This study reports on the linguistic and sociocultural affordances available to multilinguals through their engagement in a social learning space at a Community of Practices (CoPs). Despite the existence of studies on CoP in language learning contexts, however, little work has been conducted on the affordances of a multilingual learning community,…

This narrative case study examines the multilingual practice and identity of Haben, a refugee-background Somali-Bantu in a larger one-year (2019-2020) ethnography with refugee arrivals in coping with new linguistic and cultural environment in a northeastern U.S. city. Framed by the entangled transnational-translocal approach to multilinguals,…

Focusing on how a world of possibilities is opened up by language learners themselves, imagination has been regarded as an elusive but indispensable element in second language (L2) education. Drawing on notions of international posture (Yashima 2002), Ideal L2 Self (Dörnyei 2009), and imagined communities (Norton 2001), we theorised imagination…

We investigated how the knowledge and usage of two languages relate to sociocultural adjustment in bilingual adolescent samples from three ethnic groups in Indonesia (214 Javanese, 108 Toraja, and 195 Chinese adolescents; 272 females; M[subscript age] = 14.33 years). We tested a model specifying that the vocabulary knowledge of each language…

The research reported in this paper adopts a sociocultural approach to the comparative study of Thai and Serbian foreign language learning settings, seeking to identify similarities and differences in student perception of teacher approaches to teaching EFL. The participants in the research included a total of 439 Thai and 106 Serbian students.…

This article presents an overview of the perceived importance and accelerated spread of English language education, both formal and informal, in three East Asian countries (i.e. China, Japan and South Korea) against the backdrop of globalisation and emergent ideological, sociocultural and educational trends. It begins with a review of the recent…

Outlines social psychological approach to language and ethnicity which allows understanding processes underlying group members' desires to create distinctive ethnolinguistic varieties. Evaluates Gardner's and Clement's social psychological models of second language acquisition in interethnic contexts; proposes specific social psychological…

This study investigated the role of several sociocultural variables involved in the acculturation process and their relationship to second-language learning and well-being. A causal modeling analysis indicated that an assimilation mode of acculturation was positively related to self-rated English proficiency and preference for responding to the…

Highlights the potential demands for the services of the speech therapist. In a linguistic assessment, the therapist needs to differentiate between first and second language learning problems. An assessment procedure must allow a child to respond in either of his/her two languages and be given credit for such responses. (Author/PJM)

Two sociocultural value clusters that predict an English-as-a-Second-language and an English-as-a-Foreign-Language approach are juxtaposed, respectively, to English language acquisition management. The two approaches are described in educational terms and related to the changing functions of English in the world and to national language…

A study of limited-English-speaking Vietnamese children (K-12) showed that the best predictors of reading performance were grade, Vietnamese language background, amount of English spoken at home, higher level paternal occupation, and ESL class participation. Predictors not found significant included gender, siblings, television viewing, library…