The COVID-19 pandemic has deeply impacted the field of education, shifting instruction from in-person classrooms to virtual learning environments on a global scale. To understand how language teachers engaged in online pedagogy during the pandemic, the current study examines how one expert English Language Development (ELD) teacher, Ms. Anya…

Using a large sample of longitudinal assessment data from children in publicly funded infant/toddler care, preschool, and kindergarten (analytic N = 453,468), this study modeled language and literacy trajectories from early infancy through kindergarten for dual language learners (DLLs) from homes representing many different languages and their…

Language assessments are often framed as benign mechanisms needed to objectively classify people's linguistic proficiencies. In this article, I argue for the need to critically re-examine how purportedly objective institutional language assessments and our participation in them deceptively reify historical and contemporary inequities. I offer the…

Teachers working in middle and high school Dual Immersion (DI) programs (Spanish-English) face unique sets of challenges: linguistic equity between the two languages of instruction, attrition due to high linguistic and academic expectations, and preparing DI students for standardized tests in English. In this article, we reflect on our current…

International students, particularly international English as a Second Language (ESL) students who come to the United States with relatively lower levels of English oral language proficiency, are often reluctant to participate in academic discussions. In a graduate-level TESOL program with a majority of international ESL students, a video…

A qualitative study of language attitudes toward Spanish in contact with English in San Diego county reveals that while Spanish-English bilingualism is highly valued, Spanish-English codeswitching is disfavored. While studies in other border communities along the U.S.-Mexico border have found similar general results, the present study contributes…

This brief summarizes key findings from the "Bilingual Research Journal" article "Understanding Newcomer English Learner Students' English Language Development: Comparisons and Predictors." The study analyzed incoming English proficiency and subsequent English language growth among newcomer students, and further explored how…

This dissertation draws on both qualitative and quantitative approaches to investigate the linguistic practices of teachers and children who are learning Mandarin Chinese as a Heritage Language (CHL) in two dual immersion preschools in California. CHL children have been interpreted as novice members in local speech communities who actively explore…

Though there is a great deal of research concerning second language instruction, the same cannot be said of research meant to guide the design and delivery of instruction for English Learners and how teachers' perceptions of their effectiveness can influence their daily instructional practices. Through this mixed method action research study, the…

Washback, that is, the effect of tests on teaching and learning, has captured the interest of scholars in applied linguistics for almost 30 years. However, most research has been conducted on large-scale tests, rather than classroom-based language assessments like ACTFL's Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA). The present study explored washback…

This essay explores a variety of ways California's English Learner (EL) Roadmap can be used as a tool to make significant and transformative changes to provide meaningful learning opportunities for students classified as English Learners. The EL Roadmap contains 4 principles: (1) Asset-oriented and needs-responsive schools; (2) Intellectual…

This study examines the reader-response journals of an English learner (EL) who read two works of historical fiction in his English Language Development class at a public high school in California. Locating this study within the tradition of research on reader response, it investigates how the EL constructs his own individualized meaning by…

Because long-term English language learners (LTELs) in California normatively take two hours of English language instruction beginning in middle school, their schedules disallow participation in electives, such as arts, representing a significant opportunity gap. This mixed methods study examined the student, parent, and teacher experiences as…

The United States needs strong collaboration among adult educators and all social service agencies that support the linguistic, economic and civic integration of refugees and immigrants. Such collaboration can make possible holistic support required to create linkages between English language education and other non-educational support services.…

Language instruction at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC), as it does at colleges and universities, focuses on developing linguistic competence. There is no textbook or teaching materials that explicitly and systematically teach students the pragmatic knowledge of the target language. Such knowledge is either…