This is the first large-scale study of resources as a form of "language management" -- that is, a way of influencing children's language practices. We introduce the distinction between child-directed resources (i.e. those providing parents with opportunities to engage with their children in the languages they are transmitting) and…

Using a large sample of longitudinal assessment data from children in publicly funded infant/toddler care, preschool, and kindergarten (analytic N = 453,468), this study modeled language and literacy trajectories from early infancy through kindergarten for dual language learners (DLLs) from homes representing many different languages and their…

To evaluate which features of spoken language aid infant word learning, a corpus of infant-directed speech (M. R. Brent & J. M. Siskind, 2001) was characterized on several linguistic dimensions and statistically related to the infants' vocabulary outcomes word by word. Comprehension (at 12 and 15 months) and production (15 months) were…

How are languages learned, and to what extent are learning mechanisms similar in infant native-language (L1) and adult second-language (L2) acquisition? In terms of vocabulary acquisition, we know from the infant literature that the ability to discriminate similar-sounding words at a particular age does not guarantee successful word-meaning…

The first years of life represent a unique window of opportunity for foreign language learning. However, key questions are: How much and what kind of foreign language exposure is needed to ignite learning? We conducted a foreign language (English) intervention in four public Infant Education Centers in Madrid, Spain. Intervention children (N =…

Since the introduction of iPads in 2010, the sales of tablet computers and mobile applications (apps) have grown exponentially. iPads and other tablets are marketed as learning tools, and many apps target learners as young as six months old. This article reports on a research project examining the unique features of English learning apps based on…

The theme for this year's College of Languages, Linguistics, and Literature at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa was "Language and Community," bringing together graduate students and faculty members from the Departments of East Asian Languages and Literatures (EALL), Indo-Pacific Languages and Literatures (IPLL), Languages and…

The backwash of testing on teaching can be positive or negative. This article is based on the findings of a study carried out in Kenya on strengthening the development of literacy in English among primary school children, which established that the learners performed poorly on skills that were not directly tested in the conventional examinations.…

Globally, approximately 208 million people aged 15 and older used illicit drugs at least once in the last 12 months; 2 billion consumed alcohol and tobacco consumption affected 25% (World Drug Report, 2008). In the United States, 20.1 million (8.0%) people aged 12 and older were illicit drug users, 129 million (51.6%) abused alcohol and 70.9…

After 18 months of research and many practice sessions, Sponge opened in the fall of 2005. This year, Sponge will provide language classes for over 350 children from newborn to seven years in the Seattle area. This language program offers Spanish, Mandarin, French and Japanese--all taught by native speakers. While the staff sets out to create a…

Across the United States, most American Indian children speak English as a first language. This fact allows a unique strategy for teaching an indigenous language as a second language. In all indigenous language programs, formal introduction to linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, can provide methods to help children "unlearn" aspects…

Native speakers recorded utterances in three role-play contexts: speech to presyllabic infants, foreign language instruction, and adult conversation. For babytalk, speakers neglected, reduced, or modified lexical tonal information in favor of simplified and clarified intonation contours. The implications regarding tone acquisition in children and…

Examines code switching in bilingual infants from a developmental perspective, using micro-focus of conversation analysis. Early switching data from two bilingual children is analyzed in terms of pragmatic choices and constraints. Some adult-like socially-determined switching was observed at an early age, but most early switches were explained by…

Reports on the perceptual discrimination of segmental and suprasegmental phones by Japanese learners of English. Results reveal that early learners showed better discrimination performance than normal learners and confirmed the usefulness of learning English at an early age. (16 references) (Author/CK)

This document presents eight scholarly articles on the multicultural milieu in which children grow and develop. Readings address the following questions: (1) What is culture and how is it formed? (2) How do people develop their cultural orientation? (3) What are some major insights about culture that are critical to the early childhood educator's…