This article examines four Afghan refugee parents/guardians in Islamabad, Pakistan for their beliefs about literacy and language(s). Semi-structured interviews with each parent/guardian showed that they all highly valued reading and writing as essential life skills. However, while they viewed literacy as having instrumental value, they also…

The research report describes the ability of Kazakh preschool children to tell narratives relating to mental states, and the connection with theory of mind tasks about false beliefs. Three groups of preschool children (N = 29; 3-, 4-, and 5- year-olds) from the city of Almaty were tested in the Kazakh language. The results show very high…

Background: Accumulating evidence shows that the home literacy environment (HLE) has a potent and early influence on children's language and literacy development. However, there is a more limited understanding of HLE and its contribution to children's outcomes for simultaneous bilingual children exposed to two languages at home, particularly in…

Oral language is the primary means through which a child controls, describes, organises, and evaluates their life experiences and their ability to use oral language which effectively impacts their future literacy development. Currently, the world is awash with dynamic change and constant disruption. These include natural disasters such as the…

Foundational literacy is a key lever for achieving higher levels of learning and societal wellbeing. However, with an enrolment of over 250 million children in schools, India is currently challenged by learning deprivation. Growing uptake of English-medium education along with less-than-optimal English literacy instruction practices present an…

Approximately 30% of students in Australian schools are from language backgrounds other than English (LBOTE). Some LBOTE students speak English as their first language and do not require English language support, while others (about 25% of the student population) are learning English as an additional language or dialect (EAL/D). These students…

This research summary describes an Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) research project that explored how long it takes Australian students learning English as an additional language (EAL) to develop the English language skills necessary to participate equitably in curriculum learning. It outlines the key findings, context and…

The following are additional results from the research described in the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO)'s main project report, "How Long it Takes to Learn English While Learning the Curriculum." Specifically, these results supplement the results from Part 2 of the project, which used the NSW DoE's EAL/D Annual Survey…

We examined the relation of morphological awareness with language and literacy skills, namely phonological awareness, orthographic awareness, vocabulary, word reading, spelling, text reading fluency, and reading comprehension. We also examined potential moderators of the relations (grade level, orthographic depth of language, receptive vs.…

Language-in-education research can contribute to transformative progress toward educational equity and excellence. Although this assertion is likely uncontroversial within the field of language in education, agreeing on which types of research lead to which transformative progress is much less straightforward. The thought-provoking commentaries on…

Purpose: This study examined science achievement; science vocabulary knowledge; and the relationship between science vocabulary, language skills, and science achievement in school-age children with language/literacy disorders (LLDs) and typical language development (TD). Method: Thirty-nine sixth graders (11 with LLDs) completed standardized…

Enhancing language literacy is one of the most prioritized learning targets of the K-12 curriculum in the Philippines. Several language acquisition, learning, teaching and assessing principles to which the present Language Arts and Multiliteracies Curriculum (LAMC) is anchored on, are consistently improved to forward maximum and effective…

A 7-year longitudinal study was conducted as part of the French national cohort ELFE (N = 1095). The aim was to identify how and why early language skills at 2 years might predict later literacy skills assessed successively at 5, 7, and 9 years (LitSk5y; 7y; 9y). Using one and the same model, we also examined the relations between literacy skills…

The academic success and English proficiency of ELL students are receiving more attention as a result of the growing number of ELL students and the demand for accountability and assessment in education. It is widely accepted that ELL students struggle on state standardized tests because they lack the cognitive academic language abilities needed to…

We examined the relation of morphological awareness with language and literacy skills, namely phonological awareness, orthographic awareness, vocabulary, word reading, spelling, text reading fluency, and reading comprehension. We also examined potential moderators of the relations (grade level, orthographic depth of language, receptive vs.…