The strengths and limitations of English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) have been extensively studied in the field of English language teaching. However, limited attention has been given to the aspirations of non-elite middle-class parents in Bangladesh, who strongly value EMI for its perceived instrumental benefits, thereby creating a…

In this study, we propose a hypothesis that domain-general auditory processing, a perceptual anchor of L1 acquisition, can serve as the foundation of successful post-pubertal L2 learning. This hypothesis was tested with 139 post-pubertal L2 immersion learners by linking individual differences in auditory discrimination across multiple acoustic…

The following work consists of a comparative research of two of the most outstanding immersion programs for foreign languages (Russian/English) that Dominican college students have ever undergone. The first one, happened decades ago in the cold distant Union of Soviet Socialist Republic where thousands of our students were sent as scholarship's…

For many preschoolers in Turkish kindergartens, English instruction starts in the third year of their lives when they have barely begun to articulate their thoughts in their own mother tongue, Turkish. Parents have a dual role as models and decision makers in their children's foreign language education. As the fifteen participant parents of this…

This article probes the extent to which postsecondary Spanish learners can substantively increase their knowledge of Spanish over a two-week period within a context of language and content instruction for four hours per day. The article considers the relationship of an immersion experience to upper-level literature and culture classes. Insights…

This article examines how teacher's perceptions of students classified as English learners (ELs) can impact the reclassification of these students as long-term English Language Learners (LTEL). Understanding teachers' perceptions will empower them to understand the needs of students struggling with English proficiency and how their perceptions…

Providing a comprehensive survey of cutting-edge work on second language learning, this "Handbook," written by a team of leading experts, surveys the nature of second language learning and its implications for teaching. Prominent theories and methods from linguistics, psycholinguistics, processing-based, and cognitive approaches are…

One in five school-age children in the U.S. speaks a language other than English at home (Zeigler & Camarota, 2014). Roughly half of these emerging bilingual students (Garcia, 2009) are classified as English learners (ELs) when they enter school, meaning they do not meet state or district criteria for English proficiency (NCES, 2015). As the…

Drawing on data from eleven preschools in four European countries (Germany, Belgium, Sweden, and the UK), this edited volume explores the progress of preschool children learning English over a period of two years. In the first volume, children's lexical and grammatical comprehension, the quality of L2 input, the effect of immersion on L1…

Language proficiency is a crucial factor for immigrants to integrate successfully in the new society in all aspects of life, especially in the labor market. As a result, there is great importance in acquiring the new language as quickly and effectively as possible. Several factors affect second language acquisition, including motivation, age,…

The role of the first language (L1) in the learning of a second language (L2) has been widely studied as a source of cross-linguistic influence from the native system (Gass and Selinker, "Language Transfer in Language Learning," John Benjamins, 1992). Yet, this perspective provides no room for an understanding of language as a cognitive tool…

Drawing on data from eleven preschools in four European countries (Germany, Belgium, Sweden, and the UK), this edited volume explores the progress of preschool children learning English over a period of two years. This edited volume (Volume II) gives details on best practices in bilingual preschools as well as background and training on topics…

Evaluates the role of age on the rate of acquiring English as a second language in an immersion setting in children with native languages typologically very different from English. Results suggest that on certain aspects of grammar, different-aged children can acquire a second language during the first three years of acquisition at similar rates…

Compares performance of 45 first graders in partial French immersion, partial Hebrew immersion, and traditional English programs on measures of linguistic analysis ability and early reading skills in English. Finds that subjects in the Hebrew program read nonwords better than the other groups and read orthographically regular words better than…

Reviews research findings as they relate to the acquisition of reading skills (in the first and second language) by majority-group school children participating in early immersion programs. (Author)