This study examines the effect of two vocabulary instruction treatments on word retention by 56 EFL learners. In particular, it focuses on the differential effects of a message-oriented treatment (reading text and answering comprehension questions) and a vocabulary-oriented treatment (reading text and performing two vocabulary tasks) on learners'…

The author describes her two-year experience of living in China and how this molded her attitudes about English language learners in Texas. Examples drawn from the Nanjing International School show how one school worked to meet the needs of a diverse group of students, with more than 70% learning English as a second language. The practical…

Reading comprehension--the ability to understand the meaning of text--is a foundational ability that enables children to learn in school and throughout life. Children who struggle with reading comprehension in the third or fourth grade are at high risk for dropping out of school, with detrimental effects on their future employment, income, and…

This paper reports on a case study of the role of out-of-school English literacy activities in promoting students' English literacy at an elementary school in Bandung. The study is an attempt to respond to controversy among decision makers about the idea of offering English at elementary schools and the reality that at the school where the…

Data from a nationally representative sample from Turkey (N = 1,017) were used to investigate the environmental factors that support the receptive vocabulary of 3-year-old children who differ in their developmental risk due to family low economic status and elevated maternal depressive symptoms. Children's vocabulary knowledge was strongly…

Writing in the target language is an essential skill to be developed, and to this end, reading and writing skills need to be integrated so that students can be engaged in an active and effective learning process in order to help them create a positive change in their progress and achievement. Hence, it should be highly important to see in an…

This study was intended to investigate whether computer-assisted collaborative learning is comparable with computer-free and individual learning; in particular, it examined each of their effects on learning English vocabulary, followed by an analysis of their behavior patterns. In a junior high school in northern Taiwan, a normal classroom was…

When bilingual children enter formal reading education, host language proficiency becomes increasingly important. This study investigated the relation between socioeconomic status (SES), maternal language use, reading input, and vocabulary in a sample of 111 six-year-old children of first- and second-generation Turkish immigrant parents in the…

The research presented in this article examines the English language and print literacy development of adolescent refugee students with limited and interrupted formal education (SLIFE) aged 14 to 21. The aim of this research was to determine if and how teaching early reading strategies to secondary ESL/ELD teachers could improve students'…

Second language (L2) learners' awareness of first language-second language (L1-L2) semantic differences plays a critical role in L2 vocabulary learning. This study investigates the long-term development of eight university-level Chinese English as a foreign language learners' cross-linguistic semantic awareness over the course of 10 months. A…

The introduction of new technologies in society has created a need for interactive contents that can make the most of the potential that technological advances offer. Serious games as educational games are such content: they can be defined as video games or interactive applications whose main purpose is to provide not only entertainment but also…

In Mauritius, English, the least socially used language, is the main language of literacy and the main written medium of instruction throughout the education system, starting from the first year of compulsory primary education. The importance of English as a school language is reflected in the 2003 Preschool Curriculum Guidelines, which mention…

Although electronic tools such as handheld computers have become increasingly common throughout society, implementation of such tools to improve skills in individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities has lagged in the professional literature. However, the use of visual scripts for individuals with disabilities, particularly those…

This study examines vocabulary growth rates in first and second languages for Spanish-speaking and Cantonese-speaking English language learners from kindergarten through second grade. Growth-modeling results show a within-language effect of concepts about print on vocabulary. Language exposure also had an effect on English vocabulary: earlier…

This study compared two groups of high school students in their learning of a third-year Mandarin level 3 class under two conditions: an intensive four-week (85.5 hours) summer program and a 22-week (88 hours) regular semester program. Students in both conditions had been classmates through four semesters of Mandarin instruction and had similar…