Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST) has been applied to the study of second language acquisition to possibly account for the nonlinear development and variability found within second language development. Characteristics of a dynamic system that make it compatible with examining the developmental trajectory of second language acquisition include…

Theological education among Latin American Baptists began during the epoch of colonial missions as a part of the long-range strategy developed by missionaries primarily from North America. Beyond translation, contextualization had little importance in those beginning stages. Over time, the seminaries were nationalized, yet today the earlier…

Two experiments examined the influence of verb tense on how abstractly people construe action representations. Experiment 1 revealed that written descriptions of several daily events using the simple past tense (vs. simple present tense) resulted in actions and the action's target being seen as less likely and less familiar, respectively. In…

We examined 401 Latina/o high school students' postsecondary plans and their responses to an open-ended question about how their schools should better help Latina/o students to achieve their plans. The majority of students planned to enroll in postsecondary education or training. Boys and those responding in Spanish were more likely not to plan to…

In this commentary, the author defends the Multiple Grammars (MG) theory proposed by Luiz Amaral and Tom Roepe (A&R) in the present issue. Topics discussed include second language acquisition, the concept of developmental optionality, and the idea that structural decisions involve the lexical dimension. The author states that A&R's…

A remarkable example of Spanish-Italian contact is the Spanish variety spoken in Buenos Aires (Porteño), which is said to be prosodically "Italianized" due to migration-induced contact. The change in Porteño prosody has been interpreted as a result of transfer from the first language (L1) that occurred when Italian immigrants learned…

We implemented screening of children 16-30 months of age (n = 1,760) from a typically under-served, primarily Hispanic, population, at routine pediatric appointments using the modified checklist for autism in toddlers (M-CHAT) and Ages and Stages Questionnaire. Screen positive rates of 26 and 39%, respectively, were higher than previous reports.…

Recent literacy research shows an increasing interest in the influence of prosody on literacy acquisition. The current study examines the relationship of nonspeech rhythmic skills to children's reading acquisition, and their possible relation to stress assignment in Spanish, a syllable-timed language. Sixty-six third graders with no reading…

Purpose: This study examines the absolute and relative effects of 3 different treatment programs for school-age bilingual children with primary or specific language impairment (PLI). It serves to expand the evidence base on which service providers can base treatment decisions. It also explores hypothesized relations between languages and cognition…

This paper reanalyzed research previously conducted with Spanish-speaking childcare providers who participated in an educational literacy program. The women in the program were generally framed as the deficient other--illiterate, immigrant women. The authors used a critical framework and Chicana/Latina feminist methodologies, namely "pláticas…

Event-related potential studies on second language processing reveal that L1/L2 differences are due either to proficiency, age of acquisition or grammatical differences between L1 and L2 (Kotz in "Brain Lang" 109(2-3):68-74, 2009). However, the relative impact of these and other factors in second language processing is still not well…

This study explores cross-language and longitudinal patterns in unconventional word segmentation in 25 emerging bilingual students' (Spanish/English) writing from first through third grade. Spanish and English writing samples were collected annually and analyzed for two basic types of unconventional word segmentation: hyposegmentation, in…

People with hearing disability find it difficult to access to information and communication in public places. According to this fact, it is considered the possibility to design a communication system based on the Spanish Sign Language (SSL), which helps to overcome this barrier in public environments of wide concurrence, where much of the…

Virtual Worlds (VWs) in foreign language education are slowly becoming more popular. Many studies have looked at the affordances of these worlds and how they affect some aspects of language acquisition. However, it is still unknown to what extent, if any, these virtual worlds can play a role in affecting motivation and anxiety. The purpose of this…

When visiting Dual Language Immersion (DLI) programs within today's public schools, sociocultural divides and linguistic barriers between parents of each represented language group become quickly recognizable. Should it be a priority of DLI programs to foster intercultural parental relations as a means for improving student learning? If given the…