All languages employ certain phonetic contrasts when distinguishing words. Infant speech perception is rapidly attuned to these contrasts before many words are learned, thus phonetic attunement is thought to proceed independently of lexical and referential knowledge. Here, evidence to the contrary is provided. Ninety-eight 9-month-old…

Despite the large number of published articles dealing with Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL) applications over the past two decades, very few relate to the curricular integration of mobile technologies beyond initial projects. This situation raises a primary research question as to whether or not MALL implementation publications reflect…

Although most studies of language learning take place in quiet laboratory settings, everyday language learning occurs under noisy conditions. The current research investigated the effects of background speech on word learning. Both younger (22- to 24-month-olds; n = 40) and older (28- to 30-month-olds; n = 40) toddlers successfully learned novel…

This study investigates children's acquisition of the distinction between direct speech (Elephant said, "I get the football") and indirect speech ("Elephant said that he gets the football"), by measuring children's interpretation of first, second, and third person pronouns. Based on evidence from various linguistic sources, we…

Our aim was to assess the impact of an invented spelling programme conducted in small groups on children's written language acquisition in Portuguese. We expected the experimental group to have better post-test results than the control group in spelling and reading. Participants were 160 preschool-age children who were randomly divided into an…

This article explores English-speaking children's acquisition of raising structures with an experiencer (e.g.," John seems to Mary to be happy"). We review and address previously unnoticed issues in the methodologies of existing studies testing the acquisition of raising, thus providing a more reliable picture of children's abilities…

The demand for computing professionals in the workplace has led to increased attention to computer science education, and introductory computer science courses have been introduced at different levels of education. This study investigated the relationship between gender, academic performance in non-programming subjects, and programming learning…

We designed a parent-directed home-visiting intervention targeting socioeconomic status (SES) disparities in children's early language environments. A randomized controlled trial was used to evaluate whether the intervention improved parents' knowledge of child language development and increased the amount and diversity of parent talk.…

Children who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) using Listening and spoken language (LSL) as their primary mode of communication have emerged as a growing population in general education and special education classroom settings, and have educational performance expectations similar to their same aged hearing peers. Academic instruction that…

The present study tested a path diagram regarding the contribution of morphological awareness (MA) to early literacy acquisition among Chinese-speaking second graders (N = 123). Three facets of MA were addressed, namely derivational awareness, compound awareness and compound structure awareness. The model aimed to test a theory of causal order…

RAN tests were administered to 600 typically developing children, 60 each from grade level one through grade ten (30 boys and 30 girls), who learn two distinct languages, English and Kannada simultaneously from the very first grade. The overall results were in accordance with similar previous studies in English and other European languages. The…

Language is nature in action and something humans do. This literature review presents evidence from the literature that suggests that learning a foreign language in a classroom situation does not require high levels of student motivation. It is instead suggested that high levels of motivation are needed to make progress when a teacher is using…

Teachers, both mainstream and English as a New Language (ENL), are cognizant of the many languages and learning ability levels of ELLs. They struggle to address the challenges presented by this population of students. Districts with large or small ELL populations face similar challenges: how can mainstream content be made comprehensible to ELLs to…

The present study examined continuity/discontinuity and stability/instability of noun and verb production measures in 30 child-mother dyads observed at 16 and 20 months, and predictive relations with the acquisition of nouns and verbs at 24 months. Children exhibited significant discontinuity and robust stability in the frequency of nouns and…

Traditionally, second language (L2) instruction has emphasised auditory-based instruction methods. However, this approach is restrictive in the sense that speech perception by humans is not just an auditory phenomenon but a multimodal one, and specifically, a visual one as well. In the past decade, experimental studies have shown that the…