In this interview, Gunther Kress proposes how English needs to expand beyond its traditional linguistic frame into a semiotic frame which recognizes not only the visual but other modes. He argues also for a shift to forms of production in which the acts of reflection and meaning-making are fused, rather than separating the production of new…

There is often a resistance to verbal language in the nonverbal arts. Within educational establishments, language does not simply serve the art work or its making; it serves other extraneous goals of legitimation. The link between language and legitimation is striking. Dance education in Great Britain, for example, has recently moved from…

Many recent generativist models attribute grammatical knowledge to young children on the basis that children's language patterns the same way as the target adult language. It has been proposed that the child acquires this knowledge early on in development by a process of parameter setting. Wexler (1996) presents the "Very Early Parameter Setting…

Until recently, research in applied linguistics has tended to treat learners in relative isolation from their context, and to study primarily classroom and other educational contexts. This paper in contrast focuses on the contexts which frame learning, and in particular the resources which these contexts provide. A model is outlined which includes…

This paper proposes a range of improvements to international science communication. It pictures the contemporary language situation in international scientific communication as well as its recent history with the rise of English as its most notable feature and offers explanations for this development. It discusses in which sciences languages other…

The purpose of this article is to evaluate the applicability of task-based language teaching (TBLT) to state secondary foreign language classes. After discussion of method in general, TBLT is defined and its particularities described. Tasks are assessed as the basis for syllabus and then as the basis for method. In both cases, the proposals are…

This study compared phonological features of African American English speakers at 3 grade levels: preschool, elementary school, and middle school. The phonological features exhibited at all 3 grade levels were quite similar. The frequency of usage, determined by the percentage of speakers exhibiting the feature and by the mean number of…

Language transmission occurs both in the domestic and in the public domain. These domains are typically represented by the home and the school. Viewed from the perspectives of majority-language versus minority-language speakers, language transmission becomes a very different issue. In the case of majority language speakers, language transmission…

Heritage languages (HL) are language spoken by the children of immigrants or by those who immigrated to a country when young. The purpose of this article is to briefly review what is known about heritage language development over time and to identify some gaps in people's knowledge. In this article, the authors consider three aspects: how much HL…

Predominant, if not exclusive, use of the target language has long been considered an important principle of second language (L2) instruction. Previous research has attempted to quantify the amount of the first language (L1) used in the classroom and has explored the purposes or functions of teachers' "lapses" into their students' L1. The present…

This qualitative study analyzed the English language learning difficulties of 13 purposively chosen Korean students relative to their sociolinguistic competence, motivation in using the English language, and cultural factors. Interview responses were transcribed, categorized and thematised according to saliency, meaning and homogeneity. The…

The "TIMSS 2011 International Results in Mathematics" summarizes fourth and eighth grade student achievement in each of the 63 countries and 14 benchmarking entities which participated in TIMSS 2011. The report includes trends in mathematics achievement over time for participants in the previous TIMSS 1995, 1999, 2003, and 2007…

The purpose of this study was to analyze what a group teachers say to English Language Learners as part of the curriculum and instruction, and to categorize the comments along the lines of scientific curriculum inquiry. Observations and interviews were the primary methods of data collection for this proposed study. An analysis was made of what the…

For the monolingual population, research has shown that vocabulary knowledge is closely related to reading achievement. However, the role of vocabulary has not been studied as extensively in the bilingual population. It is important to look at vocabulary to better understand reading achievement in the bilingual population in the United States.…

This study examines out-of-school use of Irish and motivation to learn Irish among final year post-primary students from three different instructional backgrounds: mainstream students studying ordinary and higher level Irish as a subject only and immersion students. Information on motivation and use is linked to student proficiency in Irish.…