This book is based on a longitudinal study involving learners of English as a foreign language from their first year in primary education to their last year in compulsory secondary education. Some of the chapters report on the whole sample initially drawn from five primary schools and some are based on a sample of focal learners. These focal learners were followed in secondary school (grades 7 and 10). One of the main aims of the book is capturing change over time regarding the learners’ language perceptions and awareness, oral and written language development, learners’ attitudes and motivation, and their language learning trajectories. The longitudinal nature of the data also allows identification of internal and external factors on learners’ linguistic outcomes. The book draws on a wealth of data sources (self-reported data, classroom observations, institutional data, language tests and tasks), participants (learners, teachers, parents), several testing times and both qualitative and quantitative analyses. The book will be of interest to educators and scholars working on such areas as language pedagogy, language development and awareness as well as individual differences.

This text outlines relevant theoretical background and provides detailed practical advice and suggestions for educators in schools serving culturally and liguistically divers communities. Some chapters focus on the needs of students from immigrant communities, especially those who are learning the language of instruction, while others include historical minority groups as well.

A rigorous and highly original analysis of direct democracy in the United States, which calls into question the future of governance through ballot measures. Shauna Reilly uses quantitative, qualitative and experimental methodological approaches to present insights on the different behaviours of the petitioner, the ballot, and the voter.

This book explores how high-stakes tests mandated by No Child Left Behind have become de facto language policy in U.S. schools, detailing how testing has shaped curriculum and instruction, and the myriad ways that tests are now a defining force in the daily lives of English Language Learners and the educators who serve them.

Focused on the key skills needed to teach English at the secondary school level, this text covers a range of issues that include - use of new technology, reading, writing, speaking, listening, drama and the teaching of grammar.

Moving beyond the ‘Web 2.0’ and ‘digital native’ rhetoric, this book addresses the complex experiences of learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) in a world embedded with interactive and participatory technologies. Adopting a sociocultural perspective, it investigates EFL learners’ behaviours concerning digital technology, and guides exploration into their contextually mediated choices and learning practices in the ‘2.0’ era. The argument is developed on the basis of the findings of a mixed sequential study that focused on 1485 Chinese undergraduates’ use and non-use of online tools and applications outside the English classroom. Particular attention is paid to the role of context and agency when understanding their learning choices and behaviours in the context of digital technology. In particular, the book acknowledges the explanatory power of agency in the minority instances of ‘good practices’ among these EFL learners. At the same time it demonstrates that for most learners, use of the current web is limited and mostly non-interactive. The barriers to ‘2.0’ transfer are largely contextual and the so-called ‘communicative opportunities’ and ‘participatory culture’ in particular did not fit into the learners’ sociocultural context of (language) learning. Overall, the compelling argument proposes that the technology-facilitated changes in EFL practices are a ‘bottom up’ process that is taking place in day-to-day situations and constrained by the learning context within which the learner is situated. Based on these arguments, the book provides a framework that challenges the existing beliefs about (language) learning with online technology, and that contributes to our understanding of how context mediates EFL learners’ behaviours surrounding digital technologies. It is a valuable resource for teachers, researchers and policy makers, providing them with insights into using digital technology to stimulate ‘good learning practices’ outside the classroom.