Schools across the country are currently facing the challenge of increasing numbers of students identified as English-language learners (ELL). Thus, knowledge of research about effective instruction for ELLs is becoming more important. On a positive note for principals, work has been done during the past few years to pull together critical…

The author has always had an appreciation of language--its rhythms, sounds, wordplay, dialects, usage variations, and powers to manipulate. Reflecting on how she came to this appreciation, she remembers her father reciting poems to her when she was a little girl. She was enthralled by the rhythm, the rhyme, and the sounds of the words--both…

Despite a long debate and the accompanying call for changes in the past few decades, grammar instruction in college English classes, according to some scholars, has remained largely "disempowering,""decontextualized," and "remedial" (Micciche, 2004, p. 718). To search for more effective and empowering grammar teaching, this study explores the use…

This study investigated code-mixing practices, specifically the use of L2 (English) in an L1 (Chinese) class in a U.S. bilingual program. Our findings indicate that the code-mixing practices made and prompted by the teacher served five pedagogical functions: (a) to enhance students' bilingualism and bilingual learning, (b) to review and…

To develop dispositions essential to linguistically responsive teaching (Lucas & Villegas, 2011), preservice teachers need opportunities to engage in reflection and dialogue about the sociocultural and sociopolitical dimensions of identity, language and culture pertinent to Latino/a English language learners. In this article, we present two…

Despite some school efforts to offer students the best second language learning, English language lessons are often taught with an overuse of the mother tongue. Hence, an action research project was conducted in order to discover how to adapt some features of the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) component: Lesson delivery, for the…

Uganda is a linguistically diverse nation where plurilingualism is common. Its language education policy dictates that, except in large urban areas, one local language be selected as the medium of instruction (MoI), to Primary 3, transitioning to English MoI, in Primary 4. Yet, as Ramanathan and Morgan ([Ramanathan, V., 2007]) argue, "the…

In a national context where the language rights of indigenous people have been recognized constitutionally since 2003, we deal with the following questions: How can bilingual education programmes in Mexico be clearly defined and applied? And what exactly are the final objectives of a bilingual education programme? We shall address the issue of the…

The 1974 Conference on College Composition and Communication's (CCCC) resolution declaring "Students' Right to Their Own Language" (SRTOL) defends the rights of students and all other writers to use different varieties of English (see Committee on CCCC Language Statement, 1974). In addition, the 1988 CCCC adoption of the National…

This article advocates the use of the target language at all times in the classroom at all levels of language instruction. While addressed specifically to middle school and high school teachers, the article suggests an approach to language instruction that can be implemented for students of all ages. After recounting how the author's experience…

This study investigated the specific ways secondary English learners (ELs) and redesignated fluent English-proficient learners (RFEPs) use academic vocabulary that assesses interpretive reading and analytical writing ability. The research examines how ELs and RFEPs, formerly ELs, differ in use and misuse of academic words. The study extends…

This study examined the ways in which the language that Head Start teachers used during book reading, as well as the extent to which they made explicit connections between book reading and other instructional activities, were linked to preschoolers' vocabulary development. Participants included 10 Head Start teachers and 153 children in their…

Until recently, the assumption of the language-teaching literature has been that new languages are best taught and learned monolingually, without the use of the students' own language(s). In recent years, however, this monolingual assumption has been increasingly questioned, and a re-evaluation of teaching that relates the language being taught to…

Following the No Child Left Behind Act (2001), which mandates standards-based accountability for the academic progress of all students, much attention has been given to integrating language and content instruction for English learners (ELs) in K-12 classrooms in the US. Although TESOL and other state-approved language proficiency standards…

Theories of human development and learning provide an essential framework in which to understand the mechanisms involved in the process of formal instruction as a specific form of teaching and learning in the school setting. The sociocultural theory of development, founded on the works of Lev Vygotsky, espouses the view that social interaction…