A study at Purdue University (Indiana) investigated three English-as-a-Second-Language students' understanding of and attitudes toward teachers' written feedback on compositions. All were enrolled in an expository prose class for non-native speakers of English, and all were freshmen of varied ages and backgrounds. Data were gathered in videotaped…

A study of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learners' self-efficacy and its relationship to achievement is reported. Subjects were four students from the highest level reading and writing class in Indiana University's intensive English program. Each was interviewed in a tape-recorded session, to explore his/her English learning experience and…

The individual responsible for spearheading reform for the education of limited-English-proficient (LEP) students in Linda Vista Elementary School (San Diego, California) describes the process, issues, and outcomes of the initiative in this theme issue. Linda Vista Elementary School has a student population that is 77 percent LEP. The personalized…

Examining the learning experiences of four Laotian students at a mainstream secondary school, this book describes and interprets the students' learning situations and reveals their perspectives along with those of their teachers. The book introduces readers to the Savang family, refugees who left Laos. The book also shows how open journal writing…

A study investigated the experiences of three Australian teachers of English as a Second Language (ESL) who conducted teacher workshops on communicative language teaching methods in Vietnam. It provides a critical description of cultural conflicts arising from the introduction of a western teaching approach and the informants' interpretations of…

An ethnographic case study was done of a Hispanic American male high school student of limited English proficiency in order to present a description of the experience of a minority student adapting to and coping with U.S. school culture. The student was a 15-year old male who recently arrived in the United States from Cuba and attended the 10th…

A case study investigated the emergence of language and language concepts in a bilingual child, a girl aged 16 months to 6 years, 7 months. Observations were made by the child's parents and relatives in the child's home where the mother spoke Finnish and the father English. The report summarizes developments in phonology, morphology, word-level…

A study examined the effects of using a microcomputer for writing on the composing processes and attitudes toward writing of three non-native college students. The subjects were a Korean, an Egyptian, and a Pole, former students of remedial writing in English as a second language (ESL). The data used included multiple drafts from a previous…

This case study describes the language development of a preschool child exposed to Spanish in her home environment and to English outside the family. It is the parents' hope that the child will learn to speak, read, and write Spanish first, while learning to speak English before entering school. Her progress is described in this report, as are…

This paper reports on a case study of a U.S. high school literature class during an e-mail exchange with a high school literature class in Moscow (Russia). During this project, the students in both classrooms read short stories by Anton Chekhov and O'Henry. By using the stories as a catalyst, the students' goal was to help their distant partner to…

Describes and analyzes the perceptions and reactions of a well-qualified, positively oriented primary-school English teacher to Hong Kong's target-oriented curriculum (TOC) initiative, a major government-sponsored innovation. The analysis encompasses teacher attitudes, teacher training and support, teachers' understanding of an innovation, teacher…

Equal educational opportunity for all students has long been a goal of public education in the United States. Realizing equality of educational opportunity for English language learners (ELLs), however, has proven to be a difficult task. This article examines 1 high school community's perception of educational opportunity and its approach to…

This article reports on a 5-year study of a technology-enhanced educational reform initiative at a university in eastern China. A faculty team attempted pedagogical and curricular reform to better prepare English majors to use new technologies for international communication, collaboration, and research. The team developed several project-based…

A bilingual model has been applied to educating deaf students who are learning American Sign Language (ASL) as their first language and written English as a second. Although Cummins's (1984) theory of second language learning articulates how learners draw on one language to acquire another, implementing teaching practices based on this theory,…

Although language specialists do not always agree about the best age at which to introduce English language instruction, policy changes are increasingly mandating earlier introduction of English in foreign language (EFL) settings worldwide. In this volume, language educators and program implementers from various countries describe programs and…