Latest Second language acquisition Stories

ANAHEIM, Calif., Sept. 26, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- After pioneering the field of online education in the mid-nineties with the world's first Master's degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) taught online in real time, Anaheim University has launched an Online Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in TESOL. Although an online Doctorate in TESOL or Applied Linguistics is not a new degree, an accredited Doctoral degree in TESOL that is taught online is unique,...

Swedish adolescents' desire to learn a foreign language besides English, which they start learning relatively early, has been declining for a long time. A new doctoral thesis from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, shows that one factor behind this trend may be that English is used as a resource when students learn French, Spanish and German. Fewer and fewer adolescents study foreign languages in English-speaking countries such as the USA and the UK. They simply do not want to, since as...

Free webinar is led by Stanford Professor Dr. Kenji Hakuta and Teachscape Founder Mark Atkinson SAN FRANCISCO, May 2, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Dr. Kenji Hakuta, professor of education at Stanford University and a leading researcher in the areas of bilingualism and second language acquisition, and Mark Atkinson, founder and chief strategist of Teachscape, will lead a webinar on improving the academic performance of English Language Learners (ELLs) through research-based strategies....

BOSTON, Nov. 19, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- At the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) 2010 Conference, Middlebury Interactive Languages (MIL), an academic leader in world language instruction for K-12 students, unveiled MiddWorld Online, a first-of-its-kind virtual academy for world language learning. Sharing Middlebury College's world language expertise in an online delivery system, MiddWorld Online boasts an immersion methodology, utilizing the most authentic world...

Psychologists at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Memphis have released a new study on linguistic evolution that challenges the prominent hypothesis for why languages differ throughout the world.The study argues that human languages may adapt more like biological organisms than previously thought and that the more common and popular the language, the simpler its construction to facilitate its survival.Traditional thinking is that languages develop based upon random change...

By Washburn, Gay N Abstract: In many states, the rapidly increasing number of English language learners (ELLs) presents new challenges for undergraduate education programs. In addition, because areas with the most rapid growth generally have little history of educating the ELL population, there may be a corresponding lack of understanding of and empathy for ELLs. The author describes a language shock class that develops empathy for ELLs among preservice teachers, develops strategies for...

By Rinaldi, Claudia Samson, Jennifer When a school is implementing a response to intervention model [RTI), what are the special considerations for the assessment of and referral for special education services for English language learners (ELLs) with academic difficulties? An RTI model and evidencebased instruction can inform the three areas of prereferral, referral, and assessment, as well as IEP development, for ELLs-but the assessment team must understand how to use information on oral...

By Gibbons, Beatrice Introduction The majority of educators agree that there is a pressing need for dramatic changes in the way we deliver instruction to schoolchildren, particularly English learners. English learners face the daunting task of learning the academic curriculum and a new language concurrently. With their numbers rising across the nation, and increased accountability requirements focusing on their performance, schools are under pressure to better serve these students. The...

By Hardin, Belinda J Roach-Scott, Marisa; Peisner-Feinberg, Ellen S Abstract. The number of English language learners (ELLs) in early childhood regular and special education services has increased dramatically in the past decade. A survey was conducted with 141 early childhood administrators and teachers to examine their beliefs and practices concerning the special education referral, evaluation, and placement process for preschool ELLs and their families. Survey questions were designed to...