This article argues that the concept of affordances as put forward by James J. Gibson can make a major contribution to our understanding of multilingualism. It can throw some light on multilingualism in general as well as on specific aspects like successful and unsuccessful transfer, the challenges involved in teaching for multilingualism,…

This study focused on the mechanisms underlying incidental second language (L2) vocabulary acquisition prior to formal instruction. We designed a cross-sectional study to examine which learner-related and word-related variables affect young learners' vocabulary knowledge at the level of meaning recognition and meaning recall. We collected data…

In this dissertation, I investigated how cognitive resources as well as formal, and informal language experience impact language learning in two studies. In the first study (Chapter 2), I examined the learning of Spanish grammatical gender by Chinese international students who were studying abroad in the US. The goal of that study was to uncover…

Successful reading comprehension in L2 involves both lower and higher level processes, being dependent on both strategies and skills. These two components are often treated interchangeably or inconsistently in the literature and such inconsistency may affect the teaching of reading. In light of the above, this paper aims at analysing how…

This article proposes ways to authentically amplify writer's workshop for emergent bilinguals. Through the study of one bilingual teacher's mediation in teaching, we examined the affordances that translanguaging and transmodal practices have for emergent bilingual students' writing processes. In this case study, we focused on a writing sequence…

Although much research on English for specific purposes (ESP) has been conducted, little focus has been placed on investigating the mechanisms involved in ESP readers' comprehension process. This case study explored the reading process that characterizes a competent ESP reader's comprehension. A juris doctor student attending a major university in…

This investigation examined the approaches bilingual education elementary teachers implemented to develop student science and English language understanding. In this investigation, teachers used Proficiency Level Descriptors (PLDs) to assess bilingual-ELs' (BLs) English writing understanding. Teacher interviews, student writing samples, and the…

African township schools are characterised by cultural and linguistic diversity, hence, teachers have the dual task of ensuring that learners grasp scientific concepts, while also catering for the diversity in the learners' backgrounds. The study reported on here was aimed at investigating teachers' beliefs and practices in teaching life sciences…

This paper explores how a monolingual English-speaking teacher working with transnational emergent multilinguals (TEMs) in a sheltered English classroom in the U.S. capitalized on students' interjections turning them into teachable moments. Specifically, it explores how these instances allowed the teacher to model and teach TEMs how to draw on…

This study describes multilingual students' authentic use of their first and second languages in a "translanguaging science classroom," from a sociocultural perspective. The study is ethnographic, and has followed some lessons each month in a translanguaging science classroom at a primary school for three years. The observed lessons were…

On college campuses throughout the United States, classes for decades have been offered to help Spanish speakers learn Portuguese, augmented recently by similar courses in Italian, French, and Catalan. Though there exist numerous commonalities between these innovative course offerings, the pivotal role of Spanish stands out. This essay therefore…

This study examined the effectiveness of explicit instruction and feedback, focusing on degrees of prior knowledge of the personal "a" in intermediate level second language (L2) Spanish. On the pretest, participants (n = 58) completed grammaticality judgment and picture description tasks, which found that learners had different degrees…

In late 1990s, teacher cognition has emerged as an important field of inquiry as more and more research studies have demonstrated that teachers' cognitions influence their instructional decisions and activities (Borg, 2003). In the case of pre-service teachers, their beliefs are mainly influenced by their prior experience as learners while these…

Arab students who learn English as a foreign language, especially Saudi students, face different challenges during the process of learning of the four English language skills, especially writing and its component (spelling). This paper aims to investigate the preceded causes of students' spelling errors. The main research question sought to be…

Learning the writing skill is a challenging task for second or foreign language learners. This difficulty stems from the fact that students required multiple skills and knowledge while writing. They need, for example, enough vocabulary inventory, grammar knowledge, and other discourse strategies to organize the text. Students are also in need for…