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Second Language Learning

  • "I Know English so many, Mrs. Abbott": Reciprocal Discoveries in a Linguistically Diverse Classroom
    Describes a first-grade classroom to illustrate a classroom environment that supports second-language learners while drawing on linguistic diversity to enrich the language learning of all students. Discusses resources and routines; as well as risks and rewards both in a rich language arts curriculum as well as in the social environment.
  • Advancing Foreign Language Education at Community Colleges. AACC Special Reports
    This report by the American Association of Community Colleges summarizes the results of a nationwide year-long study on foreign language education. Programs, called Improving Foreign Language Education projects at Community Colleges, were implemented at a total of 36 American colleges to enact proposed changes in curriculum and foreign language instruction.
  • Advancing Foreign Language Education at Community Colleges. AACC Special Reports
    This report by the American Association of Community Colleges summarizes the results of a nationwide year-long study on foreign language education. Programs, called Improving Foreign Language Education projects at Community Colleges, were implemented at a total of 36 American colleges to enact proposed changes in curriculum and foreign language instruction.
  • Aiming High 2: Straight A's
    This book explores the key themes of raising achievement and the various strategies in both teaching and learning which will lead to students achieving their potential. Experienced A-level teachers reflect on issues including: the link between cultural awareness and developing linguistic skills; teaching study skills and learning strategies as an integral part of all aspects of teaching and learning a modern foreign language.
  • Application of the Theory of Multiple Intelligences to Second Language Learners in Classroom Situations
    This paper argues for the "nurture" side of the "nature versus nurture" debate of the nature of intelligence. It argues for the theory of multiple intelligences in relation to sociocultural and cognitive perspectives of second language learning.
  • Are We Tolerant Enough to Read Each Other's Culture? Evidence from Three Different Social Contexts
    Investigates the effect of cultural background of second-language-readers in different social contexts. Argues that cultural familiarity helps understanding more than the language of the text.
  • Asian Heritage Pupils, PE and Language
    Investigated whether physical education (PE) classes could contribute to verbal skill development among limited English speaking Asian students. Surveys and interviews conducted at inner city English schools indicated that many PE teachers already planned lessons with such learning in mind, and relevant policies were well-developed.
  • Book Browse: A Creative Approach to Meaningful Language Learning
    Describes one elementary teacher's use of the Book Browse literacy activity, which allows Spanish-speaking students to examine books informally in pairs or small groups. Book Browse provides a highly social situation where multiple conversations can occur among these children who need exposure to expressive language as they develop skills in both Spanish and English.
  • Breaking the Cultural Cycle: Reframing Pedagogy and Literacy in a Community Context as Intervention Measures for Aboriginal Alienation
    This paper presents an alternative view to the pedagogical needs relating to literacy for Aboriginal students. The question posed is how to utilize this knowledge to lessen the impact of perceived failure in early schooling of entrenched non-attendance patterns for Aboriginal students of compulsory school attending ages.
  • Children with Communication Disorders: Update 2001. ERIC Digest
    This digest discusses various types of communication disorders, their incidence, the learning difficulties associated with them, the special case of English language learners, and the educational significance of communication disorders. Communication disorders may result from many different conditions such as oral-motor difficulties or language-based learning disabilities.
  • Cultivating the Natural Linguist. Spotlight: Montessori--Multilingual, Multicultural
    Describes Montessori's vision of young children as natural linguists and how home and school can support children's natural abilities in one or more languages. Presents five basic principles of second-language acquisition--related to educational environment, the acquisition process, components of proficiency, and cultural context and time--and describes how they can be successfully met in a Montessori environment.
  • Cultural and Language Diversity in the Middle Grades
    Discusses the cultural and language diversity of young adolescents. Outlines 10 steps to foster a multicultural (or macro cultural) perspective in all students at the middle school level, strategies that build on students' diversity to create a positive and cooperative learning environment.
  • Current Research in Multilingualism and Education in Lebanon: A Report
    Examines 11 research projects on multilingualism and education in Lebanon, many of which focus on multilingualism and language learning. The research emphasizes three areas: different multicultural aspects of life and communication; specific patterns of multilingual communication (e.g., emphasizing home communication and children's language preference); and various language-related issues in multilingual elementary, secondary, and higher education.
  • Early Childhood Bilingualism in the Montessori Children's House: Guessable Context and the Planned Environment. Spotlight: Montessori--Multilingual, Multicultural
    Describes the InterCultura Montessori School language immersion program in Oak Park, Illinois. Profiles the work of several children to illustrate important language learning strategies.
  • European Schools: Languages for All?
    Challenges the established view that European schools are elitist institutions. The article argues that through their reported success in language teaching and the Europeanising effect of their structure, a new model has been created for the education of linguistic minorities in Europe in the late 20th century.
  • Examining the Relationship among Opportunity, Inclusion, and Choice
    Describes the multicultural language practices used at Western Hills Elementary School in Denver, Colorado. Discusses social and cultural dimensions of learning and their relationships to second language acquisition.
  • La comunidad en el aula y el aula en la comunidad: Un modelo (The Community in the Classroom and the Classroom in the Community: A Model)
    Describes an advanced conversational Spanish language course based on community experiences, multicultural education, and collaborative research taught at the University of Santa Clara in California. The class combined authentic materials with real-life experiences.
  • Language Learners as Ethnographers. Modern Languages in Practice 16
    This book describes a new approach to teaching and learning cultural studies. Borrowing the idea of ethnography from anthropologists, it argues that language students can be taught methods for investigating the cultural and social patterns of interaction and the values and beliefs that account for them.
  • Language Magazine: The Journal of Communication & Education, 2002
    These 12 issues of the journal include articles on such topics as the following: classical languages; early literacy; ancient languages; study abroad; teacher training; dialects; computer uses in education; classroom techniques; illustrated dictionaries for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students and others.
  • Language Magazine: The Journal of Communication & Education, 2002
    These 12 issues of the journal include articles on such topics as the following: classical languages; early literacy; ancient languages; study abroad; teacher training; dialects; computer uses in education; classroom techniques etc.
  • Language Magazine: The Journal of Communication & Education, 2002
    These 12 issues of the journal include articles on such topics as the following: classical languages; early literacy; ancient languages; study abroad; teacher training; dialects; computer uses in education; classroom techniques; illustrated dictionaries for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students; communication through poetry; bilingual education; planned languages; translation; using linguistic experts in court; language diversity; using media examples in ESL classrooms; international education and others.
  • Language Policy and Pedagogy: Essays in Honor of A. Ronald Walton
    This edited volume brings together 14 diverse articles dealing with various aspects of language policy and pedagogy.
  • Preserving Home Languages and Cultures in the Classroom: Challenges and Opportunities
    Decades of research document the powerful academic and socio-affective benefits of a strong home language base and affirmation of home language and culture as a valuable resource. This article explores the implicit challenges, daily realities, opportunities, and practical implications of incorporating language and culture into classrooms as they relate to culturally and linguistically diverse language learners.
  • Report on the Binational Conference: In Search of a Border Pedagogy (4th, El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, January 1999).
    This report contains a synopsis of the binational conference and features brief summaries of all the papers presented at the conference.The following questions helped to shape the scope and content of the conference: What is the current condition of bilingualism, particularly in the United States? .
  • South Africa: A Place for English Teaching Pioneers
    Discusses the importance of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) education in the multicultural country of South Africa, where for the majority of residents, English is the second language. Examines the variety of languages of South Africa, the language-education crisis in South Africa, and the country's need for language teachers.
  • Strategic Plan for International Education, Phase I. Exemplary International Programs.
    The document presents the proceedings of a meeting convened to design a strategic plan for international education to be adopted by Pima Community College (PCC) (Arizona). The meeting's main objective was to position the college strategically in the international education marketplace and to define the term "international education" as it pertains to PCC.
  • Strategic Plan for International Education, Phase I. Exemplary International Programs.
    The document presents the proceedings of a meeting convened to design a strategic plan for international education to be adopted by Pima Community College (PCC) (Arizona).
  • Teaming for Learning Success
    Describes how team teaching benefited two first-grade classrooms, one a bilingual instruction classroom and the other an English instruction classroom, by expanding opportunities for language use and transforming the two classrooms into a more inclusive community of learners as these young children used first and second languages to build bridges to each other and their curriculum. (SR).
  • The Effect of Modified Input on the Acquisition of Vocabulary in Science by a Newly Arrived Bilingual Student in a Secondary School
    Studies the effect of specific teacher input, modified for comprehension, on the acquisition of science vocabulary by a recent immigrant, a 12-year old newly arrived at an English secondary school. Comprehensible input played an important part in the acquisition of this student's science vocabulary.
  • The European School Model Part II
    Argues that in the European School (ES) program, younger students should learn in their own language, as opposed to in English, which is widely practiced at international schools. Suggests specific language learning according to ES' four stages: (1) nursery school; (2) primary school; (3) middle school; and (4) upper school.
  • To Integrate Your Language Web Tools--CALL WebCT
    The benefits of Internet activities for teaching of foreign languages, for example the use of e-mail as a non-threatening environment for language output, and using the Web to integrate language and culture, have become apparent in the last few years. This paper describes WebCT as a user-friendly integrated Internet environment for the teaching of foreign languages.
  • Welcoming the Culture of Computing into the K-12 Classroom: Technological Fluency and Lessons Learned from Second Language Acquisition and Cross Cultural Studies
    Discusses the integration of innovative technologies into the K-12 curriculum and its impact on instructional programs for linguistically and culturally diverse students. Describes the debate over whether the culture of computing is inclusive or exclusive, examining: educational technology standards; information technology and fluency; speech registers; postulating registers of information technology fluency; and the role of automaticity in developing fluency.
  • Why Language Learning Matters
    Most education systems prepare their students to function in the national language and at least one additional language. However, only one-third of U.S.