Reports on studies focusing on individual attrition of English as a Second Language in an environment where Hebrew is the dominant language. Age, sociolinguistic features, input variables, and linguistic variables are discussed as well as major trends of change in language use that identify a limited reversal of the acquisition process. 29…

Presents general background on the Israeli Circassians and focuses on a study of Circassian pupils in Kfar Kama, the larger of the two Circassian villages in Israel. This study confirms the solid self-identity and firmly entrenched position of the mother tongue among the Circassians of Israel. Additional study is planned. (35 references)…

Focuses on the use of taboo language as beneficial for second-language learners. The article suggests that learners need to understand what constitutes "obscene" language in North American contexts, why native speakers choose to use it, and what it signifies sociolinguistically. Some nonlinguistic variables relevant to cursing are discussed. (15…

Although it contains a statutory inclusion statement, England's National Curriculum "hardly acknowledges the learning practices of different minority groups" ( Gregory and Williams, 2003, p. 103). Through observation and interview, this study examines the repertoire of languages that six children for whom English is an additional…

The English article system presents many problems for non-native speakers of English, particularly when they do not have an equivalent structure in their first language. Different approaches to the teaching of articles have attempted to overcome this problem. By encouraging students to address the notion of countability and to identify specific…

When Botswana gained independence from the British in 1966, a political decision was taken to designate English as an official language and Setswana, one of the indigenous languages, as a national language. This move disregarded the multilingual nature of Botswana society. Furthermore, although not explicitly stated, the use of other languages…

This study examines growth rates in vocabulary over an academic year for 150 Latino English language learners. In October, February, and June of kindergarten, participants completed standardized measures of receptive and expressive vocabulary. Before the second and third assessments, a third of the children watched Arthur three times a week during…

This article examines the language choices made by native-speaker teachers of Japanese, Korean, German and French in foreign language (FL) classrooms in New Zealand secondary schools. It explores these teachers' patterns of alternation between English, the majority language, and the TL, using both AS-units (Analysis of Speech units), devised by…

In this study, the authors plotted the Spanish language usage of 10 preschool-age children over the course of 3 years and assigned them to one of two groups: language maintenance and language loss. The authors then compared the groups' scores on structured tasks, language behaviors, and language usage/exposure variables. They found that children…

This article describes a project involving teachers, parents, and university researchers in collaborations to support multilingual children's development and use of language. Strategies for fostering an inclusive climate included building on the interests and resources of the local community, involving community members in curriculum development,…

This study examines the effectiveness of teachers' incidental focus on form on vocabulary learning. Seventeen 45-minute audio-recorded teacher-led conversation, 204 learners' diaries (17 sessions x 12 learners) reporting what the participants had learned after each conversational class, 204 post-test translations, and 204 delayed post-test…

A study analyzed the use of Basque and Spanish by 36 bilingual teenagers enrolled in a Basque school in Spain, based on results of a survey. The history and present situation of the Basque language are outlined, and the importance of the revival of the Basque language by those who learn it in school is highlighted. Complete technical data from the…

A study explored the relevance of acculturation theory to language fossilization in the advanced stages of second language learning. Case studies of two native Japanese speakers with long experience living in an English-speaking environment are examined. First, the model of acculturation is outlined: it proposes that socio-psychological factors,…

This paper argues that second language instruction that aims to foster speaking skills and natural spoken interaction should be based upon the grammar of the spoken language, and not on grammars that reflect written norms. Using evidence from a corpus of conversational English, this examination focuses on how four grammatical features that occur…

Communication strategies used by German-Swedish bilinguals when they have lexical difficulty are discussed. Findings indicate that in a language test situation, when attention is focused on words rather than topic, face-saving over a lexical gap seems to be of great importance to the speaker. When a communication strategy has led to a noticeable…