This study examines second language (L2) acquisition of the interpretation of plural noun phrases. Languages with articles differ in whether they use bare plurals (English) or definite plurals (Spanish) to express generic interpretation (Chierchia, 1998; Dayal, 2004; among others). It is hypothesized that Spanish-speaking learners of English…

This article examines what we call "micro-level language policy-in-process"--that is, how a target--language-only policy emerges "in situ" in the foreign language classroom. More precisely, we investigate the role of "language policing", the mechanism deployed by the teacher and/or pupils to (re-)establish the…

Since Finnish is not an Indo-European language, studying foreign languages in general and then also studying special fields through the medium of foreign languages may provide an extra difficulty for Finnish students. Most university language centres in Finland have organized reading comprehension courses in several foreign languages for the…

This narrative research study involving 13 Hmong college women reveals some of the challenges that multilingual students may face in the American educational system. Using stories told by the participants about their language- and literacy-development experiences, the author identifies commonalities in those experiences. The similarities in their…

The purpose of this qualitative collective case study was to examine the ways an elementary general music teacher's curricular beliefs and practices influence the expression of "music in identity" and "identity in music" for second-generation students. In addition to the music teacher, participants were 4 students whose…

Lexical development is a key facet of later language development. To characterize the linguistic knowledge of school age children, performance in the written modality must also be considered. This study tracks the growth of written text-embedded lexicon in Catalan-speaking children and adolescents. Participants (N = 2161), aged from 5 to 16 years…

This study is an investigation into the contribution of the use of bilingualism as an aid in learning/teaching English as a foreign language and bilingualism in EFL classroom does not reduce students' communicative abilities but in effect can assist in teaching and learning process. The study employed a qualitative, interpretive research design…

This research study investigated the influence of learners' mother tongue on their acquisition of English collocations. Having drawn the linguistic data from two groups of Thai EFL learners differing in English proficiency level, the researcher found that the native language (L1) plays a significant role in the participants' collocation learning…

The ways in which literacy in English is taught in school generally subscribe to and perpetuate the notion of a homogenous, unvaried set of writing conventions associated with the language they represent, especially in relation to spelling and punctuation as well as grammar. Such teaching also perpetuates the myth that there is one…

Within the Australian education system, Aboriginal students' use of non-standard English features is often viewed simplistically as evidence of non-attainment of literacy and oral-English milestones. One reason for this is the widespread use of assessment tools which fail to differentiate between native-English speakers and students who are…

Education for newly arrived students in Sweden is commonly organised in introductory classes, providing a basis for transition to the mainstream system. Focusing on the hitherto underinvestigated question of how newly arrived students experience the time in and transition between introductory and regular classes, we analyse the social and…

This study examined the relation between young English language learners' (ELL) native oral language skills and their language input in transitional bilingual education kindergarten classrooms. Spanish-speaking ELLs' ("n" = 101) Spanish expressive language skills were assessed using the memory for sentences and picture vocabulary…

We investigated the factors that may help understand the differential rates of language development in the home language (i.e., Spanish) of Latino preschoolers with specific language impairment. Children were randomly assigned to either bilingual or English-only small group interventions and followed from preschool to kindergarten. Predictors of…

Many immigrant children might face challenges in maintaining their heritage languages--that is, continuing using their first languages (L1s) or the L1s of their parents. Factors such as pressure from schools and the desire to assimilate into the mainstream society might lead these children to learn a dominant language at the cost of losing their…

This article reports the results of a meta-analysis of the effectiveness of peer-mediated learning for English language learners. Peer-mediated learning is presented as one pedagogical tool with promise for interrupting a legacy of structural and instructional silencing of culturally and linguistically diverse students. Oral language…