This volume discusses factors that affect struggling readers in grades 7-12 and provides research-based strategies for improving their reading and writing skills. Chapters examine why some adolescents have trouble achieving reading proficiency, describe school-wide policies and programs that support literacy, and suggest age-appropriate classroom…

This guide is designed for tutors and teachers of literacy in rural locations in Australia, and their trainers, to help them respond appropriately to the language and literacy needs of adults of non-English-speaking background. It is divided into five sections. The first is an introduction. The second addresses the general topics of language…

The Language Teacher Research Series aims to connect research and practice by highlighting the insights that teachers themselves describe after examining their own practices. This first volume of the five-volume series presents research conducted by language teachers at all levels, from high school English teachers to English language teacher…

This paper reports on the results of an action research project at Coventry University that consisted of the evaluation of a curriculum innovation supported by the use of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) WebCT, i.e. a new module (course): "Academic and Professional Skills for Language Learning". The project was carried out…

Austin Independent School District provided full-day prekindergarten to 5,196 4-year-olds in 2008-2009 at 66 schools. Seventy percent or more of students made measureable gains on a test of receptive vocabulary, and average gains showed growth about two times greater than that expected for 4-year-olds after a 7-month period.

Arizona's state policy concerning foreign language education is outlined. The document begins with a state board of education policy statement, followed by a statement of philosophy concerning the objectives and general content of language instruction. Economic, social, and educational principles underlying the rationale for language education are…

This study focused on language and literacy learning in a group of Cambodian families in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) linked locally by an English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) class, and more broadly by common histories, culture, and language. Over a period of 3 years, the researcher looked at: broad patterns of language and literacy use in this…

A project to identify alternative strategies for assessing the academic language of English language learners is reported. First, literature on the concept of academic language is reviewed, and then findings from classroom research are used to propose an alternative conceptualization of academic language, one which focuses on the role of stylistic…

The Success for All model of instruction, which seeks to prevent academic problems in elementary school by addressing reading difficulties with early, intensive intervention, is described. The approach, begun with native English-speaking students at risk academically, provides tutoring from prekindergarten or kindergarten onward, particularly…

This paper discusses the importance of listening comprehension in the learning of English as a Second Language (ESL). It is argued that more emphasis needs to be given to the neglected skills of listening comprehension, since most training in oral communication at the secondary and college level focuses on effective speaking. The paper outlines…

A study conducted in the English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) class of 11 Southeast Asian refugee parents of several nationalities and language groups investigated changes in the parents' relationships with their children through four months of the acculturation process, focusing on the strategies the parents used to guide and assist their children…

The roles that pragmatics can play in the development of communicative competence are discussed, and three uses are examined in greater detail, with examples offered: (1) for the refinement of the study of speech acts as they occur in different cultures; (2) to help determine the extent to which explicit instruction can increase the rate at which…

This book is divided into three parts. It begins with fundamental principles about reading, texts, and teaching which underlie the way the book approaches its subject; the second part looks more closely at some of the theoretical issues and how they affect reading teaching. The third focuses on the importance of exensive reading, the choice of…

Materials presented here include a variety of resources for teachers of Esperanto: a brief guide to Esperanto teaching, including suggested teacher qualifications, a listing of instructional materials and resources, including serials, with details of publication, activities in preparation for teaching, grade-level class activities, notes on…

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…