This research article describes the English acquisition of three, young, high-achieving, Korean, bilingual students, their academic development and their social/psychological adjustment in school. All observations and interviews were conducted in the natural classroom setting. The Korean children underwent different school experiences, partially…

Many of the textbooks used to teach Indian management students are South East Asian editions of U.S. publications. Although these provide a great deal of information on the business world, particularly in a North American context, outside of India, they do not always meet the needs of either the Indian ESL Learner, or of Indian business and…

Due to the great interest of practitioners on reading fluency in first language (L1) and second language (L2) English classroom settings, fluency has become a hot topic. A number of studies have suggested that an extensive reading (ER) program can lead to improvement of L2 learners' reading rate; however, studies about high school students are…

The most salient difficulty in assessing English language learner (ELL) students who exhibit academic difficulties is identifying whether the problem is one of English proficiency or of a learning disability. In many cases, the symptoms are shared and difficult to disentangle, but obtaining a comprehensive picture of the child is vital for…

This study contrasts growth trajectories in English reading for 2 groups of language minority (LM) learners--those who enter kindergarten with limited oral English proficiency and those who enter kindergarten proficient in oral English--with that of native English speakers. Fitting a multilevel model for change to longitudinal data on a nationally…

In this article we propose the pedagogical model "bridging activities" to address advanced foreign language proficiency in the context of existing and emerging internet communication and information tools and communities. The article begins by establishing the need for language and genre-focused activities at the advanced level that attend to the…

Assessment of learners' academic achievement in a second language presents important challenges to the fields of educational research and educational practice. Although these challenges legitimately concern learners' familiarity with a second language, the challenges are more complex, particularly in the contexts of large-scale assessments that…

Based upon selected aspects of the theory of definition as proposed by Leonard (1967), results of the different conceptions of language proficiency are discussed. Properties of definitions, such as ambiguity and vagueness, and basic rules for defining terms are applied to current definitions of language proficiency in order to evaluate their…

When elementary, junior high, and college students were given German pronunciation instruction for two weeks and tested, the two older groups performed significantly better. (Editor/SP)

Looks at the general effects of bilingualism on cognitive development and highlights the specific effects of bilingualism on third language acquisition. Examines effects of bilingualism on cognitive development, metalinguistic awareness, and communicative skills, then focuses on the specific effects of bilingualism on third language proficiency by…

Most previous studies on topic prominence in second language (L2) acquisition have investigated interlanguage from the direction either of topic prominence to subject prominence or subject prominence to subject prominence. The role of topic/subject prominence typology in L2 acquisition cannot be fully explained until additional studies are…

The fifth edition of this bestselling book provides a comprehensive introduction to bilingualism and bilingual education. In a compact and clear style, its 19 chapters cover all the crucial issues in bilingualism at individual, group and national levels. These include: (1) defining who is bilingual and multilingual; (2) testing language abilities…

Developing the ability to speak in a foreign language is an arduous task. This is because it involves the mastery of different language subsystems, simultaneous focus on comprehension and production, and the impact of a range of social factors. This challenge is further compounded in situations in which learners have limited access to the target…

Research on the effect of bilingualism on third language acquisition was initially set in the framework of the study of potential differences between monolinguals acquiring a second language and bilinguals learning a third language. However, many authors have already started to concentrate on third language acquisition itself, and have…

Enrollments in foreign-language courses at American colleges and universities have jumped 13 percent since 2002, with Arabic and Chinese showing the most-dramatic increases, according to a report released last week by the Modern Language Association. The number of students studying Arabic soared 126.5 percent between 2002 and 2006, while the…