The effect of studying abroad on students' language production has been extensively researched. However, a question that has not been addressed is whether study abroad programs lasting six weeks or less offer sufficient time and contact for students to demonstrate measurable development in their command of the language. The current investigation…

This article investigates a project that used student-centered teaching and languages for specific purposes to increase university students' motivation to study Spanish and willingness to communicate. After reflecting on their personal goals and interests, students were required to choose a purpose or context in which they might use Spanish in…

This report summarizes highlights from the Austin Independent School District Dual Language Program rubric classroom observations conducted in October 2015. Observers rated several aspects of program implementation according to the rubric and provided comments about classroom practices observed.

Dialectal differences are frequently cited by members of a majority group as their main means of identifying members of a minority ethnic group. However, existing stereotypes of minority language varieties and their speakers often suggest that social prejudices influence attitudes towards minority groups and their linguistic varieties. The present…

Non-English speaking students lack the confidence and preparation to be verbally actively engaged in the classroom. Students may frequently display hesitation in learning to speak English, and may also lack a teacher's guidance in becoming proficient English speakers. The purpose of this research is to examine how teachers build academic…

The early twenty-first century has seen increased attention to developing young children's social-emotional skills and competencies in preschool programs, including Head Start--the largest federally funded early-childhood education program in the United States. At the same time, there has been greater recognition of the importance of adapting…

This article describes two research studies conducted on the linguistic modification of test items from K-12 content assessments. In the first study, 120 linguistically modified test items in mathematics and science taken by fourth and sixth graders were found to have a wide range of outcomes for English language learners (ELLs) and non-ELLs, with…

Computer-based multimedia technologies can be used to tailor health messages, but "promotoras" (Spanish-speaking community health workers) rarely use these tools. "Promotoras" delivered health messages about colorectal cancer screening to medically underserved Latinos in South Texas using two small media formats: a…

Compared with English learners, Spanish learners have fewer resources for automatic error detection and revision and following the current integrative Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), we combined corpus-based approach and CALL to create the System of Error Detection and Revision Suggestion (SEDRS) for learning Spanish. Through…

While families play a vital role in the early literacy skills of young English Learners, their educators often do not share the same backgrounds or cultures, and may not know how to connect with parents who are linguistically and culturally different. As part of a year-long grant funded professional development project, the authors led teams of…

This report summarizes results from Spring 2014 focus groups held with a sample of Austin Independent School District dual language program classroom teachers to find out their opinions about the dual language program.

This article reports a case study that examined English as a Second Language students' peer response stances from an activity theory perspective. More specifically, the study was guided by the constructs of activity and motive/object in Leont'ev's theory. Multiple sources of data were collected from two native Spanish-speaking students enrolled in…

The framework of linguistic register and case study research on Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELLs) learning statistics informed the construction of a quantitative instrument, the Communication, Language, And Statistics Survey (CLASS). CLASS aims to assess whether ELLs and non-ELLs approach the learning of statistics differently with…

This study examines the effects of processing instruction (PI) alone versus PI and output (O) on the acquisition of three conjunctional and infinitival phrases in Spanish. Seventy intermediate and advanced-intermediate high school participants received: 1) PI on three consecutive days (PI + PI + PI); 2) PI for two days and meaning-based output…

Spanish-speaking students constantly complain about the difficulty they have comprehending spoken English. It seems teachers do not often provide them with strategies to alleviate that. This article reports on a pedagogical experience carried out at a Colombian university to help pre-service teachers at an intermediate level of English to improve…