Part 1 of this study investigated possible causes of the observed decline in correlations between SAT scores and freshman grade-point average (FGPA). Working with a database of 38 colleges, the study found that the comparability of course grades received by entering freshmen declined in the 1980s. Three new measures of grade comparability-variety…

A study at one Taiwan medical school investigated perceptions of faculty (n=20) and students (n=349) about students' English-language needs. English was perceived as important for students' academic studies and future work. Students wanted a basic freshman-year English course, with listening the most important skill to improve. Students and…

Surveys 320 Japanese families residing temporarily in the United Kingdom about their language use and language needs and the priorities they attach to their children's learning of English and Japanese. Examines English and Japanese in the children's linguistic environment, including language used with parents, siblings, and care givers;…

Interviews with 103 limited-English-proficient middle school students in California examined student and parent attitudes toward learning English, student use of English with family and friends, homework and study assistance, participation in extracurricular activities, and the influence of frequent absences and years of English instruction on…

For scholars of literacy and educational linguistics, the years 2004 and beyond have given them cause to not only revisit racial issues 50 years after "Brown v. Board of Education," but also to revisit 25 years of language and racial politics since "the Martin Luther King Black English case." This chapter discusses what needs…

The authors describe various parenting behaviors, such as nurturance, discipline, teaching, and language use, and explain how researchers measure them. They note racial and ethnic variations in several behaviors. Most striking are differences in language use. Black and Hispanic mothers talk less with their young children than do white mothers and…

This longitudinal study examines the acquisition of subject pronouns in third language (L3) production. Participants were 90 Basque-Spanish bilingual students, learning English as a third language in a formal setting in the Basque Country. All the participants, who had received the same amount of exposure to English, were divided into three groups…

This research study investigated the potential of Internet technology to provide a dynamic and autonomous language-learning environment for adult distance language learners. The study focused on five essential characteristics of dynamic language learning and observed the online study activity of the students in relation to these. Learners were…

Language planning for international scientific communication needs to be understood in the context of some general language policy for the larger field of science and higher education. The academic field is a sociological and sociolinguistic field of production and circulation of science. This field contains monolingual and bi- or multilingual…

In this paper, we demonstrate the dialectical relationship between micro and macro language planning: macro planning influences micro planning and yet macro planning results (or should result) from micro planning. The relation between the two planning perspectives is illustrated within the framework of Language Management Theory (Jernudd &…

Presented at the Advanced Placement Annual Conference (APAC) in Las Vegas, July 2007. This presentation explores the demographic and course-taking patterns that have been identified behind what students take AP exams and how to best reach the population of students that are not currently taking AP exams.

This study analyzed verbal responses of status unequals in situations where a linguistic mistake occurred. Subjects were 80 native Turkish-speaking university students (28 males, 52 females) who participated in role-playing exercises using such situations. Two aspects of the responses were investigated: the semantic and syntactic formulas that…

Articles contained in this special issue on language usage in Hong Kong, particularly in the context of elementary and secondary education, include: "A Comparison of English Errors Made by Hong Kong Students and Those Made by Non-Native Learners of English Internationally" (David Bunton); "Errors in Guides to English Usage for Hong…

A study investigated: (1) the communication strategies (CSs) used by Turkish learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) when interacting with native English speakers, and (2) the influence of gender on use of CSs when communication difficulties occur because of limited English proficiency. Subjects were ten native Turkish-speaking ESL learners…

The report describes an Ontario (Canada) project to establish standards for the written and oral languages of its natives, including two language families and 13 languages still present in the province. The project has two streams: (1) a series of language conferences intended to establish consensus within an entire community regarding standard…