The objective of this research is to investigate the effect of scaffolding teaching in an academic writing class where students were non-proficient writers. This was a challenging context in which identical content and assessment criteria were applied to students with various levels of proficiency. Scaffolding has long been considered an effective…

Heritage language learners (HLLs) need to be exposed to different genres of academic texts (Chevalier, 2004; Correa, 2016) and instructors need to find resources to maximize HLLs' learning experiences. There are multiple gains in improving HLLs' writing to create an awareness of the power of the HL through the use of authentic resources with a…

This study explored the role of vocabulary breadth and depth in second language learners' performance in IELTS academic reading tests in China. Sixty-two Chinese learners of English as a foreign language completed a vocabulary size test, a vocabulary depth test, and an IELTS reading test. Results showed that vocabulary breadth and depth both…

Community Colleges (CCs) in the U.S. provide open access to education for an extremely diverse student body, with large numbers of emergent bilingual students enrolling in CCs. This paper describes the rationale behind offering professional development to instructors across CCs on teaching Language Across the Curriculum (LAC). In order to meet the…

The 2020 Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, held in collaboration with the Minnesota Council on the Teaching of Languages and Cultures, took place at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Minneapolis, March 12-14, 2020. The conference theme, "Room for All at the Table" focused on celebrating the rich diversity…

Purpose: This paper describes the iterative development of a home review program designed to augment vocabulary instruction for young children (ages 4 and 5) occurring at school through the use of a home review component. Method: A pilot study followed by two experiments used adapted alternating treatment designs to compare the learning of…

The concepts of 'graduateness' and graduate attributes became contested terrain before COVID-19 destabilised even the most assured of shared learning constructions. Indeed, for those of us immersed in the delivery of work-based learning (WBL), this has long been the case. Promotion of reductive notions of 'skills' acquisition to comply neatly with…

Admission in English-medium universities or institutions of higher education depends on the results obtained by candidates in large-scale proficiency tests including Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) internet-based test (iBT). The structure and administration procedure of the TOEFL iBT speaking test leaves no room for carrying out…

Metadiscourse is a tool for writers to guide and interact with readers through texts. Yet in most student texts, one of the points lacking is the interaction between writers and readers. In this study, frequency and type of interactive and interactional metadiscourse features were explored via students' research-based essays based on Hyland's…

Higher education students are increasingly becoming aware of the importance of being successful in oral academic presentations (OAP) in their academic endeavors. For English as a second language students in English-medium institutions, it also provides them with opportunities for language socialization. However, succeeding in the delivery of an…

Most U.S. classrooms serve students with various linguistic and academic needs. Tier-I universal approaches support English language learners (ELLs) without segregating them into a different track and thereby constraining future learning opportunities. The current study examines whether Word Generation (WG), a Tier-I discussion-based program…

Vocabulary has been accepted as an important aspect of language learning in many studies. In the light of these studies in literature, the purpose of the present study is to evaluate the general and academic lexical competence and performance of preparatory class students at School of Foreign Languages, Kütahya Dumlupinar University. Within this…

Reading critically involves examining the language choices authors make to "get the job done" -- in other words, to communicate effectively in specific ways with particular audiences. Not all students in middle and high school intuit this type of reading and may experience challenges when they go to write for academic purposes. Their…

We charted how one educator's use of proleptic language--or language that invoked students' imagined future identities as if they are fully realized in the present--situated students in communities of academic and professional practice, both within the tangible community of the classroom and within those intangible communities consisting of…

This paper reports on a writing programme I started at Bronx Community College to improve academic success among recently immigrated Spanish-speaking students by linking ESL courses to Spanish academic literacy courses within the framework of a learning community. My reflection begins by articulating the pedagogical rationale for looking beyond…