This article aims to deepen our understanding of the dynamic interaction between language policies, school characteristics and teachers' beliefs about monolingualism. The study takes place in Flanders (Belgium), a region characterized by educational policies which are based on a stringent monolingual ideology. Based on a survey of 775 teachers…

This study examines the development and evaluation of a bilingual Vocabulary Size Test (VST, Nation, 2006). A bilingual (English-Russian) test was developed and administered to 121 intermediate proficiency EFL learners (native speakers of Russian), alongside the original monolingual (English-only) version of the test. A comparison of the bilingual…

This article seeks to develop the research agenda of multilingualism and multicompetence by bringing together three research fields and their related methodologies: bilingualism, third language acquisition and language learner strategies. After a brief introduction to each area, it describes a study to explore whether bilingual adolescent students…

There has been increasing concern over the poor performance and lack of interest in modern language learning among secondary-school students. Although there is some evidence as to the under-achievement of boys in modern languages (ML), there is less information as to the degree to which other factors such as social class, and bilingual or…

This paper responds to the call for further inquiry into the experiences of graduates of urban focused teacher education programs. I present and analyze the experience of Mia, a White, monolingual English female who earned licensure in secondary social studies through a graduate-level, equity-focused teacher preparation program before accepting a…

There has been an increasing interest in and hence a growing number of research studies on content and language integrated learning (CLIL) over the past two decades. One of the on-going debates in CLIL is on bilingualism versus monolingualism, or the role of the first language (L1) in subject teaching. So far, very few research projects have been…

This article describes a 6-year, districtwide staff-development project that was implemented in an attempt to change teacher attitudes and practices as they relate to English learners (ELs). The specific goals of the project were (a) to help the district's teachers develop the knowledge base, pedagogical skills, and professional attitudes required…

Utilizing the critical race theory (CRT) construct of majoritarian stories and the already identified story of English-is-"all"-that-matters in the education of multilingual learners and their teachers, this study illustrates the influence of this powerful narrative in classroom practice. By promoting English-only instruction,…

Issues related to supporting the language of schooling have become important social and educational policy concerns in Ireland. This article reports on a three-year investigation of the micro-climate of English language support provision in 70 post-primary schools since 2007 and highlights potential points of leverage in the educational system for…

The study's purpose was to assess, through mixed methods, written linguistic features of 20 Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELLs) in middle school. Students came from Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. Participants wrote two expository and two narrative formal texts, each in Spanish and English, for a total of eight…

What makes people, in shifting power positions of a post-independence period, plan on disusing an already known L2 or learn a new L2? What are the reasons for such shifts and what outcomes can, therefore, be predicted for the future of societal bilingualism surviving alongside ongoing efforts at monolingual unification in a newly independent…

Premature discontinuation rates among second language students in New Zealand are higher than for most other subjects in secondary schools, although this phenomenon has not given rise to a great deal of debate within the NZ language teaching community. In a recent study into premature discontinuation in Christchurch, NZ, the most frequently cited…

A critical task for public school teachers is to build and maintain productive relationships with their students, especially to facilitate learning. That task is particularly important in preparing new teachers for urban schools because cultural differences between the majority of urban teachers and their students can complicate and impair those…

Globalization has led to unprecedented interest in expanding foreign language instruction in U.S. schools, particularly at grade levels where traditionally it has not been an option. Languages that previously have been rarely taught, such as Chinese, are frequently the choice of new programs at every level in the K-12 range. As No Child Left…

The paper brings the results of research into affective barriers lying at the base of negative attitudes of mathematics and language teachers towards new educational trends, i.e. the teaching of mathematics in the English language in monolingual Czech secondary school classrooms. To find blocks to the use of new approaches the method of unfinished…