English, the global lingua franca, enjoys a growing status worldwide. The high status of English is also linked to the increasing interest in teaching English to young learners (EYL), and is reciprocally linked to complex political, cultural and social forces. Research on the advantages of learning English at a young age is controversial and…

As part of its ambitious Belt and Road initiative, the Chinese government, cognizant of the fact that establishing strong people-to-people bonds locally, regionally, and internationally will be key to the initiative's success and that languages will play a pivotal role in facilitating this, has called for the diversification of language programmes…

While formal L3 morphosyntactic acquisition research has focused on the roles of the L1 versus L2 during the L3 initial stages, we examine their roles during development. Specifically, we explore whether the L3 (here, Portuguese) revision process after non-facilitative transfer differs whether the initial L3 representation reflects the L1 or L2.…

The scholarly discourse around English as an international language (EIL) is reflected in educational policies and is a determining factor in proposals for ELT curriculum design and pedagogical practices (Matsuda, 2017). The purpose of this study is to examine Iraqi pre-service teachers' attitudes toward EIL and explore the perceived role and…

Histories of colonization conjointly with the current economic global climate have enabled English to become a dominant global language. The desire for citizens to attain English language proficiency on a nation-wide level is a common pursuit in developing countries, including the island nations of the South Pacific where English competency is…

A comparison of British and Australian experiences with language awareness curricula and the contexts in which they have been offered led to three conclusions: (1) language awareness courses are not a panacea for the problems of the second language teaching profession, and should not be designed both to contribute to the success of the foreign…

The brochure, intended for the parents of children in elementary school or younger, answers common questions about second language learning and instruction for children. In question-and-answer form, the following issues are addressed: the benefits of knowing a second language; why it is better for a child to learn a second language in elementary…

Two papers address different issues in linguistic theory. "Attitudes, Norms and Standardization in English: Some Aspects of the Language In Its Social Context," by Bent Preisler, looks at how attitudes affect language norms and ultimately, standardization in British and U.S. English. It begins with the attitudes and communicative…

Despite considerable linguistic diversity in Kenya, the country is increasingly trilingual, with individual Kenyans tending toward varying degrees of proficiency in the vernacular, Swahili, and English. The vernacular is acquired at home and in the neighborhood with co-ethnics in both rural and urban contexts. Swahili is typically learned…

Ten speaking and listening activities designed to improve the intercultural communication skills of intermediate and advanced learners of English are presented. The activities are based on seven goals of cultural instruction: (1) sense of culturally controlled behavior; (2) interaction of language and social variables such as gender, age, and…

It is argued that despite a common assumption to the contrary, there is children's literature appropriate to students of English as a Second Language (ESL) aged 9-14. First, the unique needs and characteristics of the target population are examined. This population consists of limited-English-proficient speakers, usually immigrants or refugees…

Essays in applied linguistics include: "Meaningful Negotiation: A Study of the Pedagogical Value of Autotutor-An Interactive Video Learning Resource" (John Stephen Byrne); "Medium of Instruction in the L2 Classroom" (Wei Danhua); "The Story of Language Contact and Shift in Ireland: How Unique, How Universal?" (Markku,…