Considering the acquisition of past tense uses by L2 Spanish advanced learners with closely related L1s (French, Portuguese), this study attempts to identify factors associated with variability, such as negative transfer or interface integration. We report data on the acquisition, by adult L1 French and Portuguese learners at B2 and C1 CEFR…

The population of Mandarin-speaking, Chinese international students is rapidly expanding in the United States (Institute of International Education n.d.). Among them, there is a small subgroup of individuals who are minors and unaccompanied by parents (i.e., parachute kids). As part of its initiative to increase support for Mandarin-speaking…

Speaking fluently requires three main processes to run smoothly: conceptualization, formulation, and articulation. This study investigates to what extent fluency in spontaneous speech in both first (L1) and second (L2) languages can be explained by individual differences in articulatory skills. A group of L2 English learners (n = 51) performed…

Despite the known roles of working memory and background knowledge in the process of reading comprehension, few attempts have been made to elucidate the interaction between these two individual difference factors in second language (L2) reading comprehension. The current study investigated whether and how working memory and background knowledge…

Migrant and refugee parents considering raising their children in their non-mainstream home language often fear that this decision may impact negatively on their children's English language ability and thus affect their academic prospects. The lack of institutional support for home languages in the Australian school system, and the…

Strong claims are made regarding the significant role that multiword sequences play in the comprehension and production of speech and writing. Although the literature is replete with research-informed, evidence-based guidelines on how to maximize the learning of such sequences, such guidelines need to be synthesized, analyzed and evaluated for…

According to Self-Determination Theory, intrinsic and self-determined extrinsic motivation are maintained to the extent that learners feel that engagement in an activity is a personally meaningful choice, that the task can be performed competently, and that they share a social bond with significant others in the learning context. These perceptions…

This study aimed at investigating the perceptions of using first language (Arabic) in the ESP classroom from the viewpoints of both students and teachers of the Preparatory Year Department at an applied medical college in Saudi Arabia. It also intended to find out if there were significant differences in perceptions according to variables like…

As grit has been associated with elements of academic success throughout the literature, it was of interest to the current study to analyze grit within the context of online, international ESL students enrolled in an American university. Thus, this study examined the predictive properties of grit (using both Spearman rho and stepwise regression…

Negation has been researched in second language acquisition in several languages (Bernini 2000; Donaldson 2017; Eskildsen 2012). However, there are very few studies that have discussed the acquisition of negation in L2 Spanish. In Alexandrino's (2010) dissertation, Grammaticality Judgment Tasks are employed to indicate that the acquisition of…

The Black population has contributed to Canada's heritage since the early 1600s. Black people in Canada have diverse backgrounds and experiences -- while some can trace their roots in Canada for many generations, others have immigrated in recent decades. They have contributed in many ways to the growth, diversity and development of the country. In…

Education has continuously been regarded as a vital tool in Norwegian policymakers' immigrant integration agendas. This study analyzes semantic structures substantiating the policy language of historical Norwegian immigrant education policies from their inception in 1973 until today (2013). The analysis is framed by Kronenfeld's linguistic…

This paper examines the development of the First Language Maintenance and Development (FLMD) program in South Australia. This program is the main language policy activity that specifically focuses on language maintenance in government primary schools and has existed since 1986. During this time, the program has evolved largely as the result of ad…

English has a very dynamic status today. One can literally witness its circle widening day by day, engulfing in it a wide spectrum of varieties. English is a pluri-centric language, i.e. language with more than one accepted standard and set of norms for creativity. The spread of English across the globe took place due to two reasons: first, the…

This paper creates a novel link between research on linguistics and education by discussing what we know about the sound system of heritage language users of Spanish and how these findings can inform practices implemented in heritage Spanish courses in the USA. First, we provide an overview of terminology associated with heritage language…