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This paper is focused on the development of a didactic proposal for English students in the Basque Country. Specifically for students in the 1st year of "Bachillerato" with Spanish and Basque as their L1 and English as their L2 which aims to improve their communication skills, especially oral abilities and pronunciation, through the use of didactic dubbing. This proposal is framed within a project-based learning (PBL), in which the final project is the creation of a vertical video dubbed in English. For this purpose, six sessions have been designed with different group activities that will culminate with the presentation of the video. This didactic unit revolves around social networks and seeks to meet the requirements of current regulations in terms of objectives, contents, competences and evaluation criteria. In addition, transversal elements such as the appropriate use of social networks, fears or interpersonal relationships are worked on. The use of videos in vertical format meets the increasing demand for creating content in this format that adapts to the new mobile devices.

This article discusses multimodal practices in the context of teaching and learning and how this idea might inform and facilitate mathematical learning, especially for Latinx students. We discuss qualitative data drawn from a study of an elementary bilingual classroom (age 10 and age 11) in a Midwestern city (USA) that is exceptional because the students successfully do high-level mathematics. We describe one class episode and one student's use of multiple resources to create meaning. Through this we highlight the nature and relevance of multimodal practices for learning mathematics. This case highlights the necessity of creating environments, where students, especially those who have been historically excluded, use resources to make meaning and gain greater access to mathematics.

Reading is regarded as one of the basic learning processes that provides multiple skills and abilities for daily life. The study reported on here arose from evidence of reading comprehension difficulties of middle school students in Colombia, and from reflection on the didactic strategies used for the promotion and teaching of reading. The purpose of this research was to strengthen students' reading comprehension by taking advantage of the benefits of Easy-to-Read in the context of a methodology applied in Universal Design for Learning. The methodology was centred on the critical social paradigm, and the type of research was mixed with a design based on action research. The instruments used included non-participant observation, online questionnaire, standardised testing and a survey. The pedagogical proposal "Easy Reading" was designed and implemented to show progress in the students' reading comprehension skills, meeting the objectives set.

English has become an international language (EIL) as speakers around the world use it as a universal means of communication. Accordingly, scholars have investigated different aspects of EIL affecting communicative success. Speech scholars have been interested in speech constructs like accentedness, comprehensibility, and acceptability (e.g., Kang et al., 2023). On the other hand, pragmatic researchers have examined lexico-grammatical features of EIL that contribute to first language (L1) English listeners' perceptions of appropriateness in speech acts (e.g., Taguchi, 2006). However, little is known about: a) how appropriateness is perceived by users of EIL of diverse L1s and b) how those appropriateness perceptions are related to lexico-grammatical and phonological features. Therefore, the present study had 184 listeners (L1 = English, Spanish, Chinese, and Indian languages) evaluate 40 speech acts performed by 20 speakers (L1 English and Chinese, 50% each) in terms of appropriateness on a 9-point numerical scale. Results from linear mixed-effects regressions suggested that: a) listener L1 did not contribute to listener ratings and b) speakers' rhythm and lexico-grammatical features (i.e., use of different pragmatic strategies) significantly contributed to listener appropriateness ratings. The findings provide empirical evidence to support the phonology-pragmatics link in appropriateness perceptions and offer implications regarding the operationalization of English interactional appropriateness.

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the evolution of language policy in the Philippines, with a particular emphasis on the status, challenges, and future prospects of Chinese language education within the national framework. The study is structured into five distinct sections. Firstly, the historical development of language policies in the Philippines is explored, tracing the transitions from colonial to contemporary eras and assessing their implications for language education. Secondly, an in-depth exploration of the present landscape of Chinese language education is provided, evaluating its integration into the Philippine education system and the effectiveness of existing programs. Thirdly, a critical examination of the current state of local Chinese language teacher training is conducted, analyzing the approaches used to foster a sustainable local teaching workforce. Fourthly, strategic pathways for the next decade are outlined, focusing on the localization of Chinese language education in alignment with the plans of the Philippine Department of Education and broader educational objectives. Finally, the concluding section synthesizes insights garnered from the preceding sections, reflecting on the significance of these developments for the future of Chinese language education in the Philippines. It underscores the pivotal role of Chinese language education in promoting cultural and educational exchanges and facilitating the modernization processes in both China and the Philippines. By addressing these dimensions, the paper offers a comprehensive overview of the intersection between language policy and Chinese language education in the Philippines, providing valuable insights for policymakers, educators, and researchers engaged in language education and policy planning in multilingual and multicultural contexts.

Many educators face challenges with online learning since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Online modalities became common in world language courses; however, challenges remain in creating communicative contexts. This study examined university student perceptions of an experiential learning sequence using films in Spanish and French at the intermediate level in an asynchronous online environment. Students were required to watch a movie and complete activities related to language and culture learning goals, followed by an in-depth survey about the experience. Participants expressed positive perceptions of the activities, finding them helpful in increasing interest and motivation, as well as in expanding their thinking and knowledge about course topics. These findings demonstrate the importance of experiential learning to build student-centered communities of language and culture learning in the asynchronous classroom.

To this day, there are only a few studies that have used a controlled instructional intervention on specific linguistic structures to investigate if language instruction is beneficial for heritage learners (HLs), in the same way it is for second (L2) language learners, and more research in this area is rapidly needed (Bowles, 2018). The results from this small body of research suggest that explicit language instruction can be beneficial for HLs, but overall L2 learners still appear to benefit from language instruction more than their HLs counterparts (Potowski et al., 2009; Torres, 2018, inter alia). The present study seeks to contribute to this growing body of research and further examines if the type of task employed to measure learning gains plays a role in the uneven outcomes heritage and L2 learners evidence after receiving language instruction.

This study reviews the effect of comprehension and perceived text difficulty in promoting reading enjoyment and interest to read more among novice learners practicing extensive and pleasure reading. Sixty-seven college students in their first semester of Spanish were asked to read a children-like story picture book in Spanish and were then given both a comprehension test and a brief perception questionnaire about how much they had enjoyed the story, how difficult they thought the reading had been, and whether they had interest to read more. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses show that (1) students' perception on the level of difficulty of a text align with their actual comprehension of the story, (2) the level of reading enjoyment is strongly related to how much the students understood and how difficult the text was perceived to be, and (3) reading enjoyment and interest to read more are highly correlated when novice learners find the text easy. Pedagogical implications are discussed.

Previous research has proposed a crucial role for critical experiences in language learning to better understand how learners understand and discursively construct their self-concept (Mercer, 2011, 2016; Serafini, 2020a; Thompson, 2020). However, studies have mainly explored critical experiences in the narratives of foreign language learners of English with little attention to how heritage speakers of languages other than English (LOTE) draw on critical experiences in discursive constructions of self. To address this gap, this study aims to explore the impact of critical experiences in university heritage Spanish speakers' self-narratives. Twenty heritage Spanish students completed a background questionnaire and peer-facilitated, video-recorded interview. Emergent, recurring themes were identified in transcribed interview data following tenets of grounded theory (Charmaz, 2006; Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Findings underscore the key role of positioning (Davies & Harré, 1990) in dynamic conceptions of self, particularly how heritage speakers (re)imagine and discursively construct past, current, and future self-states. Positioning was also linked to agency (Ahearn, 2001) in relation to students' critical reflections on experiences of racialization and resistance to, or reproduction of, dominant language ideologies. Overall, the study provides valuable insights for (heritage) language educators seeking to enact critical pedagogical principles in their classroom and curriculum.Teachin

There is currently little research on the use of podcasting as a learning tool in the tertiary-level foreign language classroom. Here we attempt to partly fill that gap through a multiple case study of three university teachers who use this technology in their courses in Spanish as a foreign language. We obtained data for analysis primarily in two ways, through individual interviews with the teachers on two separate occasions and by compiling a corpus of all the podcasts (227 in total) the three teachers had used in their classes, most of them student-created. Given this last fact, our analysis focuses especially on the creation of podcasts by students and the teacher's role in the process. Our findings show that podcasting as an educational tool can offer significant benefits for language learning. Student-produced podcasts, in particular, provide students with a context to practice their foreign language speaking skills, but reading and writing skills are also heavily engaged in the process of writing a script for what they will say in their podcast. The production of podcasts can also be highly motivating for students if the final product is posted online on an open-access host site; this means that native speakers of the target language could be among the potential listeners. On the downside, the process of having students produce podcasts requires considerable time and preparation on the part of both teachers and students, and students who are shy or less comfortable with technology may find the task challenging.

This article reports an English language needs analysis of Colombian Social Science master's students. Information from faculty interviews, course syllabi, and student surveys shows that students need English to access and update their disciplinary knowledge through research articles and book chapters to successfully participate in class activities in Spanish, for which low English proficiency and lack of graduate reading skills can be an obstacle. These findings inspired the creation of "Reading Research Articles in the Social Sciences" course and confirmed the importance of source variety, triangulation, and addressing needs when identified. Methodological and practical contributions are discussed, emphasizing syllabi as key information sources not considered in other needs analyses.

Cross-border migration is increasing in a globalized world. On the physical borderlands, migration across and between borders occurs on a habitual basis. This qualitative study employs semi-structured interviews to explore how three "transfronterizo" teachers along the U.S.-Mexico borderlands draw on their backgrounds and lived experiences as they go about in their English teaching practices. Findings suggest that the diverse lived experiences of the three teachers allow them to develop a particular knowledge, consciousness, and agency in creating a third space, or a "mundo zurdo," in which they advocate for their "transfronterizo" students.

This systematic literature review examines the panorama of interculturality in rural contexts of bilingual education in Latin America. It aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge in Latin America and identify key themes, challenges, and gaps in the field. The review highlights the importance of recognizing and valuing linguistic and cultural diversity, particularly in marginalized rural communities. It also discusses the lack of adequate resources and educational policies as significant challenges to promoting intercultural bilingual education in these contexts. The findings underscore the need for further research and the development of effective strategies to enhance intercultural understanding and bilingual education in Latin American rural areas.

This paper analyzes data from Native American students' attainment in a first-semester Spanish language course at an indigenous-serving institution before, during, and after the pandemic. The gap between Native American and non-Native American students increased during the first post-pandemic semester to the point that just one out of 11 Native Americans passed the course in the fall of 2021. After that, the gap between Native American and non-Native American students gradually narrowed until reaching the lowest failing grades of 23% in the spring 2023. In my teaching, Native American students benefit from a classic teaching style involving longer lecture time, monitored note-taking, consistent attendance requirements, in-person communication, and clearly communicated differentiation strategies for grading. This may align with the cycle of learning outlined by Benally (1994): Nitsáhákees (Thinking), Nahat'á (Planning), Iiná (Living) and Sihasin (Assuring).

The main objective of this study is to assess the Spanish literacy competence of students enrolled in bilingual and trilingual programs by analyzing the developmental process and evolutionary course of reading during the first cycle of Primary Education. This analysis aims to determine whether the reading skills in Spanish of students in multilingual schools are affected by immersion in a foreign language, in this case, English. To achieve this, a total of 258 second-grade primary students were examined, categorized into groups based on the number of languages they knew (two or three), in comparison to a control group of monolingual students. Two variables were measured: intelligence using the WISC-IV and literacy competence using the TALE. The results of both tests indicate that there are no significant differences in reading competence between bilingual and trilingual students and monolingual students. These results reinforce the idea that learning to read is a process not influenced by the number of languages spoken.

We investigated the role of cue weighting, second language (L2) proficiency, and L2 daily exposure in L2 learning of suprasegmentals different from the first language (L1), using eye-tracking. Spanish monolinguals, English-Spanish learners, and Mandarin--Spanish learners saw a paroxytone and an oxytone verb (e.g., "FIRma-firMÓ" "s/he signs-signed"), listened to a sentence containing one of the verbs, and chose the one that they heard. The three languages have contrastive lexical stress, but suprasegmentals have a greater functional load in Mandarin than in English. Monolinguals predicted suffixes accurately with both stress conditions and favored oxytones, but learners predicted suffixes accurately only with oxytones, the condition activating fewer lexical competitors. Monolinguals predicted suffixes accurately sooner but at a slower rate than did learners. L2 proficiency, but not L1 or L2 exposure, facilitated L2 predictions. In conclusion, learners of a contrastive-stress L1 rely on L2 suprasegmentals to the same extent as monolinguals, regardless of their L1. Lower L2 proficiency and higher cognitive load (more lexical competitors) reduce learners' reliance on suprasegmentals.

Purpose: There is limited research on the writing of young Spanish-English bilinguals and their writing in both languages. In the current study, we addressed whether written syntax features differed by language (English and Spanish) and varied as a function of grade level, English learner status, and instructional program (dual or English immersion). We also examined whether Spanish and English syntax features were related cross-linguistically and related to writing quality within languages and whether these relations to writing quality were moderated by grade level, English learner status, and instructional program. Method: We examined written syntax features of Spanish and English essays by simultaneous and emergent bilinguals in Grades 1, 2, and 3 in either Spanish-English dual immersion or English immersion instruction in the United States (N = 278). Essays were scored for quality and evaluated for mean length of T-units, number of verbs, number of noun agreement words, and number of subject agreement words accurately conjugated. Results: Written syntax features significantly differed by language and varied as a function of grade level, English learner status, and instructional program. Grades 2 and 3 wrote longer utterances, more verbs, and greater noun agreement accuracy than Grade 1. Syntax features were related to writing quality within languages, but Spanish relations were weaker for English learners than non-English learners and for dual immersion students than English immersion students. Conclusion: Our findings suggest written syntax features may be useful for evaluation of English-Spanish simultaneous and emergent bilinguals' writing.

Research on first language (L1) reading has long since established the link between the proficiency of the reader and their efficiency in oculomotor control. More proficient readers make longer saccades and land closer to the word's center, which is a word's optimal viewing position, and make fewer refixations. Eye-tracking studies of second language (L2) reading have so far provided little evidence in this regard. This study analyzes spatial oculomotor measures in the Multilingual Eye-movement Corpus, which contains data on English text reading and its component skills from 543 participants representing 12 different L1s. Our analyses establish a strong role of proficiency in English, both for L1 and L2 readers of English. While most effects replicated ones observed in L1 reading, we also found that more proficient readers of English were less accurate in targeting optimal viewing positions. We link this finding to Fitts' law of motor control for aimed movements. This article discusses the theoretical implications of the novel findings for reading research.

Real-time attention coordination in parent-toddler dyads is often studied in tightly controlled laboratory settings. These studies have demonstrated the importance of joint attention in scaffolding the development of attention and the types of dyadic behaviors that support early language learning. Little is known about how often these behaviors occur in toddlers' everyday lives. We brought wireless head-mounted eye trackers to families' homes to study the moment-to-moment patterns of toddlers' and parents' visual attention and manual activity in daily routines. Our sample consisted of English- and Spanish-speaking families who all reported being middle- or upper middle-class. Toddlers were 2 to 3 years old. Consistent with the findings from previous laboratory studies, we found variability in how frequently toddlers attended to named objects in two everyday activities--Object Play and Mealtime. We then tested whether parent-toddler joint attention in the seconds before a naming utterance increased toddler's attention on the named object. We found that joint attention accompanied by the attended object being held increased the child's attention to the labeled object during naming. We posit that in the rich, noisy world of toddlers' everyday lives, embodied attention plays a critical role in coordinating dyadic behaviors and creating informative naming moments. Our findings highlight the importance of studying toddlers' natural behavior in the real world.

Linguistics is conspicuously absent from language teaching in UK schools. A-level cultural topics cover a range of themes such as cyber-society, cultural heritage and multiculturalism, but the approach taken to these topics is not informed by linguistics. In previous work, we have argued that this is an unfortunate omission not only because linguistics is appealing to many language students and perceived by them to be useful, but also because the existing cultural topics could be significantly enriched by the inclusion of the critical/analytical study of language itself. In this paper, we provide concrete examples of how linguistics can be integrated into the existing A-level curriculum for Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) in England and Wales. Reporting on a project in which teachers trialled linguistics materials co-created by us (a group of academics) and experienced languages teachers, we present evidence that linguistics materials are perceived to be both highly novel and nonetheless compatible with the existing A-level curriculum. Data from questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with participating teachers also show that: (i) these new materials can be taught with little or no prior experience of linguistics; and (ii) adding linguistics materials to the curriculum leads to significant impacts on teacher and pupil attitudes towards language(s). Despite some challenges, which we also discuss, the results highlight again the great potential of linguistics as a component of language teaching and the contribution that it can make to the enrichment of the discipline.

Purpose: There is limited research on the writing of young Spanish-English bilinguals and their writing in both languages. In the current study, we addressed whether written syntax features differed by language (English and Spanish) and varied as a function of grade level, English learner status, and instructional program (dual or English immersion). We also examined whether Spanish and English syntax features were related cross-linguistically and related to writing quality within languages and whether these relations to writing quality were moderated by grade level, English learner status, and instructional program. Method: We examined written syntax features of Spanish and English essays by simultaneous and emergent bilinguals in Grades 1, 2, and 3 in either Spanish-English dual immersion or English immersion instruction in the United States (N = 278). Essays were scored for quality and evaluated for mean length of T-units, number of verbs, number of noun agreement words, and number of subject agreement words accurately conjugated. Results: Written syntax features significantly differed by language and varied as a function of grade level, English learner status, and instructional program. Grades 2 and 3 wrote longer utterances, more verbs, and greater noun agreement accuracy than Grade 1. Syntax features were related to writing quality within languages, but Spanish relations were weaker for English learners than non-English learners and for dual immersion students than English immersion students. Conclusion: Our findings suggest written syntax features may be useful for evaluation of English-Spanish simultaneous and emergent bilinguals' writing.

The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of a graphic organizer for improving the expository text comprehension of adolescent Spanish-English bilingual students with learning disabilities. Students were two females and one male. Using a multiple baseline single case design, researchers taught students to create a funnel map graphic organizer for 10 descriptive text passages. Students' performance was assessed on their ability to correctly create the funnel map (criterion variable) and to comprehend expository passages during baseline, intervention, and maintenance phases. Each participant learned to create an accurate funnel map within four sessions. Text comprehension scores began to increase within three sessions. Results showed the positive effect of using the funnel map for improving comprehension of expository texts. Individual Tau effect sizes (0.81-0.92) and overall Tau-U effect sizes (0.86) and a Between Case-Standardized Mean Difference (BC-SMD) of 1.87 showed the intervention to be highly effective.

The purpose of this study was to analyze and compare the linguistic content of the Spanish HINT and the Spanish AzBio sentence tests. The results revealed that the Spanish AzBio is linguistically more complex as compared with the Spanish HINT in terms of sentence length, complexity, and grammatical structure.

A substantial body of research shows that various types of audiovisual (AV) input such as videos and videos with second language (L2) subtitles can facilitate language learning. However, language teachers' day-to-day practices with regard to multimodal input is less understood. To bridge the gap in language education, this study investigates teachers' perceived use of four types of AV input (video only, video with subtitles, video with captions and video with enhanced captions) and factors influencing teachers' perspectives on these types of input for in-class and out-of-class learning. Questionnaire data were collected from 193 L2 teachers across the globe about their perceived use of AV input. Teachers reported that they use video and captioned video most frequently in both classroom and out-of-class contexts. Logistic regression analyses revealed that teachers' perceived importance and comfort using specific AV input types were the two most important factors explaining teachers' reported use. Complementarily, open-ended responses were analyzed qualitatively to identify teachers' additional reasons for (non)use of such input.

Greek and Spanish are two languages that display a similar subject distribution with unergative/unaccusative verbs, but different word orders with focused subjects (SV in Greek and VS in Spanish). Here we consider subject-verb word order in second language (L2) Greek and L2 Spanish in order to test the Interface Hypothesis (IH). To this end, we report a word-order selection task, with a Greek and a Spanish version. The two versions of the task were administered to L2 intermediate and advanced learners and native speakers of Greek and Spanish. The results show that the first language (L1) Spanish learners of Greek approximated more closely native word orders than the L1 Greek learners of Spanish. For the Spanish learners of Greek, the advanced group performed at ceiling, while the intermediate group performed native-like only with unergatives in neutral and direct interrogative subject-focused contexts. On the other hand, for the Greek learners of Spanish, the intermediate group failed in all contexts, while the advanced group performed native-like with unaccusatives in neutral contexts. This asymmetry between L2 Greek and L2 Spanish reveals that the L1-L2 combination determines the learners' performance, and this is unexpected under the IH.

This study investigates pronoun interpretation by second language (L2) learners of English, focusing on whether first language (L1) transfer and/or processing difficulty affect L2 learners' pronoun resolution. It is hypothesized that L2 learners' non-target performance in L2-pronoun interpretation is attributable to two sources. The first is the computational complexity required for pronoun resolution, as argued in L1 acquisition by Grodzinsky and Reinhart and L2 acquisition by Slabakova et al. The second is how pronoun interpretation operates in L1. The hypothesis is tested by comparing Korean and Spanish L2-English learners' interpretation of English pronouns using a Truth Value Judgment Task. Both groups had difficulty rejecting pronouns with local-referential antecedents when their proficiency levels were low. Additionally, Korean speakers showed more non-target responses than Spanish speakers due to their knowledge of pronoun interpretation in Korean. These results indicate that both L1 transfer and processing difficulty may be sources of L2 learners' non-target pronoun interpretation, supporting the hypothesis of the study.

Purpose: We investigated the efficacy of "Story Champs" for improving oral language in third-grade Spanish-English bilingual children with developmental language disorder (DLD). Method: We implemented a concurrent multiple-baseline across-participants single-case design with four bilingual Spanish-English third-grade students with DLD. Treatment was carried out over 12 sessions with approximately two sessions per week. Maintenance sessions were conducted 1, 2, and 4 weeks postintervention. Participants were explicitly taught story grammar elements, causal and temporal connections, and modifiers within story retells and personal narratives. Dependent variables were story grammar, grammatical complexity, modifiers and listening comprehension within story retells, and story grammar and grammatical complexity within personal narratives. Outcome measures were assessed at the end of every baseline, intervention, and maintenance session using the Narrative Language Measures--Listening (NLM-L). Results: Visual analyses for outcome measures suggested slight increases in scores on the NLM-L during intervention accompanied by marked variability. Within-case analyses of story retell performance suggested an intervention effect on story grammar for two participants and on grammatical complexity and modifier use for one participant. For personal narratives, within-case analyses of personal narrative performance suggested an intervention effect on story grammar for one participant. Conclusions: Overall, "Story Champs" demonstrated efficacy for improving story grammar use in story retells for three out of four participants. It did not show efficacy for improving grammatical complexity, modifier use, or listening comprehension within story retells, nor did it show efficacy for improving story grammar and grammatical complexity within personal narratives.

Purpose: This longitudinal study investigated the trajectory of Spanish article accuracy in Spanish-English dual language learners (DLLs) from preschool to first grade, addressing the need for longitudinal data on the variability of Spanish grammatical skills in DLLs in English immersion classrooms. Method: Language sample analysis was conducted on 336 Spanish and English narrative retells elicited from 31 Spanish-English DLLs (range: 45-85 months). Growth curve models captured within- and between-individual change in article accuracy from the beginning of preschool to the end of first grade. Results: As a group, DLLs did not exhibit significant positive or negative growth in Spanish article accuracy over time. On average, article accuracy remained stable at 76% from preschool throughout first grade. Participants exhibited significant variability in article accuracy that was partly explained by changes in Spanish proficiency. Spanish article accuracy was lower for DLLs with lower Spanish proficiency indexed by measures from the Spanish language samples, while English proficiency indexed by the English language samples did not affect Spanish article accuracy. Conclusions: These findings suggest that expectations for Spanish grammatical performance in DLLs need to be adjusted to account for the possible impact of not receiving Spanish support in English immersion school settings. DLLs in these instructional programs do not exhibit article accuracy at a level expected for monolingual Spanish speakers. Significant individual differences in both individual status and growth rates of Spanish article accuracy highlight the broad variability in Spanish language skills of DLLs in the United States.

This cohort-sequential study explored the working memory (WM) structures that underlie growth in mathematical word problem solving (WPS) performance in elementary school emergent bilingual children whose first language (L1) is Spanish. To this end, children (N = 429) in Grades 1, 2, and 3 in southwest U.S. school districts at Wave 1 were administered a battery of cognitive (short-term memory [STM], WM, rapid naming, inhibition), domain-general nonmath (reading, vocabulary, and fluid intelligence) and domain-specific math measures (arithmetic computation, estimation, and magnitude judgment) in both Spanish (L1) and English (L2). These same measures were administered 1 and 2 years later. Four important findings emerged: (a) A three-factor structure (phonological STM, visual-spatial WM, and executive WM) captured the data across three testing waves within and across both language systems; (b) growth in phonological STM and executive WM uniquely predicted WPS growth, but these two WM structures interacted within the English language system; (c) Spanish verbal WM (phonological STM, executive WM) enhanced the magnitude of predictions of English verbal WM on English WPS; and (d) growth in language-specific phonological STM and executive WM predicted cross-sectional and within-child changes in WPS independent of growth in other domain-specific and domain-general academic areas. Taken together, the results suggest that language-specific age-related phonological STM growth and executive WM growth rates underlie Spanish and English math word problem-solving performance. The results extend the contribution of development models as a function of WM structures across two language systems as they apply to complex math performance.

Children all over the world learn language, yet the contexts in which they do so vary substantially. This variation needs to be systematically quantified to build robust and generalizable theories of language acquisition. We compared communicative interactions between parents and their 2-year-old children (N = 99 families) during mealtime across five cultural settings (Brazil, Ecuador, Argentina, Germany, and Japan) and coded the amount of talk and gestures as well as their conversational embedding (interlocutors, function, and themes). We found a comparable pattern of communicative interactions across cultural settings, which were modified in ways that are consistent with local norms and values. These results suggest that children encounter similarly structured communicative environments across diverse cultural contexts and will inform theories of language learning.

"Taza" in Spanish refers to cups and mugs in English, whereas glass refers to different glass types in Spanish: "copa" and "vaso." It is still unclear whether such categorical distinctions induce early perceptual differences in speakers of different languages. In this study, for the first time, we report symmetrical effects of terminology on preattentive indices of categorical perception across languages. Native speakers of English or Spanish saw arrays of cups, mugs, "copas," and "vasos" flashed in streams. Visual mismatch negativity, an implicit electrophysiological correlate of perceptual change in the peripheral visual field, was modulated for categorical contrasts marked in the participants' native language but not for objects designated by the same label. Conversely, P3a, an index of attentional orienting, was modulated only for missing contrasts in the participants' native language. Thus, whereas native labels influenced participants' preattentive perceptual encoding of objects, nonverbally encoded dissociations reoriented their attention at a later processing stage.

The more-than-human turn in early childhood education has highlighted the relevance of children's intra-actions with their environment, as well as the multiple ways in which worlds and literacies emerge in them. The rejection of representationalism as the single source of knowledge leads to the consideration of affect, embodiment, memories, sound and movement as ways of knowing. The ways in which they manifest in a school context deserve close attention to the tiny details of literacy events. Our research presents a diffractive reading of an event in a school classroom, aiming to understand human and more-than-human intra-actions in this context, the re-configurations of time, space and matter, and the ways in which children articulate entanglements with texts and bodies. We focus on the intra-actions of a seven-year old child with a photo of his favourite videogame and the ways in which affect and memory emerge. The child's sounds and movements, the researcher, the photo and the space become entangled to re-configure time, space and matter. Our analysis provides an insight into an event often occurring in schools. We offer some clues to understand it as part of the language and literacy practices of children, and pose the necessity of reconsidering the usual concept of literacy in school.

The field of language learning and technology is an ever-growing field as new technologies are constantly developed, and it is important to understand the impact these new technologies may have on language learning. The purpose of this work-in-progress study was to investigate the effects of virtual reality (VR) simulations on a specific second language (L2) theory of motivation--the L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS). VR simulations were implemented in an intermediate level course on medical Spanish, and this study follows the cases of six participants who completed a pre- and posttest consisting of questions about the Ideal L2 Self, the Ought-to L2 Self, and the L2 Learning Experience. Participants completed 12 VR simulations and wrote a journal entry about their experience. Results showed a significant increase in the Ideal L2 Self, a significant decrease in the Ought-to L2 Self, and no significant change in the L2 Learning Experience. Participants highlighted the visualization component of the L2MSS and the connection to their future ideal professional selves in their journal entries.

US Latine adults who prefer the Spanish language for healthcare encounter communication have high risk of health disparitiesm in part from low organizational health literacy, mental health stigma and discrimination. Organizational health literacy includes the provision of culturally responsive, language concordant health information, which supports good comprehension and usefulness and could mitigate some health disparities. We conducted a pilot study to assess commonly provided patient health information handouts about depression treatment and antidepressant consumer medication information sheets. Thirty Latine adults with a Spanish language preference and a history of depression and antidepressant use participated in one phone interview. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were used to assess comprehension and usefulness of selected sections extracted verbatim from these documents. Overall, 83% (n = 25) participants reported that all sections were easy to understand, and 97% (n = 29) said that they were useful. Yet, responses to open-ended questions for 53% (n = 16) of participants revealed 'confusing' terminology in at least one section, and 10% (n = 3) expressed concerns about or misunderstood an idiomatic phrase as reinforcing mental health stigma. The seriousness of the organizational health literacy-based issues identified in this and previous studies require that government and health service organizations make necessary and timely revisions to address them.

The term Latinx has received increasing levels of pushback from different entities outside and within higher education. Despite the term's wide popularity in academic spaces, higher education practitioners often utilize it without understanding whom it simultaneously includes and excludes, and whom the term refers to. Such practice perpetuates the exclusion of many students, often rendered invisible. This case study provides a glimpse into how some students experience exclusion through practitioners' use of the term Latinx. We offer reflection questions for practitioners to consider in their work to create inclusive spaces for Latin* students on college campuses.

This study examined the interrelationships among and combined effects of word reading skills and syntactic knowledge on reading prosody in fifth-grade monolingual Spanish-speaking students. We used Spanish standardized tests to assess the participants (n = 169, 79 girls) on word and pseudoword reading skills, syntactic knowledge, and reading prosody. The results revealed significant relationships among these factors and reading prosody. Word reading emerged as a pivotal predictor, whereas syntactic knowledge, although playing a smaller role compared to word reading, was linked to improvements in expression, phrasing, and the reduction of ungrammatical pauses. We also found a non-significant interaction between the independent effects of word reading and syntactic knowledge on reading prosody. The study suggests the potential benefits of integrating explicit syntactic instruction into reading curricula and intervention programs to support the development of reading prosody in Spanish.

A central question in multilingualism research is how multiple languages interact. Most studies have focused on first (L1) and second language (L2) effects on a third language (L3), but a small number of studies dedicated to the opposite transfer direction have suggested stronger L3 influence on L2 than on L1 in postpuberty learners. In our study, we provide further support for stronger L3-to-L2 than L3-to-L1 influence and show that it extends to (a) phonetics and the lexicon and (b) childhood learners. Fifty Spanish-Basque-English trilingual adults who had acquired Spanish from birth and Basque between 2 to 4 years of age through immersion participated in a speeded trilingual switching task measuring production of voice onset time and lexical intrusions. Participants experienced more phonetic and lexical crosslinguistic influence from L3 English during L2-Basque production than during L1-Spanish production. These findings show that even highly proficient early bilinguals experience differential influence from a classroom-taught L3 to L1 and to L2.

This study investigated the relationship between task-based teacher training and novice English language teachers' cognitions and implementations of tasks in Honduran bilingual schools. After participating in a four-week training program on task-based language teaching, teachers with little or no prior teaching experience designed task-based lessons and were video-recorded implementing those lessons with English language learners ages 5 to 12. Following the classroom observation, teachers participated in a stimulated recall interview. A rubric aligned with 10 key principles of task-based language teaching (TBLT) as outlined by Long (2015) was used to rate teachers' performance and code stimulated recalls. Ratings of video observations showed varied success in TBLT implementation after training, with some teachers' lessons clearly aligned with key TBLT principles, and others relying on focus on forms strategies. Analysed data also uncovered a link between previous training and teaching experiences and the success of teachers' implementations. Stimulated recalls showed that teachers focused primarily on maintaining a cooperative learning environment, and less on reactive aspects of TBLT such as providing corrective feedback. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for teachers and teacher training programs seeking to implement TBLT as an approach to language teaching.