English language learners (ELLs) are the fastest-growing population in California schools, with a high percentage of students not meeting the standard of the English language arts performance on the California Standardized Test (CST). This project study investigated the problem in a California school district where it was unknown whether the intervention strategies provided to teachers gave them the curricular skills needed to address the instructional needs of ELLs. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine whether teachers' self-reported instructional preparedness to teach ELLs was related to ELLs language arts performance. The study was grounded in Marzano's model of teaching effectiveness, which guided the anonymous survey given by the district to assess teacher instructional needs for ELL and helped define the independent variables. Archival data from the teacher survey and the CST were analyzed by using a simple linear regression and factor analysis in response to the research questions, which explored whether a relationship existed between self-reported teacher preparedness and the standardized test scores of ELLs students. Findings indicated no relationships between teacher preparedness to instruct ELLs and language arts performance on the CST. A significant finding on the teacher self-reported survey was that English language arts is a topic of concern to teachers and warrants additional training. To address this, a professional development project was created and influenced by Marzano's model of teaching effectiveness to address the best instructional practices for ELLs. Better preparation of teachers to instruct ELLs may promote positive social change by increasing student performance in English language arts and providing better opportunities for college and career that ultimately benefit the community.

English language learners (ELLs) in a Midwestern urban elementary school have not been meeting the local school's adequate yearly progress (AYP) in reading in 3 consecutive years on statewide test scores. Meeting school standards is important because failing to meet AYP for 6 consecutive years can result in the restructuring or closing of any public school in the nation. The rationale for this qualitative case study was to examine the perceptions of stakeholders, 7 parents, teachers, and school administrators, all of whom have demonstrated knowledge of and proximity to the school's AYP decisions, to develop vocabulary strategies that may increase students' state test scores in reading. The conceptual framework was based on Gardner's multiple intelligences. The research questions focused on understanding stakeholders' perceptions of the proficiency of ELLs in reading, professional development for reading teachers of ELLs, recommendations for helping ELLs improve reading proficiency, and the challenges reading teachers face in ELL classes. Semi-structured interviews with each participant were transcribed, color-coded, and analyzed using holistic and typological analysis techniques to search for and develop themes and patterns. Findings revealed a need for teachers to receive professional development training related to improving ELLs' vocabulary to improve their reading proficiency. A 3-day professional development curriculum project was developed to focus on teaching effective vocabulary strategies. This study has implications for social change focused on improving teachers' capacity to work with ELLs and to improve their reading scores which have lasting impact on students' lives.

English Language Learners (ELLs) do not achieve sufficiently on standardized tests, as required by federal law. Fourth grade ELLs at a suburban elementary school in the Southern United States experienced similar problems in the failure rate on the state standardized test. Still, this school outperformed several of the schools in the same area of the county. In this sequential, explanatory study, teacher and administrator perceptions of school culture and its impact on the achievement of ELLs in a Southern elementary school were examined. Vygotsky's cultural-historical theory provided the theoretical framework to ground this study, as culture within a school could influence student achievement. At the study site, 26 elementary teachers voluntarily responded to the electronic School Culture Survey during the quantitative phase. Analysis of these surveys yielded means, produced factor scores, and identified discrepant areas. Two administrators, five 4th grade teachers, and four ELL teachers were invited and were interviewed to collect and analyze data in the qualitative phase. The thematic coding of the data identified teacher collaboration, collaborative leadership and perceptions of school culture as deficient in the school. The subsequent project, a position paper based on the findings, informed school leadership of the results and potential benefits a regional examination of school culture could provide. Improving school culture can allow teachers and administrators to better serve an underachieving student population; an improved culture could consequently contribute to positive social change for these ELLs.

Researchers have described how a missing element in instructional services for English language learners is effective collaboration between general education and English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) teachers. This collaboration is vital to the success of English language learners. This multisite case study was designed to gain insight into current practices and how to improve collaboration between educators in a way that improves instructional services for English language learners. Knowles' theory of andragogy, the transfer of learning theory, and constructivism were used as a basis for analyzing educators' perspectives and instructional practices. Two sites were selected for the study-one that implemented pull-out services for ESOL students and one that implemented coteaching. Data included individual interviews with 24 educators and 17 observations of lessons within the classroom. Data were open coded and thematically analyzed. Results from the interviews indicated that coteaching was perceived by teachers as beneficial in improving instructional practices for English language learners when educators participate in structured planning with face-to-face communication. Observation findings included similarities between the content, delivery, and format of instruction between schools, which indicated the potential success of implementing coteaching in the school that initially implemented pull-out services. This study may be beneficial to schools and districts seeking to transition from the format of pull-out instructional services to more inclusive models.

The Spanish subjunctive has been the focus of much SLA research, largely because it poses difficulties for learners of Spanish whose L1 is English (e.g., Collentine, 1993; Stokes & Krashen, 1990; Terrell et al., 1987). Investigating the same feature in heritage learners of Spanish can provide more information about their linguistic development and also has the potential to inform our knowledge of the acquisition of the subjunctive in traditional FL learners. The present study investigates whether heritage learners recognize grammatical and ungrammatical modal choice in volitional constructions. These constructions have been selected because this use of the subjunctive does not vary by a speaker's dialect or by belief about the idea being expressed. Furthermore, given that theories of language attrition posit that the structures that are acquired earliest are the last to be lost (e.g., De Bot & Weltens, 1991) and that Spanish monolingual children acquire the subjunctive in volitional constructions first (Blake, 1980; 1983), heritage learners who have experienced some language attrition may still have knowledge of this feature. To investigate the effect that language attrition or incomplete acquisition may have on this knowledge, I also compared the SHL learners in the sample who were early bilinguals in English (those born in the United States or who immigrated before age 6) with those who were late bilingual (those who immigrated between ages 6 and 13). Students enrolled in Spanish for Heritage Learners (SHL) and Spanish as a Foreign Language (SFL) courses at three universities in the Northeast completed grammaticality judgment (GJ) and editing tasks, which contained examples of correct and incorrect mood choices, as well as distracter items. The GJ task also required participants to explain their judgments. The results indicate that SHL learners outperform their SFL peers on recognizing correct mood selection. No significant differences were found between early and late bilinguals. SHL and SFL learners tended to correct utterances that they had rejected of judged neutrally but gave different types of reasons for accepting utterances. There were several similarities between early and late bilinguals in terms of their reasons for their judgments of utterances.

Being able to read proficiently is a critical skill all students must master in order to graduate from high school, pursue postsecondary learning opportunities, and secure employment. English language learners (ELLs) are a group of students at risk for leaving school without becoming proficient readers. Repeated reading has been identified through the literature as a promising approach for remediating reading difficulties for adolescent ELLs with reading difficulties (Denton et al., 2004; 2004; Hawkins et al., 2011; Malloy et al., 2006; Tam et al., 2006; Valleley & Shriver, 2003). Repeated reading been shown to increase students' reading fluency and in turn their comprehension, and vocabulary instruction is considered an essential component of instruction for ELLs. The main purpose of this study was to extend the literature and investigate two components of reading intervention for adolescent ELLs with reading difficulties: fluency instruction and vocabulary instruction. Specifically the study examined the following research questions: (1) What is the impact of a repeated reading intervention on the reading fluency, accuracy, and reading comprehension of adolescent ELLs with reading difficulties? (2) What are the additive effects of vocabulary instruction, in conjunction with the repeated reading intervention, on the reading fluency, accuracy, and reading comprehension of adolescent ELLs with reading difficulties? Summary of Study Design and Findings A single case ABCBC multi-treatment design was used to investigate effects of repeated reading over no intervention (baseline) and the additive effects of vocabulary instruction for three adolescent ELLs with reading disabilities. The repeated reading intervention phases consisted of adult modeling, error correction, feedback, and practice reading expository passages. The repeated reading + vocabulary instruction phases added direct instruction of six vocabulary words found in the passage. Overall findings indicate that ELLs with reading disabilities benefit from repeated reading interventions but respond differentially to the addition of vocabulary instruction.

Children from non-English-speaking homes often lag behind their English speaking peers academically. However, people who speak two languages often have better executive functioning skills than people who speak only one language. Executive functions are neurologically-based skills related to managing oneself to achieve a goal. The relation between bilingualism and executive function may be due to how two languages are processed in the brain. However, it is unclear if more balanced bilinguals experience larger gains in executive function than people who are less balanced. Children from low-income homes are at a disadvantage as compared to children from homes with higher incomes. A quarter of children in the Head Start program, which serves children from low-income homes, come from homes that speak a language other than English which puts them at a double disadvantage. Longitudinal data from 3-year-old children enrolled in Head Start who were from Spanish-speaking households were used to investigate whether there were different patterns of dual language development and if those patterns related differently to executive function. Results revealed three groups of dual language development. Groups were compared in terms of children’s performance on a nonverbal executive functioning task. Results showed that children in the group that had the most similar proficiency between English and Spanish had the highest average executive functioning scores, even after controlling for child age and gender. This indicates balanced bilingualism may enjoy additional benefits to executive functioning development as compared to individuals with relative imbalance between languages.

The disproportionality of culturally and linguistically diverse learners in exceptional education is an ongoing issue (Bernal, 2002; Ford, 2012). One of these special populations is that of English learners (ELs), who are overrepresented in special education programs and underrepresented in gifted and talented programs (Ford, 2012).The extant literature suggests that a rapid rate of growth in English language proficiency (ELP) may be one of the characteristics used to indicate giftedness in English learners (Brulles, Castellano, & Laing, 2011; Harris, Plucker, Rapp, & Martinez, 2009). However, no studies have analyzed English Language proficiency (ELP) growth trajectories of gifted ELs. This study explored the growth in English language proficiency of 4,558 ELs, of which 118 were identified as gifted. Scores from the Comprehensive English Language Learning Assessment (CELLA), were used to determine their typical English language proficiency growth trajectories of ELs. This was done using latent growth curve modeling. The growth trajectories were then analyzed to determine if differences existed in the trajectories of ELs identified as gifted. The findings were that differences did exist in the English language proficiency growth of ELs identified as gifted, particularly in the areas of listening/speaking and writing, where gifted ELs seem to grow at a more rapid rate than their non-identified peers.

Australia hosts thousands of English language learners every year and one of the reasons learners give for this is their belief that living in the target language community naturally avails them of more language learning opportunities than are available in their homelands. In fact, learners actually learn faster and more effectively compared to the limited gains in their respective countries. Believing that the target language community has a strong role in language learning, this research focuses on the factors and opportunities which enable students to develop their language skills in informal settings outside the school. Due to the vast scope of the research area, six different types of data collection methods have been used so that a wider spectrum in SLA could be investigated. These include an exploration of learner beliefs about their language learning experiences and a study of authentic social activities and linguistic engagements within those activities. The outcome of this research suggests that language learning is not first initiated “in the head”, but starts with the social activities in which learners participate and the qualities of the linguistic challenges and opportunities within these activities. The research draws on sociocultural theory (Vygotsky 1962, 1978), ecological approach to learning (van Lier 1999) and register theory (Halliday and Hasan 1985), and also on a range of research within second language acquisition studies. The study illustrates that language learning occurs in the context of activitybased communication experiences in authentic contexts, and the more the constant challenge and varied linguistic opportunities exist in the learner’s ecology, the more and better the chances to learn language. An overall approach to understanding independent language learning and a conceptual framework for examining informal language learning opportunities, have been developed. The study concludes with some implications for pedagogical practice in English language classrooms.

Australia hosts thousands of English language learners every year and one of the reasons learners give for this is their belief that living in the target language community naturally avails them of more language learning opportunities than are available in their homelands. In fact, learners actually learn faster and more effectively compared to the limited gains in their respective countries. Believing that the target language community has a strong role in language learning, this research focuses on the factors and opportunities which enable students to develop their language skills in informal settings outside the school. Due to the vast scope of the research area, six different types of data collection methods have been used so that a wider spectrum in SLA could be investigated. These include an exploration of learner beliefs about their language learning experiences and a study of authentic social activities and linguistic engagements within those activities. The outcome of this research suggests that language learning is not first initiated “in the head”, but starts with the social activities in which learners participate and the qualities of the linguistic challenges and opportunities within these activities. The research draws on sociocultural theory (Vygotsky 1962, 1978), ecological approach to learning (van Lier 1999) and register theory (Halliday and Hasan 1985), and also on a range of research within second language acquisition studies. The study illustrates that language learning occurs in the context of activitybased communication experiences in authentic contexts, and the more the constant challenge and varied linguistic opportunities exist in the learner’s ecology, the more and better the chances to learn language. An overall approach to understanding independent language learning and a conceptual framework for examining informal language learning opportunities, have been developed. The study concludes with some implications for pedagogical practice in English language classrooms.