Infants learn from adults readily and cooperate with them spontaneously, but how do they select culturally appropriate teachers and collaborators? Building on evidence that children demonstrate social preferences for speakers of their native language, Experiment 1 presented 10-month-old infants with videotaped events in which a native and a…

In this paper, we validate Macaro's (2006) model of strategy use among language learners by assessing the amount of neural activity around the prefrontal cortex, the supposed locus of working memory (WM). We also examine whether WM activation during first language (L1) strategy deployment is lower than WM activation during second language (L2)…

This article explores some of the distinctive challenges in Chinese language education in schools and discusses how the development of the "Australian Curriculum: Chinese" has responded to these challenges. It details how the curriculum framework outlined in the "Shape of the Australian Curriculum: Languages" (ACARA, 2011)…

In the present investigation, 15 first term university students were faced with 80 context-based idioms in English (L2) and Swedish (L1) respectively, 30 of which were in the source domain of animals, commonly used in both languages, and asked to explain their meaning. The idioms were of varying frequency and transparency. Three main research…

Stress is one of the key suprasegmentals in English sound system. It plays an important role in intelligibility and comprehensibility. However, stress often poses problems for Chinese EFL Learners. Chinese learners of English often misplace the stress in English words and sentences which subsequently may interrupt the flow of communication and…

This study attempted to test the threshold hypothesis in second/foreign language (L2) reading by investigating the relations among first language (L1) reading, L2 knowledge, and L2 reading comprehension in a sample of 2666 (1333 males and 1333 females) Korean EFL high school students. Three different methods of data analysis were utilized after…

The use of music and song in the English language-learning classroom is not new. While many teachers intuitively feel that music is beneficial in teaching English language, there is sometimes a lack of the theoretical underpinnings that support such a choice. There are examples in the literature to argue the strong relationship between music and…

This paper focuses on the role of language and some issues associated with identifying appropriate language of instruction for three foundational Maths ideas in the Early Years of schooling. These are considered in relation to the project: "Strong Literacy and Numeracy in Communities--Numeracy Component." This had two broad goals,…

This article explores the interactional processes of a binational stepfamily in Denmark. Following Bourdieu (1977), it is argued that in stepfamily interaction, negotiations of legitimacy precede, overlap and become intertwined with negotiations of control and connection. In previous studies conducted in interactional linguistics and linguistic…

This study examines the second language acquisition of the evidentiality requirement in the Korean psychological state of mind expressions. When an experiencer of the psychological state of mind is different from the speaker, Korean language requires an evidential expression to the psychological predicate so that the speaker indicates the source…

Punjabi heritage language maintenance and development are rooted in community, identity, and, for many, faith. Various opportunities are available for maintaining linguistic ties to Punjabi (also spelled Panjabi) and for developing proficiency in the Punjabi language. They range from community-based to federally funded programs, available in…

Adults tend to perceive speech sounds from their native language as members of distinct and stable categories; however, they fail to perceive differences between many non-native speech sounds without a great deal of training. The present study investigates the effects of categorization training on adults' ability to discriminate non-native…

This article examines the claim that a fully immersive English language learning experience can be ensured by universities engaged in transnational education through offshore campuses. Taking as a case study one South East Asian offshore campus of a Western university, the inquiry was designed to discover the extent to which students did, in…

Heritage language speakers struggle in European classrooms with insufficient material provided for second language (SL) learning and assessment. Considering the amount of instruments and pertinent studies in English SL, immigrant students are better prepared than their peers in Romance language settings. This study investigates how factors such as…

Uganda introduced the use of mother tongue as medium of instruction in primary schools in 2007. This was meant to promote interaction and participation in the learning process and improve children's proficiency in reading and writing. Drawing elements of interaction and participation from the socio-cultural theory, the child-centred pedagogy was…