Review of Luquin (2025): Tracking Language Growth in Child English Learners: The Role of Model Texts

The purpose of this study aimed to investigate students’ English classroom goal structures, English learning motivation, and English learning achievement in junior high school, to discuss the differences among English classroom goal structures, learning motivation, and learning achievement based on personal background, as well as to make a prediction to learning achievement by English classroom goal structures and learning motivation The instrumentation was composed of three parts, including: personal information, English classroom goal structures scale, and English learning motivation scale. Participants in the study were 325 second-grade junior high school students in the northern district of Taipei city. The usable returned questionnaires were 309. The data collected from the questionnaires were analyzed by means of Descriptive statictics, T-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation analysis, and stepwise multiple regression analysis. The main findings of this study were as follows: 1. The students with different gender had no significantly different English classroom goal structures, English learning motivation, and English learning achievement. 2. The students with different English learning style after school had significantly different English classroom goal structures, English learning motivation, and English learning achievement. 3. The students with different traveling experience had significantly different English learning motivation and English learning achievement. 4. There was a correlation between English classroom goal structures and English learning motivation. 5. There was a significant positive correlation between English classroom goal structures and English learning achievement. 6. There was a significant positive correlation between English learning motivation and English learning achievement. 7. The effective predictors of English learning achievement were classroom master goal structure, self-affirm and learning requirement. According to the results of this study, the concrete suggestions were provided to the junior high school English teachers, the parents and the junior high school students. In addition, recommendations for further studies were also proposed.

In this paper, we will discuss some topics related to supporting English Language Learners (ELLs) in developing their English as an academic language. Firstly, we describe the general issues of ELLs; including what languages are learned the most. Secondly, we provide some topics related to the effectiveness of instructional practice in ELs’ teaching, type of instructional practices to support ELLs including some topics related to using L1 and L2 in teaching, the importance of teaching English at the younger aged or Teaching English to Young Learners. Lastly, we draw upon some issues related to the effective practice of teaching and learning for ELLs especially the importance of academic language, in particular to the English language learners. In addition, in this paper we use the term of ELLs and ELs, refers to the English Learners since the English Language Learners has been changing to be just English Learners (ELs) recently.

English Learners may struggle when learning science if their cultural and linguistic needs are unmet. The Collaborative Online Projects for English Language Learners in Science project was created to assist English learners’ construction of science knowledge, facilitate academic English acquisition, and improve science learning. The project is a freely available, online project-based, bilingual instructional website designed for English learners of Hispanic origin. The project website contains two units: Let’s Help Our Environment and What Your Body Needs. To create these collaborative online projects, two constructivist approaches were combined: The Cognitive-Affective Theory of Learning with Media and Project-Based Learning. These approaches to science education were used as the basis for culturally and linguistically relevant science instruction, which was delivered within a collaborative, online instructional platform. Using a case study design, two teachers demonstrated implementation of the project with fidelity, and students showed statistically significant gains in science content assessments. The Collaborative Online Projects for English Language Learners in Science project provides educators with a strong model for creating instructional materials that support English learners’ science learning by combining culturally-relevant, constructivist, collaborative projects using online, multimedia technology.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the application of and attitude towards the use of mobile phones in English language learning amongst Taiwanese university students. The proliferation of mobile phones makes them the most available device for transmitting language learning instruction aids and facilitating mobile learning. For the purpose of the research students with a mean age of 19 were randomly selected in 89 separate colleges and asked to complete a questionnaire (Application of Mobile Phones in English Learning). GM(0,N) was employed to analyze the assembled data and determine the weighting and ranking of responses. The major findings of this study were: Searching for word meaning (dictionary use) is the most frequent mobile phone application in English learning while writing and oral practice are the least frequently used. Most college students consider English learning with mobile phones feasible and especially effective in vocabulary building. The study also gave rise to some suggestions for future research.

School reform efforts across the US have focused on creating systems in which all students are expected to achieve to high standards. To ensure that students reach those standards and to document what students know and can do, schools collect assessment information on students' academic achievement. More information is needed, however, to find out when such assessments are appropriate for English learners and can provide meaningful information about what such learners know and can do. We describe and discuss a study that addresses the question of when it is appropriate to administer content area tests in English to English learners. Drawing on the student database of San Francisco Unified School District, we examined the effect of language demands on the SAT/9 mathematics scores of Chinese-speaking and Spanish-speaking students. Our results showed that while the English language demands of the problem solving subscale affect all students, they have a larger effect on English learners' performance, thus rendering the tests inaccurate in measuring English learners' subject matter achievement. Our results also showed that this effect gradually decreases as students become more proficient in English, taking five to six years for students to reach parity with national norms. These results have important implications for the design of school accountability systems and policies with high-stakes consequences for English learners such as high-school graduation requirements based on standardized tests.

This study examined the technical adequacy of Picture Word, a type of Writing Curriculum-Based Measurement, with 73 English learners (ELs) with beginning to intermediate English language proficiency in Grades 1, 2, and 3. The ELs in this study attended schools in one midwestern U.S. school district employing an English-only model of instruction and spoke a variety of native languages. ELs completed two forms of Picture Word in the fall, winter, and spring. The criterion measure, a common English language proficiency assessment, was administered in the winter. Results indicated that Picture Word was not appropriate for the first-grade EL participants but showed promise for second- and third-grade ELs.

This study surveyed teachers’ perceptions of English learners (ELs) and their referrals to special education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Limited social interactions during the pandemic greatly affected ELs’ language and social development. Using an online survey, the study identified how teachers perceived the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ELs, particularly changes in their areas of struggle before and after the pandemic, and the connection between their struggling due to the lockdown and special education referrals. This survey was distributed to Indiana public schools and targeted K–3 teachers. The results indicated that almost 25% of the teachers reported an increase in ELs’ referral to special education referrals after the school lockdown. Further, the teachers indicated an increase in reports of Els with behavior issues and emotional struggles compared to the pre-pandemic period.

The focus of the present paper is on the difference between English and German learners‘ use of perfectivity and imperfectivity. The latter is expressed by means of suffixation (suffix -va-). In contrast, perfectivity is encoded either by suffixation (-nou-) or by prefixation (twenty different prefixes that mostly modify not only aspectual but also lexical properties of the verb).
 
 In the native Czech data set, there is no significant difference between the number of imperfectively and perfectively marked verb forms. In the English data, imperfectively and perfectively marked verb forms are equally represented as well. However, German learners use significantly more perfective forms than English learners and Czech natives. When encoding perfectivity in Czech, German learners prefer to use prefixes to suffixes. Overall, English learners in comparison to German learners encode more perfectives by means of suffixation than prefixation.
 
 These results suggest that German learners of Czech focus on prefixes expressing aspectual and lexical modification of the verb, while English learners rather pay attention to the aspectual opposition between perfective and imperfective. In a more abstract way, the German learner group focuses on the operations carried out on the left side from the verb stem while the English learner group concentrates on the operations performed on the right side qfrom the verb stem.
 
 This sensitivity can be to certain degree motivated by the linguistic devices of the corresponding source languages: English learners of Czech use imperfectives mainly because English has marked fully grammatical form for the expression of imperfective aspect – the progressive -ing form. German learners, on the other hand, pay in Czech more attention to the prefixes, which like in German modify the lexical meaning of the verb. In this manner, Czech prefixes used for perfectivization function similar to the German verbal prefixes (such as ab-, ver-) modifying Aktionsart.

One of the most notable ways in which large, comprehensive high schools are working to meet the needs of the increasing numbers of English Language Learners (ELLs), and other students who may be struggling with academics, is by subdividing into smaller schools. One of the most appealing features of small schools is their emphasis on personalized instruction for students. While it takes many forms, personalizing education means knowing all students well and designing curriculum that meets their individual needs. Personalized learning environments hold enormous potential for improving the educational experiences, and even very lives, of English learners. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the extent to which English Learners at a small conversion high school received personalized instruction, and the extent to which this personalization contributed to meeting students’ psychosocial and academic needs. The study focused on one small conversion high school in a large city in southern California. Of the total school enrollment of approximately 500 students, 74% are (ELLs). Data were gathered through five months of classroom observations, student and school staff interviews, and review of school records. Data analysis identified several themes, including: differing expectations about personalization on the part of teachers, the principal and students; the way in which the school structure contributes to a personalized environment, instructional strategies related to personalization and meeting the needs of ELLs in the content area classroom; an ethic of care on the part of the teacher, and professional development. Recommendations that emerged from the study focus on the need to re-evaluate teacher certification requirements, the reorganization of the school structure, the development of a counseling program designed for ELLs, and the need for relevant, ongoing professional development. This study can contribute to the limited s research available on the potential of small schools to successfully educate English Learners. The findings of this study also provide fertile territory for further exploration of many areas related to small schools, personalization, and English Learners. Potential research could contribute to what is known about teacher motivation, effective content-area instruction for ELLs, teacher training and hiring, and school organization, all within the environment of the small school.

For school psychologists in the USA and Canada, skills in assessing and intervening with English language learners have not kept pace with the rapid growth of numbers of these children over the past few decades. At least one in five public school children in the USA and Canada speaks a language other than English at home, yet many psychologists lack graduate coursework and/or on-the-job training in working with these children and may actually avoid working with them. Several issues distinguish working with children whose only language is English from those who are dual-language learners. Children who lack proficiency in English may not fit the norming samples of the standardized tests that school psychologists rely on in their evaluations, thus rendering scores invalid. Psychologists and other educators may lack understanding of cultural and linguistic issues that are faced by these children and their families. In this chapter, we raise the reader’s awareness of the issues that make assessments and interventions different for English learners than for fluent English speakers. We specify the areas to investigate when any student struggles: curriculum, instruction, environment, and the learner. We compare English learners with fluent English speakers in their typical paths to a comprehensive evaluation. We look at English learners’ needs regarding Response to Intervention or the Multi-Tiered Support System, development of interventions, and involvement of a problem-solving team. The chapter ends with a summary of elements needed in schools and districts to help make special education eligibility decisions for English learners.

This study was an attempt to determine what extent English language teachers and English major students are accepting or resisting the envisioned education approach (outcome-based) and to assess the status of the implementation and the level of usefulness of OBE approach in teaching and learning English in NEUST. It also sought to investigate if there is an existing relationship and significant difference between the assessment of the status of the implementation with contributory factors such as formulating appropriate lesson objectives, designing appropriate learning tasks, choosing appropriate teaching methodologies, and designing appropriate assessment tasks and the level of usefulness of OBE Approach with contributory factors such as the knowledge of OBE implementation through instruction and practice of OBE implementation through instruction as perceived by the English teachers and students in teaching and learning English in NEUST. A total of 20 English teachers and 105 English major students from NEUST served as respondents. The descriptive research and correlation method of research were used by the researcher with the questionnaire as the main tool in data gathering. Specifically, the study answered questions on the profile of the teacher and student-respondents; status of OBE implementation; and the level of usefulness of OBE in teaching and learning English. The study also assessed if there are significant relationship and difference between the status of OBE implementation and the level of usefulness of OBE in teaching and learning English. Keywords: Outcome-Based Teaching & Learning, OBE Approach, Assessment DOI: 10.7176/JLLL/87-03 Publication date: April 30 th 2022

This research adopts the questionnaire survey method and selects 208 freshmen from the Guangxi Arts University as the research objects. The research studies the English self-efficacy and mobile learning situation of art college students and understands students’ views on using mobile devices/platform to assist in their learning of the English language. Results found that all students have mobile phones which allow teachers and students to use them for English learning. Besides, most art college students have a low sense of English self-efficacy, including low self-confidence, low enthusiasm in English learning, and average level of solving English learning difficulties. In addition, more than half of the students agree with the use of mobile devices/platforms to assist in English learning. Only a small number of people oppose it. This finding lays a preliminary foundation for later empirical research on using mobile learning to cultivate the English self-efficacy of art students.

This thesis explores the mutual impacts between English learners’ identity construction and their English learning at university level of education in the People’s Republic of China. Grounded in the sociocultural perspective on second language learning and based on the theory of communities of practice and the concepts of imagined communities and investment, the research focuses on two non-English major students’ English learning in a comprehensive university and investigates the social, historical and individualistic factors causing identity continuity and/or identity change in the first year of university study and explores how identity construction and English learning mutually impacted each other.\n\n\n\nThis research adopted a qualitative case study method and employed weekly diaries and interviews as data collection instruments. Data collection lasted six months. Weekly diaries guided by prompt questions were collected per week to track learners’ English learning and identity construction. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted every five to six weeks to gain rich contextual, historical and individual information and to retrospectively find out learners’ English learning and identities before entering the university and in the first semester in university. Their English teacher was interviewed for data enrichment and triangulation. Thematic analysis and Fairclough’s model of discourse analysis were used to identify evidence which shows identity continuity, identity change, and English learning. \n\n\n\nFindings show that in English learning in the university, language learners experienced either identity continuity or change in English learner identities, future career expectations and the sense of belonging to learning communities in the university. Learners’ imagined identities in future careers and future social status remained continuous in the first year and the imagined identities in future careers and future social status strongly promoted learners’ investments in English learning. By engaging in the learning communities in the university with imagination of learning communities they desired to participate in and imagination of their future, learners built their sense of belonging to the university, their classes and their dormitories. The growth of the sense of belonging reflects learners’ identity change. The sense of belonging facilitated their full participation in English learning in the university, classes and dormitories as learning communities. The findings also show that when congruence between the actual and imagined communities appeared, learners’ English learning were promoted, whereas incongruence negatively impacted English learning.\n\n\n\nThe findings of this study reveal the importance of learners’ imagined communities and imagined identities in future careers and future social status and also reveal the effects of learners’ non-academic factors on their English learning. This thesis suggests that learners’ diverse backgrounds and multiple identities should be taken into consideration when English curricular are designed. Career counselling and buddy schemes are also suggested. Accordingly, this study enhances the understanding of the first-year non-English major undergraduates’ identity construction in EFL learning in China. This study also attracts educators’ and researchers’ attention to the needs of non-English major students’ English learning in China as well as the needs of first-year undergraduates who experience a transition from high school to university.

Abstract: This developmental research was aimed to design, try-out, and revise the effectiveness of model in English learning in elementary school. The method in this research was Research and Development (R & D). This research began with the development of learning material, learning process, and instrument evaluation that would be tested limitedly in three elementary schools and 6 teachers and would be tested widely in 15 elementary schools and 30 teachers through questionnaire, observation, interview, and result analysis. The improvement of the final product of questioning cycle model in English learning that collaborated humanism and constructivism approach was based on the feedback in the field trial. The special target that wanted to be achieved in this research was to create an interesting model in English learning for students and learning textbook-centered to make English teaching and learning process easy and fun for primary school pupils. Besides, the model could contribute to scientific publication. Key words: questioning cycle model, English learning, humanism approach, constructivism approach

Despite the plethora of instructional programs and strategies emanating from research, our current efforts have not produced results that could prove to us that our approach in addressing the needs of English learners (ELs) is working adequately. We believe that aside from the lively and rigorous standard-based teaching that is designed by teachers and others involved in educating students, it is imperative to view the impact of teaching on student learning which would be indicative of how ELs are connected in the process based on what their backgrounds are, who they are with regards to social and cultural identities, and how they learn. We put forth the idea that the lack of progress in the language development and academic achievement of ELs is not solely due to the body of knowledge related to curriculum and instruction but influenced by a variety of factors that pertain to language and race. We think race matters in working with ELs because teachers like any other people may have prejudgmental ideological stances and cultural and racial biases that might influence their perceptions of their students as learners. Several equity-related matters such as identity recognition, sense of belonging, critical consciousness, and hope are viable considerations as well in teaching ELs. However, prejudice against students based on race reinforced by institutionalized language policies related to teaching and testing and microaggressions may turn out to be the culprit in causing the disengagement of English language learners.