This study represents a first effort to identify sociocultural background variables that predict the successful mastery of a heritage language by adult learners. While there are well-documented sociocultural models for other second language learners, thus far there are no similar published models for heritage language learners. We focused on…

This paper will present an analysis of the notion of cultural and linguistic diversity in the new curriculum for primary schools in France (MEN, 2003). First, it will explain how this notion is linked both to a wider choice of languages and to the teaching of one foreign or regional language only. We shall argue that, despite the wide theoretical…

One of the powerful ideologies that govern English language learning and teaching in the Sultanate of Oman is the "colonialist/culturalist" ideology and the various paradigms embodied within it. This ideology is present in the various statements made by the different agents involved in ELT in Oman, in particular "The Philosophy and Guidelines for…

This paper examines the use of regional languages and dialects of Dutch in the Netherlands, and the relation of such to the Dutch language proficiency of primary school pupils. The data from the large-scale primary education PRIMA cohort study are analysed. A total of nearly 35,000 pupils participated in five measurement rounds covering the period…

This qualitative study, employing an ethnographic research method, investigates how dialogue journal writing, which allows teachers and learners to engage in "written conversation", may provide an opportunity to bring critical pedagogy and foreign language education together in a productive way in the context of a critical literacy practice. The…

Five teachers of English at the secondary level in Japan agreed to participate in this qualitative study that set about uncovering their beliefs about teaching and their current curricular activities. Findings indicate that despite their vastly different workplaces, teacher-participants continue to work in the shadow of an educational system…

Japanese students often feel it difficult to acquire communicative skills in English at school. Although many of them appear to have positive, favorable attitudes towards learning English, their annual Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) total score means has been consistently low. The present paper discusses this paradox from two points…

The paper reports the results of a survey of parents (n=12), teachers (n=8) and pupils (n=20) in primary schools in rural Kenya. The sample was divided equally between multilingual and monolingual schools, the former using English or Kiswahili only, right through primary school, the latter using the mother tongue (in this case, Kalenjin) Kalenjin…

This paper gives a contrastive analysis of noun phrases in English and Chinese. The syntactic features of the structures, the devices used to mark distinctions in number, case and gender, as well as the similarities and differences between English and Chinese relative clauses are discussed. Partly due to the documented differences between these…

This paper reports some key findings from an external evaluation of an innovative programme for foreign and heritage languages in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW). The programme, entitled the Languages Continuity Initiative (LCI), was funded by the NSW Department of Education and Training and involved over 200 schools in its initial…

The paper reports the results of a naturalistic enquiry into written request strategies in emails sent by Chinese learners of English to their teachers. A corpus of 600 emails was collected in the course of an academic year. CCARP (Cross-Cultural Speech-Act Realisation Project) segmentation and coding was used to analyse the requests contained in…

Following the results of the Ife Six-Year Primary Project designed to use an indigenous Nigerian language as a medium of instruction in primary schools, some suggestions have been made to introduce it in all Nigerian primary schools. This study investigates the attitudes of student teachers towards mother-tongue instruction. Data for the study…

Jamaica is a Creole-speaking environment, where children enter school with a range of varieties, some of which are closely related to English. The expectation is that they will learn English in school. The appropriate language teaching approach, it is argued, is not English as a mother tongue, English as a Second Language or English as a Foreign…

This article discusses some preliminary results of an ongoing investigation into the development of intercultural competence in the context of distance language teaching and learning. A search for appropriate practical approaches led us to the design of an online pilot course, the main objective of which was to develop intercultural competence…

The relationship between second language learning and meaningful interactions is now well recognised in second language acquisition research. While English is a widely taught foreign language around the world, much of the interaction research comes from core-English countries, which are also the major producers of English language teaching (ELT)…