Successful language learning in bilinguals requires the differentiation of two language systems. The capacity to discriminate rhythmically close languages has been reported in 4-month-olds using auditory-only stimuli. This research offers a novel perspective on early language discrimination using audiovisual material. Monolingual and bilingual…

Intercultural studies have underexplored the issue of children's theatre as a tool for symbolic representations of (new, hybrid) identities. In this paper, I analyze two theatrical productions addressing both Spanish society and Romanian diaspora (first/second generation) to answer these questions: how are diasporic identities re-constructed in…

A central question in multilingualism research is how multiple languages interact. Most studies have focused on first (L1) and second language (L2) effects on a third language (L3), but a small number of studies dedicated to the opposite transfer direction have suggested stronger L3 influence on L2 than on L1 in postpuberty learners. In our study,…

The effects of colonialism in education and society have deep and difficult legacies. This book argues that it is necessary to better understand the deep roots of colonialism in order to realize justice and overturn forms of oppression in education policy, in classrooms, or in family and community-based education. Highlighting research from across…

We leverage log data from an educational app and two-way text message records from over 3,500 students during the summers of 2019 and 2020, along with in-depth interviews in Spanish and English, to identify patterns of family engagement with educational technology. Based on the type and timing of technology use, we identify several distinct…

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of Spanish literacy precursor skills on reading learning to read in the mother tongue and their degree of transfer to English. A quasi-experimental design was used, which allowed for a repeated measures comparison between two groups of students, who underwent a follow-up assessment one year…

There are barriers that interfere with parental involvement in their children's education in many schools in the U.S. However, additional barriers are often encountered by immigrant parents across our country. This investigation proposes practices that will better serve this population and reduce the barriers that affect their school engagement.…

Emerging research suggests English and Spanish proficiencies of young Latine dual language learners (DLLs) are heterogeneous, including subgroups characterized by varying levels of English and Spanish dominance and proficiencies. However, there is limited understanding of contextual factors associated with the formation of DLL profiles. This study…

Emerging research suggests English and Spanish proficiencies of young Latine dual language learners (DLLs) are heterogeneous, including subgroups characterized by varying levels of English and Spanish dominance and proficiencies. However, there is limited understanding of contextual factors associated with the formation of DLL profiles. This study…

Linguistics is conspicuously absent from language teaching in UK schools. A-level cultural topics cover a range of themes such as cyber-society, cultural heritage and multiculturalism, but the approach taken to these topics is not informed by linguistics. In previous work, we have argued that this is an unfortunate omission not only because…

Age of Acquisition (AoA) scores approximate the age at which a language speaker fully understands a word's semantic meaning and represent a quantitative measure of the relative difficulty of words in a language. AoA word lists exist across various languages, with English having the most complete lists that capture the largest percentage of the…

Age of Acquisition (AoA) scores approximate the age at which a language speaker fully understands a word's semantic meaning and represent a quantitative measure of the relative difficulty of words in a language. AoA word lists exist across various languages, with English having the most complete lists that capture the largest percentage of the…

iSTART-E is a web-based intelligent tutor developed for Spanish-speaking students to improve their reading comprehension through self-explanation strategy training. This study examined the effects of a blended comprehension strategy intervention on students' reading comprehension skill. Chilean high school students (N = 22) completed nine iSTART-E…

This anniversary volume of the Association for the Teaching of Spanish in Higher Education in the United Kingdom is a compilation of contributions made by members and delegates at the 2019 ELEUK annual conference held at the University of Edinburgh. Throughout the book, authors share their teaching, assessment, and research practice in the area of…

If maximal exposure were the key to success in language learning, then adult learners at the university level would be doomed to fail. Not only are they presumably too old to learn additional languages effectively, but target language (TL) input appears to be insufficient, especially when other languages are allowed in class. Nevertheless,…