Modern technology has provided foreign language teachers with several methods of connecting their classes and students to native speakers of target languages. Much of the existing research about these online conversations is focused on changes in students' proficiency or cultural sensitivity. Although valuable, the research is lacking in understanding students' experience online including positive and negative feelings, challenges, and students' overall opinion of the exchanges' usefulness. This study was conducted in an effort to better understand students' experience communicating online with native speakers. A third semester Spanish class at Brigham Young University consisting of 18 students was selected as a sample. These students were required to speak online with native Spanish speakers for at least 20 minutes in Spanish each week. Students completed weekly surveys, a final survey, and three students were selected for a semi-structured interview. This study was conducted using a mixed-methods approach, involving both quantitative and qualitative data. The data revealed common struggles that students faced during online exchanges, methods students used for coping with these difficulties, areas of perceived growth as a result of the exchanges, and social factors that had significant impact on students' experience. The study concludes with recommendations of what foreign language educators can do to support their own classes in similar online exchanges. Areas of further investigation regarding online exchanges with native speakers are also recommended.

There is an increased need for bilingual education programs throughout the U.S. as a result of the increasing bilingual population, especially Spanish-English bilinguals. With the implementation of such programs there also exists the need to be aware of issues that affect bilinguals and their language learning experience. One of these issues that has been investigated among foreign language learners, but less among bilinguals, is the issue of language anxiety. This case study reports the findings gathered from classroom observations, a language survey, focus group interviews and teacher interviews in order to better understand the issue of language anxiety among heritage language learners on the border. The information gathered from student and teacher participants at a high school in South Texas describes students' language background and attitudes toward language learning as well as teachers' background, beliefs about language teaching. Results include responses from both students and teachers in reference to what creates language anxiety and what can be done in the classroom to mitigate its effects. Results indicate that language anxiety is not the issue of greatest concern, although some lower proficient bilinguals experience it. Rather, it was found that poor classroom management has the ability to affect nearly every other aspect of a language class, directly affecting language expectations, language use, classroom routine, attitudes, and even the level of language anxiety. Due to poor classroom management, a very low expectation has been set for these students and as a result, there is also a low percentage of students who experience language anxiety. Recommendations for improving bilingual language classes come from students' comments during focus group interviews.

Using data on all Hispanic high school students in Central and Southern Florida, this study examines Cummins’ Linguistic Interdependence concept by studying how the availability and English Language Learners (ELL) student participation in Spanish for Native Speakers (SNS) programs in Florida high schools is associated with Hispanic academic achievement. The availability of SNS programs was studied using data provided by the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) on all high schools in Florida for 2009-2010. The study used individual level data on all Hispanic ELL students in Central and Southeast counties who attended 12th grade during each year from 2006/2007 through 2009/2010, and then tracked the students’ entire high school experience from 9th to 12th grade. Student Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) scores were used as the dependent variable. Testing for differences in means and linear and logistic regression analysis were used to examine these questions. The results showed that SNS tend to be offered in large high schools, with a large Hispanic student and teacher population, which have lower average FCAT scores, and are located in counties that tend to vote Democratic. The results found indicate that student participation in SNS program does not affect students’ overall FCAT scores. However, students who participate in SNS courses tend to perform better in Math FCAT, but not in Reading FCAT, when compared to their peers of similar Hispanic background that did not participate in SNS courses. The results supported Cummins’ Linguistic Interdependence concept, as First Language (L1) maintenance may promote academic achievement, depending on the academic subject. The most important attribute of these results was the association found between L1 maintenance and academic skills in Math. The study argues for the possibility of cognitive development occurring at deeper levels due to L1 maintenance, and expressed through abstract and logical thought such as Mathematical iv proficiency. Future studies may benefit by approaching this subject in a longitudinal manner and examine how student participation in SNS is associated with educational attainment, including high school graduation, college enrollment and graduation, job prospects and social mobility. The results also suggest that there is a higher probability that SNS curriculum is offered in high schools located in counties that tend to vote Democratic, indicating that location is intrinsically dependent on stakeholders’ political views on the education of minority students. Therefore, future studies may examine stakeholders’ involvement in the decision making process of curriculum at the county, school, and classroom level, in order to find out what are the driving forces making possible or not the availability of SNS curriculum in the state of Florida.

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This thesis is about an inovative program in teaching English language called EATS. The goal was to find out the effectivness of this program on the basis of repeated observations, didactic testing and interview. In the theoretical part the position of English language in the curricular documents is discussed. Then there is the description of the communicative approach to the language learning which is very useful in nowadays globalised society.The important role of the native speaker is emphasized because he brings the authentic element into the education process and gives pupils good language model. Also the early education in foreign languages is part of this work. Integrated language learning is described on the ilustration of CLIL and its alternative which could be called "language preparation". The aim was to show an example of a good practice which could inspire someone.

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