Bernstein's work on educational transmission provides a discourse for understanding classroom practice which can integrate elements as diverse as content and interaction, to enable a critical evaluation of how pedagogic transformation occurs. This article describes an intervention in an English classroom in rural KwaZulu-Natal in which the shift…

This article examines the primary assumption underlying the recent passage of propositions aimed at meeting the need of English language learners (ELLs). The assumption is that English language learners normally need only one year of intensive structured English immersion to learn English well enough to be academically successful in an all-English…

It has now become a commonplace to state that foreign language learning should be viewed from an intercultural perspective. Teachers are now required to teach intercultural communicative competence instead of mere communicative competence. It follows that new professional demands are made on teachers. The assumption seems to be that teachers are…

This study reports the development of trainee multicultural awareness through a content analysis of reflections on mentoring English as a second language students. Identified themes show relationships with the Multicultural Counseling Inventory (G. R. Sodowsky, 1996) and White Racial Identity Attitudes Scale (J. E. Helms, 1990). Results suggest…

Ask Elizabeth Gale Greenlee why she loves working at Greensboro Public Library's Glenwood facility and she will tell you. "I feel like I'm in the middle of everywhere, because so many people from so many cultures move, breathe, live, and learn in this place," she says. She has met Greensboro residents from 123 cultures, who speak 82 different…

Numerous reports and articles have pointed out the mediocrity of U.S. students' second language skills, implying, for example, that students abroad may perform better because of an established educational framework with an 'early start' and 'well-articulated teaching strategies.' If this were the case, students overseas should demonstrate lower…

Discusses the the experiences of teachers gathered in the Bay Area Writing Project's Summer Invitational Institute to write, reflect on the process, and give workshops. Describes the presentation of one Hmong student, and highlights the importance of recognizing the home school connection for immigrant students. (Author/VWL)

One English-as-a-Second-language teacher talks about the email messages she receives from her students, often filled with symbols and spelling and punctuation errors. Examines why such high-level, hardworking students write this way. (Author/VWL)

The SCOTLANG-based research project on modern languages benchmarking in the post-compulsory sector investigated aspects of the highly sensitive and politicised issue of benchmark standards in modern languages. This article looks at the results of focus-group discussions held with higher education practitioners in Scotland at a time when the…

This article critically examines the KS3 Framework of Objectives for FL, placing it in the context of the National Strategy for FL at KS3 (DfES, 2003b), and other policies, and relating it to a theoretical and research perspective on FL acquisition. The idea that FL teachers should be entitled to continuing professional development based on…

Culture is recognised as an important part of languages teaching in Australia and has been increasingly integrated into policy and curriculum documents and the general rhetoric of languages education. The result is that policies include statements about aspects of cultural competence. However, the nature and scope of the cultural component in…

I encourage the editors of and contributors to "Language Assessment Quarterly" to continue, and to extend, three directions that are integral to the development of the field of language assessment: (a) to broaden the scope of inquiry and contexts that inform knowledge about language assessment; (b) to deepen the theoretical premises and…

Understanding why mistakes are made in a class of ESL students not only helps teachers emend the mistakes, but also enables them to better explain to the author how to correct mistakes in future writing. When a teacher shows some understanding of a writer's native language, it makes the writer feel more comfortable with, and less alienated from,…

This paper examines literacy policy and practice in six Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) classrooms. The study focused on three questions: (1) What literacy practices did these newcomers participate in their new country? (2) How did their teachers understand the role of writing in their learners' lives? (3) What and why did…

Evidence has been accumulating that shows the promise of multidimensional conceptualizations of anxiety in investigating the effects of anxiety on different aspects of human behavior and intellectual performance. In view of the lack of an L2 writing anxiety scale explicitly developed from a multidimensional perspective, this study aims to develop…