This study revealed the relationship between L1 (Mandarin Chinese) and L2 (English) strategy use in L2 reading comprehension by focusing on the correlation of L1 reading ability, L2 proficiency and employed reading strategies. The participants, 222 undergraduates learning English as a foreign language (EFL), were classified into skilled and…

While literature-based instruction has been highly praised for its pedagogical benefits, it confronts entrenched learning hindrances, both linguistic and cultural in EFL settings. Whether the literature instruction in practice is motivating or demotivating is an issue worthy of concern. In response to the issue, this paper examines a literature…

Under headings such as finances, child care, cultural challenges, location, racism, teachers, and accents, 30 immigrant women speaking either Mandarin, Cantonese, Punjabi, or Urdu told their stories of arriving in Canada without English, and the obstacles they faced in trying to acquire English. While differing in their goals for learning English,…

The language situation in the Malaysian Chinese community has undergone great changes in the past century. This paper aims to account for such changes in the framework of sociolinguistic realignment, which is both descriptive and predictive. The triglossic situation in the colonial period (1859-1957) is described; with the support of a language…

Two experiments examined the hypothesis that L1 phonological awareness plays a role in children's ability to extract morphological patterns of English as L2 from the auditory input. In Experiment 1, 84 Chinese-speaking third graders were tested on whether they extracted the alternation pattern between the base and the derived form (e.g.,…

This paper discusses effects of home language usage on minority student educational attainment in western China. Using survey data, the author finds that non-Chinese-speaking minority students are at a disadvantage in the transition to senior secondary schools. However, their transition to junior secondary schools is even more complicated. Rural…

Drawing on Mikhail Bakhtin's Carnival theory, this article focuses on specific outcomes of a research project the author undertook in Hong Kong, where drama pedagogy has been recently introduced into the official curriculum. It investigates the ways in which laughter, noise, jokes, frolic and popular literacies commonly appear in classrooms where…

This article presents a case study investigating the effectiveness of interventions designed to improve second language and reading proficiency of a seven-year-old Chinese-speaking ELL, Xin Wei, who completed second grade at a diverse metropolitan elementary school in the U.S. While a single case study cannot answer all the questions that arise as…

Despite holding advanced language qualifications, many overseas students studying at English-speaking universities still have difficulties in formulating grammatically correct sentences. This article introduces an "independent open learner model" for advanced second language speakers of English, which confronts students with the state of their…

User perceptions and experiences of complementary education are neglected in the research literature, yet they are important in providing understanding concerning complementary schools and their impact on educational and social identities. This paper explores the constructions of parents of pupils attending these schools, and of teachers at these…

This study examined the overlap of dyslexia and specific language impairment (SLI) in Cantonese-Chinese-speaking children. Thirty children with a prior diagnosis of SLI and 9 normal controls, aged between 6;0 and 11;3, participated. The children with SLI were tested for language impairment and dyslexia. Seven retained a diagnosis of SLI but were…

Borrowed words are the products of language development and cultural contact. This paper probes into the brief study of borrowed words in both English and Chinese vocabulary. At the very beginning it generally introduces issues being covered, and the following two parts center on the study of borrowed words on the basis of dictionary research.…

There has been considerable research that investigates whether reflexives in interlanguage grammars (ILGs) are constrained by Principle A of the Binding Theory. These earlier studies focused on the role of sentence type, including both finite and non-finite test sentences; they did not examine the role of antecedent type, namely distinguishing…

Promotion of students' spiritual development is one of the goals of pastoral care in schools. The heritage of Chinese calligraphy is traditionally used as a way to enhance an individual's self-reflection and cultivation, and has an educational value in spiritual development. This study aims to examine the cultural meaning of Chinese calligraphy…

Associations among neighborhood disadvantage, maternal acculturation, parenting and conduct problems were investigated in a sample of 444 Chinese American adolescents. Adolescents (54% female, 46% male) ranged from 12 to 15 years of age (mean age = 13.0 years). Multilevel modeling was employed to test the hypothesis that the association between…