This paper concerns teacher practices in, and beliefs about, the assessment of young learners' progress in English in three Eastern European countries (Slovenia, Croatia, and the Czech Republic). The central part of the paper focuses on an international project involving empirical research into assessment of young learners' foreign language…

This study explores the extent to which bilingual speakers in stable bilingual communities become fully bilingual in their two community languages. Growing evidence shows that in bilingual communities in which one language is very dominant, acquisition of the dominant language may be quite unproblematic across sub-groups, while acquisition of the…

Humorous communication is extremely complex in both its forms and functions (e.g. Norrick, 1993; 2003). Much of the previous work that has put forth suggestions for incorporating humor into the language classroom (e.g. Trachtenberg, 1979; Deneire, 1995; Schmitz, 2002) has not examined these complexities in the detail necessary for the target…

The current study examined the sight word acquisition rate (AR) of 43 second-grade students who were English language learners (ELL) from three diverse, urban schools. The AR was analyzed in relation to each student's oral proficiency in English, and examined whether or not children who are ELL but have a higher level of English proficiency would…

The ways in which age of acquisition (AoA) may affect (morpho)syntax in second language acquisition (SLA) are discussed. We suggest that event-related brain potentials (ERPs) provide an appropriate online measure to test some such effects. ERP findings of the past decade are reviewed with a focus on recent and ongoing research. It is concluded…

The "Versant Spanish[TM] Test" applies state-of-the-art technology to language assessment in a quick and efficient tool designed for the purpose of "assessing an individual's ability to speak and understand spoken Spanish". According to the developers, the Pearson Education Group, the test is equally useful in academic as well as professional…

The impetus of the present study was to scrutinize the impact of planning and proficiency on 172 EFL learners' written task performance regarding concept load, fluency, complexity and accuracy. Planning was operationalized at two levels: pretask planning (PTP) and online planning (OLP). Participants of this study were two groups, high and low…

This study was an attempt to compare EFL teachers' and intermediate high school students' perceptions of written corrective feedback on grammatical errors and also to specify their reasons for choosing comprehensive or selective feedback and some feedback strategies over some others. To collect the required data, the student version of…

This study was an attempt to test whether there is an association between teachers' level of experience and frequency and type of FFEs they use in EFL classes. Also, it investigated the distribution of FFEs across two different proficiency levels, which were elementary and pre-intermediate. Six teachers (three experienced and three less…

Acculturation and language proficiency have been found to be inter-related both from the perspective of second language acquisition (Schumann, 1978, 1986) and socio-psychological adaptation in cross-cultural contacts (Ward, Bochner, & Furnham, 2001). However, the predictions as to the effect of a particular strategy on success differ, with…

In this article, factors inhibiting the use of mother tongue as the language of learning and teaching (LoLT) in rural foundation phase classes is investigated. I analysed qualitative data from focus group interviews with 20 foundation phase teachers that were selected through purposive sampling. Findings show that factors such as prior learner…

The Southern Conference on Language Teaching (SCOLT) held its annual conference March 10-12, 2011, at the Crowne Plaza in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in collaboration with the Louisiana Foreign Language Teachers Association (LFLTA) and the Southeastern Association of Language Learning Technology (SEALLT). Those individuals whose proposals were…

Although educational leaders, policy makers, and researchers have long emphasized the importance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) for the country's continued prosperity, increasing participation in STEM has remained a challenge for both the education and scientific communities (Pearson & Fechter, 1994; National…

The purpose of this inductive and quantitative research study is to examine the influence of dual language education upon the development of literacy skills in English proficient kindergarten through grade 2 students. Secondly, this research is purposed to aid in filling the void in the limited way in which educational researchers have examined…

The purpose of the study was to determine the reading, math, and language proficiency outcomes of 4th-grade through 7th-grade students with limited English proficiency following nearly two years or more of instruction in the English Language Learner Program (ELL) and concurrent general education studies. The maximum accrual for this study was…