Studies that measure the effectiveness of language-training program for children's language development do not clearly identify in adult-child interaction which characteristics of educators' language are most effective, particularly for children over 4 years of age who need to develop complex syntactic skills. Our study aimed to analyze the…

This paper addresses the gaps between language documentation and language revitalization. It is intended for several audiences, including field linguists interested in supporting endangered language sustainability efforts and participants of all kinds in language revitalization courses, programs, and infrastructure. The authors contend that…

The primary focus of this article is the investigation of how current applied linguistic research into the nature of call centre communication breakdown in business processing outsourcing (BPO) sites such as India and the Philippines, can impact English communications training program content and design for this industry. It is argued that a…

Recent years have brought increasing attention to studies of language acquisition in a country where the language is spoken, as opposed to formal language study in classrooms. Research on language learners in immersion contexts is important, as the question of whether study abroad is valuable is still somewhat controversial among researchers…

The Guidelines for Good Practice of the European Association for Language Testing and Assessment (EALTA) stress the importance of collaboration between all parties involved in the process of developing instruments, activities and programmes for testing and assessment. Collaboration is considered to be as important as validity and reliability,…

This article argues that a native-speaker baseline is a neglected dimension of studies into second language (L2) performance. If we investigate how learners perform language tasks, we should distinguish what performance features are due to their processing an L2 and which are due to their performing a particular task. Having defined what we mean…

This article reports on a case study of negotiation that occurred in peer group oral interactions under assessment conditions. Discourse analysis was used to illustrate how participants negotiated and co-constructed the assessment format itself as well as meaning exchange sequences. Analyses of the data point to the advantage of using peer group…

This study sets out to examine the pragmatic competence of Cantonese adult learners of English possessing different levels of proficiency when performing the speech act of requesting for a formal purpose in writing. Pragmatic judgment--one of the two aspects of pragmatic competence--was examined by studying the most proficient group (i.e., native…

A discussion of language policy in Australia chronicles the history and context of policy formation and looks at the role of the National Languages and Literacy Institute. The paper first examines the phases and processes of both explicit and unofficial policy-making on language issues in Australia, highlighting the role that language…

Recent language testing research investigates factors other than language proficiency that may be responsible for systematic variance in language test performance. One such factor is the test takers' cognitive styles. The present study was carried out with the aim of finding the probable effects of Iranian EFL learners' cognitive styles on their…

Observations from site visits in England and Wales and a limited review of the literature about bilingual education of young children, particularly of preschool age, are reported here. The current native language teaching situation in England and several related ongoing research projects are described, and English as a second language programs and…

Considered in the paper, which originally was prepared for publication by the Moscow Institute of Defectology, are research and methodology related to education of deaf children in the United States. Described are deaf children's communicative problems, and defined are classifications according to varying degrees of deafness. Discussed is…

An overview of empirical research conducted in Canada's core French language programs addresses eight major areas: (1) program characteristics and outcomes, (2) program supplements, (3) student characteristics, (4) enrollment influences, (5) teacher characteristics, (6) public opinion, (7) program implementation and administration, and (8)…

A comparison of the salient characteristics of Canadian and United States bilingual education programs suggests various settings where it would be desirable to introduce children to schooling in their home language. These settings include: (1) the various ethnic communities in the United States, (2) multilingual developing countries, (3) parts of…

Papers on foreign language education include: "The Message Is the Medium: Using Video Materials To Facilitate Foreign Language Performance" (Thomas J. Garza), which explores the use of this medium to enhance commonly-used non-communicative or text-bound teaching materials; "Product and Process Aspects of NES/EFL Students' Persuasive…