The settlement and adaptation of immigrant and refugee youth in receiving countries is a long-term process with many challenges. In this study, we explored factors that influenced the settlement experiences of 14 immigrant and refugee youth who arrived in Canada as adolescents. The interviewees (9 male, 5 female) ranged in age from 19 to 32 years and represented 10 source countries. Analyses of the semi-structured interview transcripts revealed that their settlement and adaptation were negatively influenced by pre-migration experiences; difficult socioeconomic circumstances in Canada; lack of knowledge of Canadian laws and legal sanctions; challenging educational experiences; racism and discrimination; and cultural identity issues. However, several factors exerted a positive influence on participants' settlement experiences or served to mitigate the negative influences in their lives: in particular, strong support networks and involvement in prosocial community programs as participants and/or leaders. We make recommendations for facilitating the integration process in school settings and in the wider community.
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Engagement with current research is essential for the implementation of evidenceinformed instructional practices in adult EnglishOne of the expectations of a profession is that practitioners within it will not only possess the appropriate knowledge, skills, and attributes for their profession but, equally important, that they will keep up to date with developments in their field to both confirm and inform their teaching practices. English as a second language (ESL) instructors who engage with current research through ongoing professional development (PD) are better prepared to meet the edu-
Language-learners, teachers, and researchers agree that vocabulary is an essential element in the process of learning a language (Schmitt, 2008), because words are the primary conveyors of meaning (Vermeer, 2001) and thus carry the main information load in communication. As Wilkins (1972) states, "without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed" (p. 111). Considering the centrality of vocabulary knowledge and its development, it is necessary for second-language (L2) learners who wish to operate at a high level in English to learn many thousands of word families. Previously it was shown that a learner needed to know over 3,000 word families or about 5,000 individual word forms in order to achieve a
In both second language (L2) research and pedagogy, individual words have been considered the basic lexical unit; this is not surprising, because individual words are convenient to identify, teach, and work with (Schmitt, ). However, there is a growing awareness that language users do not always process language word by word, but also make use of formulaic sequences. In fact, it has been estimated that formulaic sequences constitute more than 50% of spoken and written English discourse (Erman & Warren, ) and that these sequences are strongly associated with fluent, communicative, native‐like language production (Pawley & Syder, ; Schmitt, ). This means that in order to appear proficient, English as a second language (ESL) learners also need to gain mastery of these sequences. However, formulaic sequences are particularly difficult for L2 learners to acquire (Scarcella, ; Yorio, ), which further emphasizes the need to focus on and teach these sequences in the ESL classroom. This article, based on previous research findings on formulaic sequences in the L2 literature, provides a series of steps and strategies for the teaching of formulaic sequences through all four language skills in the L2 classroom.
Learning style matching is a neglected factor that may affect the complex process of second language (L2) incidental vocabulary acquisition through reading. The purpose of the current study is to investigate whether there is any difference in L2 incidental vocabulary acquisition and retention through reading when learners’ perceptual learning style is matched to their input mode, mismatched to their input mode, or mixed. The participants were 108 Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) learners at pre-intermediate levels of English proficiency. Based on their perceptual learning style preferences (visual, auditory, kinaesthetic/tactile, mixed), they were divided into a reading group (consisting of three subgroups: Matched, Mismatched, Mixed) and a control group. The reading group read a graded reader containing 16 target words and then completed immediate and delayed (3 weeks later) vocabulary post-tests. The results revealed no significant differences between the three reading subgroups in terms of incidental vocabulary acquisition and retention. The findings suggest that perceptual learning style matching has no benefits for incidental word learning through reading.
& One should not expect a single book on second language (L2) vocabulary research to cover every topic and address every issue in the field. However, Nation and Webb have done an outstanding job of presenting in their volume a wide range of areas related to the research and analysis of vocabulary. The book outlines the significance of conducting research in vocabulary learning and teaching, and illustrates major research findings in the field. The authors provide an overview of the important steps that need to be taken when designing rigorous vocabulary research studies and the major issues that need to be considered, and they illustrate and clarify these steps by critiquing relevant existing studies. Throughout the book, the authors also highlight underresearched areas, discuss potential research to explore questions that remain unanswered, and encourage the replication of carefully designed, worthwhile studies. At the end of each chapter, the authors propose designing a research study relevant to the area under discussion; this exercise is created for "putting the information dealt with in the chapter into practice" (p. viii).The preface presents guidelines for the effective use of the text in a graduate-level course. Following the preface are 14 chapters, organized into four key sections. The first focuses on deliberate vocabulary learning and comprises four chapters: examining vocabulary teaching techniques, word cards, the keyword technique, and learners' dictionaries. The second section concentrates on incidental vocabulary learning and consists of three chapters: guessing word meaning from context, incidental vocabulary learning through extensive reading, and learning vocabulary through output. The three chapters in the next section focus on corpus-based research and highlight making and using word lists, analyzing vocabulary load, and researching multiword units. The fourth section consists of three chapters on assessing the size, depth,
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