Defines the notion of literacy scaffold and explains why literacy scaffolding applies to both first- and second-language learners. Offers criteria for teachers to apply in developing scaffolds. Illustrates the model with scaffolding activities used with elementary children, emphasizing the kinds of social contexts that optimize learning. (MG)

Presents the results of the second year of a four-year longitudinal evaluation of a partial French immersion program in Cincinnati, Ohio, that includes children from lower socioeconomic group and ethnic minority group (Black) backgrounds in addition to majority (White) and middle-class students. (17 references) (GLR)

Analysis of the use of a cloze-procedure test to measure the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) proficiency of Japanese college students revealed that the cloze test correlated significantly with an essay test and improved prediction of ESL proficiency, suggesting that carefully constructed cloze tests could be useful in integrative language…

Identifies potential conflicts in cultures of instruction between language teachers and learners because of different expectations in how languages ought to be taught. The article discusses data from a study of Chinese language instruction at the University of Oregon, noting what teachers and students considered most and least important features.…

Discusses the linguistic and psychological barriers that exist for English-speaking students of Arabic. The article explains theoretical and practical issues in teaching Arabic as a foreign language and describes the implementation of four principles in the Foreign Service Institute approach. Suggests that this approach is transferrable to…

Israel's AMAL Aleph High School combines advanced technology with regular high school academic studies. This article describes how one English-as-a-Second-Language teacher joined a project to develop an online English student magazine for the Center for Educational Technology Internet site, then used to the project to improve students' English…

Describes the process of selecting and developing a debate team at the University of New South Wales (Australia) to compete in an international Modern Standard Chinese debating competition. Discusses issues in selecting team members, training needs and strategies (particularly self-directed learning), time pressure, and the success of the…

Interviews were conducted with a small group of multilingual students in an adult literacy class to examine how, at the individual student level, everyday literacy practices differ and intersect with a number of linguistic, cultural, and situational variables, and thus, how students' literacy needs differ in terms of a literacy program. (39…

Alternating between languages in the construction of stories offers students creative opportunities for bilingual learning. Describes how a storyteller can code switch to tell stories to children who are becoming bilingual and presents an example from early-immersion classrooms in Colombia, discussing code switching and discourse control, and…

Investigates the efficacy of integrating electronic-mail writing into two English-as-Foreign-Language (EFL) classrooms and explores the dynamics involved in the process of e-mail exchanges. Students in one class were paired up to exchange e-mail messages with the students in the other class for one semester. At the end of the project, a written…

Describes and analyzes the perceptions and reactions of a well-qualified, positively oriented primary-school English teacher to Hong Kong's target-oriented curriculum (TOC) initiative, a major government-sponsored innovation. The analysis encompasses teacher attitudes, teacher training and support, teachers' understanding of an innovation, teacher…

Examines nonpsychological determinants of students' college major choice to challenge the premise that college major choice is not solely determined by vocational interests. Surveyed more than 300 Chinese-American undergraduates, a majority of whom are first-generation immigrants enrolled in institutions of higher education in Greater New York.…

Investigates the effect of oral and electronic media on interaction patterns by learners of Japanese as a second language. The framework for the analysis of learner is speech act theory, which provides a richly developed set of descriptive categories by which to examine interactional processes. (Author/JL)

Reviews the history of the English language in Egypt and examines the forms and functions of English use in contemporary Egypt. (Author/VWL)

Thirteen California K-12 teachers of bilingual education and English as a second language participated in a 3-year program to create new teaching strategies based on the Natural Approach theory. Their involvement in research-informed teaching enhanced their bilingual education practices and renewed their confidence and enthusiasm in their teaching…