This systematic review addressed the following question: Which are the relations between L1 and/or L2 foundational and upper-level language skills, cognitive skills, high-order cognitive and self-regulation factors and L2-English reading comprehension skills in 11-to-19 year EFL secondary school students with different L1 language profiles?…

This study is a comparative examination of reading behavior of first-language (L1) Canadian and second-language (L2) Finnish and German readers of English. We measured eye-movement patterns during reading the same set of English sentences and administered tests of English vocabulary, spelling, and exposure to print. The core of our study is a…

The relationship between first and second language in early vocabulary acquisition in bilingual children is still debated in the literature. This study compared the expressive vocabulary of 39 equivalently low-SES two-year-old bilingual children from immigrant families with different heritage languages (Romanian vs. Nigerian English) and the same…

We examined the relation of morphological awareness with language and literacy skills, namely phonological awareness, orthographic awareness, vocabulary, word reading, spelling, text reading fluency, and reading comprehension. We also examined potential moderators of the relations (grade level, orthographic depth of language, receptive vs.…

We investigated age-related decline in adult learning of Dutch as an additional language (Ln) in speaking, writing, listening, and reading proficiency test scores for 56,024 adult immigrants with 50 L1s who came to the Netherlands for study or work. Performance for all four language skills turned out to decline monotonically after an age of…

Language is the most basic tool for communication. There are four basic areas of skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Each skill has a special importance in itself. Therefore, development of all skills will be beneficial for individuals. Writing skill is separated from other skills in that it has permanency. With writing, knowledge…

Given the exponential growth in international student populations in the United States, supporting cross-cultural language learners (CCLL) in developing their self and co-regulated learning is highly important. This paper presents a conceptual framework on the value of feedback within self-regulated versus co-regulated environments, in the context…

Infants have remarkable abilities to learn several languages. However, phonological acquisition in bilingual infants appears to vary depending on the phonetic similarities or differences of their two native languages. Many studies suggest that learning contrasts with different realizations in the two languages (e.g., the /p/, /t/, /k/ stops have…

Researching the longitudinal development of second language (L2) learners is essential to understanding influences on their success. This 7-year study of oral skills in adult immigrant learners of English as a second language evaluated comprehensibility, fluency, and accentedness in first-language (L1) Mandarin and Slavic language speakers. The…

The relationship between first language (L1) typology, defined as the classification of languages according to their structural characteristics (e.g. phonological systems and writing systems), and the development of second (L2) and third (L3) language skills and literacy proficiency in multilingual children was investigated in this study. The…

This study reports on the impact of 11 West European first languages on the acquisition of Dutch. Using data from nearly 6,000 second-language learners, it was found that the mother tongue had a rather large impact on two language skills--namely, oral and written proficiency--as measured by the scores received by these learners on the State…

Several articles dealing with bilingual education and language acquisition among American Indians illustrate problems representative of this ethnic minority. The major article by W. Miller considers the Shoshoni language as an "obsolescing" language, and a bibliography of the Numic languages is included. The information exchange section reports…

The history, linguistic development, and chief characteristics of the French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish languages are presented in short, informative sketches as guidelines for foreign language study. The article also briefly analyzes major literary works and cultural highlights of areas where the languages are spoken. (DS)

This handbook supplies a variety of general and specific information concerning career in foreign languages for Americans. The main topics include: (1) general recommendations for language study; (2) a sketch of the principal language families of the world, their genealogy and geographical distribution; (3) foreign language courses and degree…

The purposes of this paper are to: (1) describe the general linguistic situation in Alaska, (2) describe the bilingual education situation, and (3) discuss the effectiveness of the bilingual education programs and give an idea of the potential of bilingual education as a social force in Alaska. Much of the information is summarized in a number of…