Reading acquisition is based on a set of preliteracy skills that lay the foundation for future reading abilities. Phonological awareness--the ability to identify and manipulate the sound units of oral language--has been reported to play a central role in reading acquisition. However, current evidence is mixed with respect to its universal…

Purpose: The objective of this research is to measure Chinese students' progress in gaining new vocabulary in Spanish at the B1 level after using the serious video game Guadalingo. Design/methodology/approach: A group of 30 Chinese students participated in an experiment, in which 16 of them played Guadalingo; the other 14 were used as the control…

The use of discourse markers, like that of any other linguistic element, is dependent on contextual factors that interact at the specific moment of an enunciation. The utterers, with the need to adjust their language product to their communicative intentions, perform an analysis of the contextual, material, and relational factors involved,…

This study examines the acquisition process of speech rhythm in Dutch learners of Spanish (DLS) and Spanish learners of Dutch (SLD) at different proficiency levels to determine whether learning direction affects the success of rhythm acquisition in a foreign language (L2). Analyses of lengthening effects showed that the two learner groups followed…

The researchers used qualitative and quantitative instruments to measure students' linguistic gains and their opinions and attitudes toward intercultural awareness while studying Spanish as a foreign language under four different pedagogical models: a traditional face-to-face classroom, face-to-face classes with a community-based learning…

This paper describes a study exploring in-service (IS) and pre-service (PS) teachers' language ideologies about non-Spanish-speaking students' multilingualism in Chilean classrooms. A survey was answered by 69 IS teachers and 34 PS teachers in the Chilean school system. Both groups were asked about two dimensions: (a) teachers' knowledge and…

Research on linguistic variation suggests that usage patterns are deeply embedded in native and non-native speakers' knowledge of grammar. This study explores the transfer of these variable sociolinguistic patterns at the initial stages of third language acquisition. We elicited narratives in Portuguese from two mirror-image groups of sequential…

The Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) has synthesized key data on English learners (ELs) into two-page sheets on a variety of subjects. This fact sheet focuses on: (1) Most Common Home Languages and Language Categories Spoken by English Learner Students in Grades K-12: 2017-18 School Year; (2) Number of Reported English Learner…

For children with complex communication needs in the early stages of language development, access to appropriate vocabulary provides a means for social interaction and participation, and the foundation for the acquisition of grammar and other language related skills. While numerous resources are available to support decision making for speakers of…

Studying the oral language growth of Spanish-speaking preschoolers in the United States is increasingly important given the critical role early language development plays in reading outcomes. In this article, we report on the Spanish and English growth trajectories observed in 124 bilingual preschoolers collected over 2 years in 36 classrooms…

The purpose of this study was to investigate how second-generation emergent bilingual Latina/o/x children are socialized to language and literacy practices in their rural community's school, home, and religious context. Gathering from theoretically grounded and research-based studies on language socialization, a qualitative study using…

In many so-called canonical null subject languages, null and overt subject pronouns have contrasting referential preferences: null subjects tend to maintain reference to the preceding subject while overt pronominal subjects do not. We propose that children acquire this contrast by initially restricting their attention to 1st and 2nd person…

The second language acquisition (SLA) of Spanish pronominal object clitics (POCs) has been a topic of research with regards to clitic placement (Houston, 1997; Lee, 1987; LoCoco, 1987; VanPatten, 1984; and VanPatten & Houston 1998), acquiring specific dialectal norms (Geeslin, Garcia-Amaya, Hasler-Barker, Henriksen, & Killam, 2010), and…

Bilingual children demonstrate varying levels of proficiency in each of the two languages to which they are exposed. Even though it is widely acknowledged that bilingual children are not a homogenous group, existing studies on dual-language profiles in bilingual children have focused on expressive language profiles. In this study, we used the…

Study 1: The present work examined the connection between language and conceptual development, investigating whether false-belief reasoning (FBR) and source-monitoring ability (SMA) abilities within the theory of mind (ToM) framework constrained the comprehension of semantic and pragmatic knowledge (evidential scalar implicatures) encoded in the…