Paradis' (2023) keynote article is a timely documentation of the ongoing shift in focus within childhood bilingualism research from investigating the factors that modulate majority or second language (ML/L2) attainment (Chondrogianni & Marinis, 2011) to understanding the sources of variation that lead to minority heritage language (HL)…

This article synthesizes the conclusions of the empirical studies in this special issue and outlines key questions in future research. The research reported in this volume has identified several fundamental issues in pronunciation-focused task design that are discussed in detail and on which suggestions for further research are outlined. One…

Foreign language (FL) aptitude generally refers to a specific talent for learning a foreign or second language (L2). After experiencing a long period of marginalized interest, FL aptitude research in recent years has witnessed renewed enthusiasm across the disciplines of educational psychology, second language acquisition (SLA) and cognitive…

This paper introduces an open learner model approach to learning analytics to combine the variety of data available from the range of applications and technologies in language learning, for visualisation of language learning competences to learners and teachers in the European language context. Specific examples are provided as illustrations…

Dynamic systems theory (DST) is presented in this article as a suitable approach to research the acquisition of second language (L2) because of its close alignment with the process of second language learning. Through a process of identifying and comparing the characteristics of a dynamic system with the process of L2 learning, this article…

Recent advancements in neuroscience heighten its relevance to education. Newly developed imaging technologies enable scientists to peer into the working brain for the first time, providing powerful insights into how we learn. Research reveals that the brain is not a stable and isolated entity, but a dynamic system that is keenly responsive to…

Discusses recent research highlighting both the child's growth as a reflective language user and the school's capacity to enhance or hamper that growth. The research is concerned with the need for children eventually to use language in decontextualized ways, without the supporting context of visible or manipulable objects or actions. (HTH)

Reports results of a study to examine the extent to which young English children volunteer prepositions in a simple but structured task of spatial description. Results show that children 3 to 7 years have an extensive and often inventive grasp of locative prepositions. (Author/KC)

Gives some account of the outcomes of the Schools Council project Writing across the Curriculum 11-16, but is primarily concerned with theoretical problems of the relationships between teaching, research and development in language. (Editor/RK)

This article describes how, over the past 25 years, sociolinguistics and education have entered into a methodological and intellectual dialogue that has significantly changed both views of language and theories of how language enters into school learning processes. The first section, "Literacy, Language and the Problem of Differential Learning,"…

In this paper a description of educational processes serves as a model for a discussion of needed changes in the strategies and contents of educational research. The educational system in which a student functions is composed of his primary environment, the instructional environment, and the eventual transfer environments. When there is congruence…

Discusses recent research in the development of spelling, the development of spelling ability, and invented spelling and the child's voice. (DF)

Argues that learning to spell is a developmental process and reviews research showing that errors made by poor spellers can indicate the point at which that development has broken down. Discusses some of the linguistic strategies students must acquire to become proficient spellers and offers teaching suggestions for helping students develop a…

A discussion of research on naturalistic second language acquisition (SLA) focuses on its relationship to the foreign language classroom context. It is argued that to attempt to relate natural SLA to classroom foreign language learning (FLL), a coherent and consistent theoretical framework is needed. The Cognitive-Interactionist Model is developed…

Analyzes the processes and strategies used by English-speaking children when they learn to read and write in their first language, English, while enrolled in total French Immersion (in which all their schooling is in the second language). (KEH)