Feature-based approaches to acquisition principally focus on second language (L2) learners' ability to perceive non-native consonants when the features required are either contrastively present or entirely absent from the first language (L1) grammar. As features may function contrastively or allophonically in the consonant and/or vowel systems of…

This paper examines how kaiako (teachers) view professional learning and development training (PLD) in structured literacy (SL) in a Maori-medium immersion context. Through interviews with kaiako in a kura kaupapa Maori (Maori-medium educational setting) who teach students in Years 1-6, and images of the literacy environment to capture some of the…

This study tested the effects of hand-clapping to the rhythm of newly learned French words on the pronunciation of these words by 7- to 8-year-old Catalan children. In a short training experiment with a pre- and posttest design, 28 children either repeated cognate words in French (e.g. French "aspirateur," Catalan "aspirador"…

Research into Family Language Policy (FLP) focuses on language planning by and among family members within home spaces. In this study we gather data from multilingual young adults with different backgrounds across Mexico through an online questionnaire. We use a trajectory approach to look at how FLP changes over time and space from the…

One of the essential characteristics of the human being as social existence is his ability to communicate with his environment. There are many ways for people to communicate. However, the most preferred form of communication in interpersonal relations was primarily speaking. Effective use of speaking skills can be said to be possible if…

Argumentation is an important mathematical practice, highlighted by research and policy documents that describe ways to structure reform-oriented classrooms (Nardi and Knuth 2017; NCTM 2000; NGA Center and CCSSI 2010). Participating in argumentation can enhance students' mathematics learning as they make sense of mathematical ideas, provide…

Constructing formal geometry proofs in is an important topic in the mathematics curriculum. But students' difficulties with proof are well documented. This article focuses on proofs that use triangle congruence postulates in US high school geometry. Examining students' proof reasoning in one-on-one task-based interviews, we analyzed students' oral…

Research has revealed the extent and mechanism of the relation between language (dominated by alphabetic systems) and students' mathematics learning, but when it comes to Chinese language (an orthographic system), nature remains elusive. In this meta-analysis we aim to quantify the size of the relation between Chinese language and mathematics and…

Background: Previous work suggests that children can teach themselves new written words via reading aloud texts independently (i.e., orthographic learning via self-teaching). In self-teaching in Chinese, regular phonetic radicals and transparent semantic radicals facilitate orthographic learning. The present study examined the roles of phonetic…

Written text production remains a relatively under-explored area in the child development literature, not only for typically developing (TD) children, but also for children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), despite its important role for academic performance and life success. The present study attempts the combined investigation of…

Intelligibility is a critically important aspect for effective oral communication. This study explored salient (important) pronunciation errors and their relative roles in the intelligibility of nonnative speech based on listener judgments. Speech samples, collected from speakers with a Turkish as a native language (L1) background, were presented…

This study investigated the effects of L2 pronunciation instruction on speech intelligibility and fluency, the relationship between intelligibility and fluency, and the extent to which utterance fluency can predict perceived fluency. Participants were 30 beginning adult EFL learners who received either segmental or suprasegmental instruction. Oral…

This manuscript reports on a study carried out at a public university in southeast Mexico aimed to determine whether changes in the instructional design of an online English course benefit students' oral communicative competence. The research followed a quantitative quasi-experimental design that involved two groups of students. One of them took a…

Over half of US children are enrolled in preschools, where the quantity and quality of language input from teachers are likely to affect children's language development. Leveraging repeated objective measurements, we examined the rate per minute and phonemic diversity of child and teacher speech-related vocalizations in preschool classrooms and…

A child's ability to understand text (reading comprehension) can greatly impact both their ability to learn in the classroom and their future contributions to society. Reading comprehension draws on oral language; behavioural measures of knowledge at the word and sentence levels have been shown to be related to children's reading comprehension. In…