<p> In this multiple case study design, high-performing Chinese language immersion students were investigated to better understand their profiles. This study focused on their attitudes, motivations, support systems, strategies for learning, and their social environment and how it related to them. I investigated three cases of high-performing Chinese language immersion students in a suburban school district in the Midwestern United States participating in a one-way Chinese (Mandarin) language immersion program. I utilized document analysis, solicited diaries, semi-structured participant interviews, parent interviews, Chinese immersion teacher pre-interview questionnaires, and Chinese immersion teacher interviews as data collection instruments. After analyzing the data, I wrote a case report for each of these cases and completed a cross-case synthesis to identify what was universal, variant, and divergent amongst the profiles of these high-performing individuals.</p>

<p> Chinese language is the only ideographic language remaining in the world (Osaka, 1976). It conveys affluent Chinese culture and has great influences on the East Asian countries (Miyake, 2013). In the economic globalization of the world, China&rsquo;s economy and international influence are expanding. For these reasons and many more the Chinese language is widely accepted as one of the major world languages. It makes sense then Chinese language classes are experiencing popularity and growth with United States undergraduates. Despite this growth, however, the enrollment of African American students is constantly low in college Chinese language classrooms (Li, Wen, &amp; Xie, 2014). This call to action argues that this low representation of African American students lies on a course promotion system that denies African American students a preliminary learning opportunity that systematically limits their representation in Chinese language classrooms from the beginning. </p><p> This call for action examines systematic avenues for creating early opportunities. First the study explores the utility of offering African American students an informational workshop introducing the features of the language and the potential benefits of learning it. Next the study examines the leverage that could be gained by providing direct feedback and assessing student interest to explore whether students are more inclined to enroll in Chinese language courses following the information workshop. Such a process could lead to suggested policy changes that might close the enrollment gap between the African American students and their peers. This call for action considers the reality that even a well-designed action plan may not always produce positive consequences. Therefore, an impact evaluation is explored along with suggested instruments and uses. Finally possible outcomes of an impact evaluation are described. </p><p> To ground this call for action, a set of foundational theories are employed that mainly include networked improvement communities, leadership and teamwork, and critical theories. The call for action strongly suggests the iterative cycle of Plan, Design, Study, and Act (PDSA) of the NIC improvement science (Bryk, Gomez, &amp; Grunow, 2011) in the change process beginning with the examination of a local four-year university Chinese Studies Program. </p>

<p> English learners are expected to acquire academic language and content simultaneously. Long Term English Learners (LTELs), a growing English Learner subgroup, struggle academically and do not have the necessary academic vocabulary proficiency to achieve academic success in our current educational system. </p><p> This mixed-methods study examined the implementation of Academic Vocabulary Instructional protocols in the upper grades in a small urban elementary school district. Semistructured interviews, focus group, observation protocol, and data analysis methods were used as primary methods for data collection. Overall, four key themes emerged in this study. First, all 4th- and 5th-grade teachers implemented the new Academic Vocabulary Toolkit and protocol to address the academic language needs of English learner students. Second, teachers consistently used the academic vocabulary and grammatical frames. Third, teachers regularly modeled the use of an academic register. Finally, there was an increase in the use of grammatical sentence frames and academic vocabulary by students across the content areas. Language Acquisition and Sociocultural Theory in Language conceptual frameworks were used.</p>

Figures show that Sweden received 40 000 refugees in the autumn of 2015, who all were in the age range to attend junior high, and high school. The majority of these students originated from countries where Islam is the main religion. Hence, some of these students are likely to have their educational background in a qur’anic school. The purpose of this study is therefore to provide information about these students’ educational background. The study has been conducted with a special focus on how the Swedish school system differs in comparison to the qur’anic school system. An additional research aim was to investigate what some English teachers knew about these students’ educational backgrounds. In addition to these aims, the study also focused on whether the teachers tend to adapt their lessons in order to benefit these students. The research method that has been applied in order to answer these questions are qualitative interviews conducted with four teachers of English. The results of this study indicate that the qur’anic school is vastly different from the Swedish school system. Furthermore, the teachers that participated in this study did share some knowledge about the qur’anic school system, even though it was somewhat limited among two of the interviewees. The same varying results were shown regarding the teachers’ wills to adapt their lessons, on behalf of these students. Moreover, two out of four teachers in this study lack basic knowledge about the qur’anic school.

This report addresses the importance of discussing adolescent learners in regard with their anxiety about foreign or second language (L2) speaking performance. To find implications on how to help adolescents reduce or overcome speaking anxiety in the language classroom, the report reviews extensive literature on 1) the distinct adolescent features that contribute to the development of shyness and communication apprehension; 2) the concept, component sources, and impacts of foreign language learning anxiety; and 3) the causes and effects of L2 speaking anxiety in language learning situations. Based on the review, the report provides implications from studies about language teaching and learning practices to alleviate L2 learning and speaking anxiety. These suggestions focus on meeting adolescents' needs in terms of 1) improving self-esteem, 2) developing coping skills about anxiety, and 3) facilitating a safer and more supportive classroom environment. / text

In recent years FLE researchers and instructors have become increasingly interested in devising theoretical frameworks and pedagogical materials that prepare learners for the realities of today’s globalized world. Current FLE research suggests that equipping learners with intercultural communicative competence (ICC) is the best approach to achieve this goal. As a result of this, administrators and instructors of foreign language programs are reassessing their curricula to ensure that the cultural content is effective and sufficient for enabling learners to successfully function in a culturally diverse world. This thesis aims to reassess the cultural component of the beginner Arabic curriculum at the University of Texas at Austin by serving two objectives. The first objective is to present the results of a survey that examines the impact of the cultural content in the current beginner Arabic course at the University of Texas at Austin on learners’ ICC development. The second objective is to incorporate these results in a pedagogical framework to further enhance the development of ICC in the beginner Arabic classroom setting. The results were gathered from two student surveys, conducted at the beginning and end of the academic year, and from follow-up interviews administered half way through the study’s duration. The findings indicate that the majority of Arabic learners at the beginner level are predisposed with good general knowledge and positive perceptions with regard to the Arab world, suggesting that they are primed to develop ICC before commencing their study of Arabic. In addition to this, the findings show that the current Arabic curriculum did help to further develop ICC in learners to a certain extent. However, there are some areas for improvement, mainly regarding the organization and selection of topics. These observations were taken into consideration in designing the pedagogical framework that presents learning outcomes specific to the beginner Arabic curriculum. The intention is that such a framework will align curricular goals that will in turn result in learners becoming informed global citizens of the world. / text

<p> Studies on the retention of students from one semester to another semester or one year to another year in foreign language study are scant in higher education. Furthermore, these studies are limited to research at four-year colleges and universities. This mixed methods study of first and second semester foreign language students at three community colleges in New England seeks to discover the factors that influence students to continue or not to continue to a second semester of foreign language study upon completion of the first at the two-year schools. Variables such as student gender, age, and race/ethnicity are explored to determine if they influence student decisions to continue to a second semester of foreign language study. Other variables, including curriculum design, teaching materials, and instructional strategies used in first semester foreign language classes, are investigated to determine if they are factors in student decisions to continue to a second semester of foreign language study at the community college level.</p>

This study explores how U.S. college students experience integrative and instrumental motivation and how their sociolinguistic identity is understood, represented and constructed through their multiple experiences learning French as a Foreign Language (FFL) in an intensive Summer French Language Immersion Programs (SFLIPs). The results of the study demonstrate that participants who exhibited the most characteristics in connection to integrative motivation were the ones who took full advantage of the opportunities of being immersed in an environment in which exposure and production of the target language were maximized. The study demonstrates how participants’ lived experiences affect the way they construct their identity, how integrative motivation plays a key role in this construction and addresses a gap in literature by specifically adressing the themes of motivation and identity in the context of intensive French immersion in the U.S.

This study examines the relationships between foreign language learning beliefs and preferences of 2 Vietnamese learners and beliefs and practices of 2 Native English speaking teachers in a private English school in Vietnam. The learners were not satisfied with learning English in public schools and had many expectations on the course and the teachers while the teachers had to make their learners pleased. Beliefs were reviewed as determinations of actions; beliefs entail knowledge, values, and attitude, and relate closely to identity and experience. The researcher adopted an interpretivist paradigm and three qualitative methods: Repgrid interview, Stimulated recall interview, and The COLT as an observation schedule. The interview data was coded inductively with content analysis method to build up the subjects’ beliefs and belief systems. Then, the systems were compared to find the relationships between their beliefs. To see how their beliefs related with learning preferences and teaching practices, the researcher analysed what they said and made use of the video record of their classroom activities; besides, the teachers’ beliefs were compared with the timing calculation of the activities in their classes. The results showed that beliefs about language learning affected strongly the participants’ preferred ways of teaching and learning and there were tight matches between the teachers’ beliefs and actions in class. There were influences of beliefs of the teachers and learners on each other, they were not direct influences but through their interpretations of the classroom events. However, the influences from the teacher were much clearer. After the course, the learners’ preferences and beliefs about some learning activities were changed and became more reflective. They also started to recognize the benefits of different ways of learning English. Meanwhile, the teachers’ interpretation of their learners’ expectations, learning preferences, and levels strongly affected what and how they taught.

<p> This study focused on how lesson planning takes place at the college level in contrast to how the process takes place in grades K through 12. The study was conducted through a survey and interviews to English professors at the College of General Studies at the University of Puerto Rico in R&iacute;o Piedras. In order to conduct the research, factors such as academic background, teaching experience, context, age, teaching practices, motivation, and syllabus design were considered.</p><p> Data collected showed that planning does take place at the college level, first in the form of a semester-long syllabus and then in daily/weekly lesson plans that include varying degrees of detail. Lesson planning helps improve teacher performance by providing confidence. It improves student learning outcomes by helping them better understand the materials. Both, teachers and students, benefit from the focus and guidance planning provides.</p><p> Recommendations include creating teacher training programs in institutions of higher educations to provide the support teachers need to perform at their best and conducting further research in other departments, colleges, or campuses to see how planning takes places outside English courses.</p>