of China's Confucius Institute project held by different stakeholders in China and the USA. A number of studies have been published in each place since the first establishment of Confucius Institutes in 2004, but there has not been a comparative study to date. The study, which draws on media reports related to…

This document includes two technical appendices that accompany the full report, "English as a Second Language in California's Community Colleges." The two appendixes include: (1) Key terms, data and methods; and (2) Figures and tables. [These appendices were written with research support from Sergio Sanchez and Stephanie Pulles. For the…

Background: In the "Horne v Flores" Supreme Court decision of June 25, 2009, the Court wrote that one basis for finding Arizona in compliance with federal law regarding the education of its English learners was that the state had adopted a "significantly more effective" than bilingual education instructional model for EL…

In this article, we look at the impact of an arts integration program offered at five large urban elementary schools on the daily attendance and oral language skills of children in kindergarten through second grade. Many of the children attending these schools spoke a language other than English at home. Teaching artists visited each class weekly…

This dissertation examines the methods and techniques used by school administrators to bring in and keep parents of English Language Learners coming back to be part of the school. Administrators at twelve schools in the Southeastern central San Joaquin Valley in California were interviewed to determine what practices they utilized to make ELL…

This mixed methods study investigated the English verbal interactions of seven 3rd-6th grade beginning level English language learners across three different instructional settings: the mainstream grade level classroom, the sheltered English classroom, and the ELL pullout group. The quantitative component of the study documented significant…

The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of explicit interventional treatment on developing pragmatic awareness and production of spoken requests in an EAP context (taken here to mean those studying/using English for academic purposes in the UK) with Chinese learners of English at a British higher education institution. The study employed…

Although educational leaders, policy makers, and researchers have long emphasized the importance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) for the country's continued prosperity, increasing participation in STEM has remained a challenge for both the education and scientific communities (Pearson & Fechter, 1994; National…

Though recent research has shown that written corrective feedback (WCF) may improve aspects of writing accuracy in some English as a second language (ESL) contexts, many teachers continue to be confused about the practical steps they should utilize to help their students improve their writing. Moreover, some have raised concerns as to whether…

The student response system (SRS) is marketed as a reliable tool for improving students' academic attainment. However, findings to the question of whether or not the SRS does improve the learning outcomes of ESL [English as a Second Language] learners in primary education are not well documented in the research literature. Despite the wide use of…