In reviewing views on the use of L1 in L2 classrooms, the author argues for the benefits of using L1. The author argues for the benefits of written translation activities based on the ideas that translation uses authentic materials, is interactive, learner-centered, and promotes learner autonomy. The author also argues that written translation…

Traces the recent history of the teaching of Australian Aboriginal language in Walgett (New South Wales), and discusses the possible future of this important issue. Until recently, native Australian languages were frowned upon and were not used publicly. Through funding received for several programs beginning in 1996, there has been a dramatic…

The "TIMSS 2011 International Results in Mathematics" summarizes fourth and eighth grade student achievement in each of the 63 countries and 14 benchmarking entities which participated in TIMSS 2011. The report includes trends in mathematics achievement over time for participants in the previous TIMSS 1995, 1999, 2003, and 2007…

This paper outlines current cognitive perspectives on second language acquisition (SLA). The Associative-Cognitive CREED holds that SLA is governed by the same principles of associative and cognitive learning that underpin the rest of human knowledge. The major principles of the framework are that SLA is Construction-based, Rational,…

This article explores the long-standing problem of ascribing meaning to individual acts of codeswitching. Drawing on ethnographic data from bilingual classrooms in Corsica, I situate the analysis of codeswitching within the more general question of the interpretation of speaker stance, which is defined as speakers' positioning with regard to both…

A limited attempt to teach and assess the ability of native English-speaking adolescents is described. The concern is not to teach more language but to encourage use of existing language in a formal interview with maximum flexibility and effectiveness. Possible ties into second language instruction are considered. (Author/MSE)

Transcripts were made of teacher-student conversations in four Hawaiian classrooms in which Korean is taught as a heritage language. The study examines the use of the sentence-ending particle "yo," the meaning of the particle, the way it is used in interaction, and its sociopragmatic implication. The following research questions are…

The basic hypothesis of this study is that language education could be more effective if planning were to aim at developing an individual functional trilingualism involving a first (indigenous) language, a second African (national) language, and an official (foreign) language. The study covers the following matters: (1) a survey of developments in…

Dr. Joshua Fishman, a world renowned sociolinguist and expert on endangered languages, postulates a continuum of eight stages of language loss for indigenous languages. The most-endangered languages are in stage 8 and only have a few elderly speakers. In stage 7 only adults beyond child-bearing age still speak the tribal language. In stage 6 there…

In this paper, the author aims to explore the connections between the right to basic education through the medium of the mother tongue and the right to education. She concentrates on child labor in India in general, and in Maharashtra, a state in Western India, in particular. She draws her data mainly from Pune (population 3,000,000), one of the…

Indigenous languages are under siege, not only in the United States but also around the world, in danger of disappearing because they are not being transmitted to the next generation. Immigrants and their languages worldwide are similarly subject to seemingly irresistible social, political, and economic pressures. Yet, at a time when phrases such…

Illustrates how major Cree language instruction books are not idiomatically and syntactically correct. Believes problems could be overcome if native speakers using spontaneous, everyday Cree would develop appropriate teaching materials based on traditional and contemporary family life and community activities. (NEC)

This paper discusses the context of indigenous language education in western Canada, the hope of language revitalization, and the role of the Canadian Indigenous Languages and Literacy Development Institute (CILLDI) in reclaiming and stabilizing these languages. CILLDI was established in 1999 by a collective of language advocates and educators who…

The paper investigates how adult immigrants with low literacy levels are being taught language skills in Northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. Particular attention is paid to the reasons why large English-as-a-Second-Language programs (ESL) in the area do not offer native language literacy (NLL) courses and why some students seek NLL…

In 10 families in which parents spoke Navajo and children did not, factors that inhibited the transmittal of Navajo to children were the use of English at home, shame toward the Navajo language and culture, the perception that a "glass ceiling" hindered the job advancement of Navajo speakers, and influence of the media. Suggests ways to…