National Foreign Language Policy: A State Language Coordinator's Perspective

Jensen, Janis

doi:10.1111/j.1540-4781.2007.00543_7.x

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 15 publications

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“…There is no national policy on foreign language learning or teaching (Blake & Kramsch, 2007). NCLB does not mention foreign language teaching and has been reported to have the effect of deemphasizing L2 learning for English speakers by not including it in the tested subjects required for school accountability (Jensen, 2007; Pufahl & Rhodes, 2011). Federal foreign language initiatives tend to come from the Departments of Defense or State and promote study of “critical languages” that are deemed important to “national security” (Sehlaoui, 2008).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

What We Know About Second Language Acquisition

Dixon

Zhao

Shin

et al. 2012

Review of Educational Research

120

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Educational policies that impact second language (L2) learners—a rapidly-growing group—are often enacted without consulting relevant research. This review synthesized research regarding optimal conditions for L2 acquisition, facilitative L2 learner and teacher characteristics, and speed of L2 acquisition, from four bodies of work—foreign language education, child language research, sociocultural studies, and psycholinguistics—often overlooked by educators. Seventy-one peer-reviewed journal articles studying PK-12 L2 learners met inclusion criteria. Findings included: 1) Optimal conditions for L2 learners immersed in a majority-L2 society include strong home literacy practices, opportunities to use the L2 informally, well-implemented specially-designed L2 educational programs, and sufficient time devoted to L2 literacy instruction, whereas L2 learners with little L2 exposure require explicit instruction to master grammar; 2) L2 learners with strong L2 aptitude, motivation, and first language (L1) skills are more successful; 3) Effective L2 teachers demonstrate sufficient L2 proficiency, strong instructional skills, and proficiency in their students’ L1; 4) L2 learners require 3-7 years to reach L2 proficiency, with younger learners typically taking longer but more likely to achieve close-to-native results. These findings, even those most relevant to education, are not reflected in current US policy. Additional research is needed on the characteristics of successful or unsuccessful L2 learners and L2 teachers. Such research should attend systematically to the differences between L2 learning in maximal versus minimal input settings; whereas the psycholinguistic challenges of L2 learning might be common across settings, the sociocultural and interactional challenges and opportunities differ in ways that can massively impact outcomes.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

What We Know About Second Language Acquisition

Dixon

Zhao

Shin

et al. 2012

Review of Educational Research

120

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The essentials of assessment literacy: Contrasts between testers and users

Malone

2013

Language Testing

132

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Language assessment literacy refers to language instructors’ familiarity with testing definitions and the application of this knowledge to classroom practices in general and specifically to issues related to assessing language. While it is widely agreed that classroom teachers need to assess student progress, many teachers and other test users have a limited understanding of assessment fundamentals. To help meet this need, a tutorial for foreign language instructors was developed (CAL, 2009) to describe the basics of language assessment and assist with test selection. In this project, group interviews and surveys were used to elicit feedback from two groups of experts, US language instructors (N = 44) and language testers (N = 30), on the content of the tutorial. The results of the project revealed the challenges of including the technical information considered essential by testers while meeting the real and practical needs of teachers. This paper investigates efforts to elicit language testers’ beliefs about measurement basics compared with those of language educators and suggests that expert beliefs about what is essential to include in such materials differ depending on the expert perspective.

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Sociolinguistic and Cultural Characteristics of Foreign Languages in the Multinational State

2013

SISP

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National Foreign Language Policy: A State Language Coordinator's Perspective

Cited by 3 publications

References 15 publications

What We Know About Second Language Acquisition

What We Know About Second Language Acquisition

The essentials of assessment literacy: Contrasts between testers and users

Sociolinguistic and Cultural Characteristics of Foreign Languages in the Multinational State

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