Most of the population of Japan remains ethnically Japanese. For this reason, bilingualism has never been a subject of significant concern in Japan. With the recent influx of new groups of non-Japanese speakers into Japan, the society is becoming more multilingual. This book introduces the way languages are used in Japanese interlingual families,…

A study analyzed repetition in the discourse of students of Spanish as a second language working on a writing assignment in collaborative dyads (n=5). Results show the sociocultural and mental activity was mediated by repetition of both first- and second-language utterances, whose effect was to create and maintain a shared perspective of the task…

Analyzes the linguistic integration of Hispanic immigrants using a longitudinal interpretation of data from the 1976 Survey of Income and Education. Findings suggest that the age at time of arrival and the length of residence explain observed patterns of language shift. (FMW)

This study investigated whether 199 advanced nonnative speakers of English attending Ohio State University judged the appropriateness of speech acts of giving thanks in ways similar to those of native speakers. The results showed that speakers of Chinese, Indonesian, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, and Arabic ranked expressions of thanks differently…

This study examined the language use practices of three bilingual students enrolled in a fourth-grade class and of the class as a whole. The study found that most children reported using greater amounts of English as they progressed through the grades, and that children consistently held very positive attitudes toward Spanish and bilingualism.…

Summaries of eight language-related research projects are presented from Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Topics include children's reading, nonstandard spoken Indonesian, English speech act performance, classroom verbal interaction, journal writing, and listening comprehension. (LB)

Calls into question the data of grammaticality judgment tasks on which several GB-based studies on the second-language acquisition of accusative verbs by Japanese learners of English base their arguments and reports the results of a pilot study. (Author/VWL)

This article draws on constructs in second-language acquisition, literacy, cultural, and media studies as theoretical bases for examining how networked technologies and fan culture provide a young English language learner (ELL) with a site for developing her English language and writing skills. During this process, she also develops an online…

Using a framework from cultural studies and focusing on theories put forward by Pierre Bourdieu, the goal in this paper is to consider how some West Africans interact with foreign languages and cultures in an era of global capital, especially when it comes to the activities of migrants venturing into overseas labour markets and to the production…

The use of English by foreign language teacher is a matter of much controversy. Whereas language switching by English-speaking foreign language teachers has been the focus of previous research, relatively little is known about the amount of teachers' language used in the classroom when comparing native speakers of the foreign language with…

Rapid evolution of communication technologies has changed language pedagogy and language use, enabling new forms of discourse, new forms of authorship, and new ways to create and participate in communities. The first section of this article identifies and discusses four key issues arising from the recent technology-related literature (the status…

Testing language skills is difficult, but testing writing, and the writing of students of English as a Second Language, poses two major problems. The first is making decisions about the matter of control, objectivity of the evaluation, and naturalness in the writing test. The second major problem is that, if the test is done in a way that cannot…

A study used the Preschool Teacher Verbal Behavior Index (PTVBI) to measure the extent to which classrooms were learner-directed or teacher-directed. The instrument can be used to help teachers learn the appropriate degree of control for different classroom situations and individual learner needs. Verbatim teachers statements are categorized as…

This study sought to determine under what conditions 14 recent Mexican immigrant high school students thought they used and acquired English as a Second Language (ESL) in an "English Only" high school in California. Each of the 14 students was interviewed at least twice and "shadowed" for 2 days in school. Follow-up interviews and observations…

More than 200 publications regarding Languages for Specific Purposes (LSP) from the past 25 years, excluding work on English for Specific Purposes, are compiled in this literature review. In introductory comments that precede the bibliography, it is noted that most of the activity in this field has occurred in the last decade, with eight…