An increasing number of U.S. high school graduates enter college while still in the process of learning English. Referred to as generation 1.5 students because they share characteristics of both first- and second-generation immigrants, they do not fit into any of the traditional categories of nonnative English speakers enrolled in college writing…

This brief article reports information gathered at a symposium on issues and challenges in assessment and accountability for adult English language learners, hosted ny the National Center for ESL Literacy Education (NCLE). Teachers, program administrators, researchers, test developers, and policy makers gathered to discuss the field's vision for…

This teacher's guide, written in French, intended for the instruction of both French as a first language and French as a second language (immersion), provides a host of strategies for teaching writing skills in the classroom (grades 1 through 7). Section 1 is designed to bring the teacher's awareness to the training procedure, discussing the…

This digest outlines the reasons for and challenges of developing the language skills of heritage language speakers and describes one effort to carry this out, the Heritage Languages Initiative. Specific sections address the following: developing language skills of U.S. residents; the range of language proficiencies of heritage language speakers;…

This study examines the score dependability of writing and speaking assessments from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) from the perspectives of univariate and multivariate generalizability theory (G-theory) and presents the findings of three separate G-theory studies. For writing, the focus was on evaluating the impact on…

This study examined first exposures to oral and written English from ages 1-16 years, surveying 212 Ming Chuan University (Taiwan) students. The survey asked about the language spoken at home; age at and context of hearing, reading, writing, and speaking the first English word; experiences with conversations in English; and problems learning…

The WorkStyles program is described in some detail. The program is designed specifically for limited English speakers to address barriers to learning and employment grounded in a lack of confidence in the use of English. In order to develop these skills for low level learners, the training is divided into various segments including the following:…

In this unit, students will learn to introduce themselves appropriately for a job interview; answer questions about their experience, background, personal qualities, and general suitability for the job; and take part in a simulated video interview. The lesson builds up to the actual interview slowly by proceeding step-by-step through the…

In this unit, students will use active listening, repeating, or paraphrasing what has been said to confirm understanding and introductory phrases and rising intonation to ask for clarification. They will also follow one, two, or multi-step instructions or give instructions to another person. (Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse for ESL Literacy Education)…

Discussion of the use of language aptitude tests for United States government workers looks at the learner types they must assess and contexts in which a newly-learned language will be used. In general, employees selected for language learning are either current employees already productively engaged in second language use or new hires with…

This study helped develop guidelines for modifying the current curriculum of the existing B.A. in English Translation within Iranian universities. Participants were 30 experts in the fields of English language translation, linguistics, and translatology from four Iranian universities. Using the Delphi research methodology, researchers administered…

This paper demonstrates how the Digital Video Disc (DVD) video player, with or without computer technology, can provide powerful and multiple functions within the college classroom (particularly the English-as-a-Second-Language classroom), enabling the teacher to design various film activities, create different subtitles for different ability…

The increasing number of students who enter U.S. schools from homes where languages other than English are spoken, and the recognition that proficiency in non-English languages is a valuable national resource, have generated interest in the field of heritage language instruction. A heritage language student is a language student who is raised in a…

Learning a second dialect entails learning new schemas. Most Australian Aboriginal children live in a bicultural, bidialectal context and are exposed to the discourse of Australian English, so they internalize some of its schemas but may not be able to use its schemas effectively or distinguish them from Aboriginal English schemas. Analysis of the…

Immigrant students in secondary schools face a number of obstacles as they make the transition to schooling in the United States. In addition to adjusting to a new country and school system, they must also learn academic content in a new language. Because these students come from a variety of ethnic, educational, and economic backgrounds,…