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Recent years have seen a surge in research comparing bilinguals to monolinguals, yet synthesizing this literature is complicated by the diversity of language and social backgrounds behind these dichotomous labels. The current study examines the labels and descriptions reported in 186 studies comparing bilinguals and monolinguals published between 2005–2015 in order to understand how bilingualism has been operationalized and to describe the degree to which different facets of bilingual experience are reported. Proficiency and usage were the most frequently reported features (77% and 79%), followed by language history (67%) and the language of schooling (60%). However, less than half of the studies measured proficiency objectively or reported proportional usage, and even less – 30% – described the sociolinguistic context from which the sample was drawn. Given the increase in language contact due to globalization, more transparent and comprehensive reporting of participant characteristics is critical to building our understanding of how bilingualism affects experience.

Social aspects of second language acquisition (SLA) and the contexts in which people attempt to learn and use languages and seek to become integrated within new and changing cultures have been examined for decades from various theoretical perspectives. In this article, I present some of the ways in which 'social' experience is being theorized in SLA and in broader fields that intersect with SLA, such as linguistic anthropology. I then discuss how the Douglas Fir Group (DFG, 2016) originally portrayed the many interlinking factors affecting SLA in our multilingual world on several analytic levels and suggest ways of perhaps reconceptualizing the model while retaining its powerful heuristic value. Next, I describe language socialization research as 1 productive social approach and provide examples of research in 2 transnational domains—study abroad and heritage language learning—that demonstrate a multiscalar approach to examining social dimensions of language development and use. The article ends with a discussion of transdisciplinarity in SLA research. I suggest possibilities for team-based research projects that aim to understand cases from multiple, integrated perspectives on different scales of analysis, and then provide a brief reflection on some of the troubling political ideologies that SLA researchers who embrace multilingualism must now confront on a daily basis.

Despite the importance of spelling for both writing and reading, there is considerable disagreement regarding how spelling skills are best acquired. During this and virtually all of the last century, some scholars have argued that spelling should not be directly or formally taught as such instruction is not effective or efficient. We conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis of experimental and quasi-experimental studies to address these claims. The corpus of 53 studies in this review included 6,037 students in kindergarten through 12th grade and yielded 58 effect sizes (ESs) that were used to answer eight research questions concerning the impact of formally teaching spelling on spelling, phonological awareness, reading, and writing performance. An average weighted ES was calculated for each question and the quality of included studies was systematically evaluated. Results provided strong and consistent support for teaching spelling, as it improved spelling performance when compared to no/unrelated instruction (ES = 0.54) or informal/incidental approaches to improving spelling performance (ES = 0.43). Increasing the amount of formal spelling instruction also proved beneficial (ES = 0.70). Gains in spelling were maintained over time (ES = 0.53) and generalized to spelling when writing (ES = 0.94). Improvements in phonological awareness (ES = 0.51) and reading skills (ES = 0.44) were also found. The positive outcomes associated with formal spelling instruction were generally consistent, regardless of students’ grade level or literacy skills.

Purpose: Unlike traditional implicit approaches used to improve grammatical forms used by children with developmental language disorder, explicit instruction aims to make the learner consciously aware of the underlying language pattern. In this study, we compared the efficacy of an explicit approach to an implicit approach when teaching 3 novel grammatical forms varying in linguistic complexity. Method: The study included twenty-five 5- to 8-year-old children with developmental language disorder, 13 of whom were randomized to receive an implicit-only (I-O) intervention whereas the remaining 12 participants were randomized to receive a combined explicit-implicit (E-I) intervention to learn 3 novel grammatical forms. On average, participants completed 4.5 teaching sessions for each form across 9 days. Acquisition was assessed during each teaching session. Approximately 9 days posttreatment for each form, participants completed probes to assess maintenance and generalization. Results: Analyses revealed a meaningful and statistically significant learning advantage for the E-I group on acquisition, maintenance, and generalization measures when performance was collapsed across the 3 novel targets (p < 0.02, [phi]s > 0.60). Significant differences between the groups, with the E-I group outperforming the I-O group, only emerged for 1 of the 3 target forms. However, all effect sizes ranged from medium to large ([phi]s = 0.25-0.76), and relative risk calculations all exceeded 0, indicating a greater likelihood of learning the target form with E-I instruction than I-O instruction. Conclusions: Study findings indicate that, as compared to implicit instruction, children are more likely to acquire, maintain, and generalize novel grammatical forms when taught with explicit instruction. Further research is needed to evaluate the use of explicit instruction when teaching true grammatical forms to children with language impairment.

Background Language barriers in medical education, particularly in countries where foreign languages are used as the medium of instruction, pose significant challenges for domestic medical students. These barriers hinder academic performance, comprehension, and communication with patients, ultimately impacting the quality of healthcare delivery. Despite the prevalence of this issue, a comprehensive understanding of its effects remains underexplored. This systematic review aims to synthesize evidence on language barriers in medical education and propose strategies to address them. Methods Following PRISMA guidelines, we conducted a systematic review of studies published up to March 21, 2024, using PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. Eligible studies focused on language barriers faced by medical, pharmacy, nursing, dental, or veterinary students in countries relying on foreign-language-based medical education. Data extraction included study characteristics, reported language barriers, and their impact on education and patient communication. Quality assessment was performed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Results From 5,410 citations, 49 studies involving over 14,500 students met the inclusion criteria. Most studies ( n  = 32) were conducted in Arab countries, with 15 in Saudi Arabia. Two key themes emerged: (1) Education and Academic Performance: Students frequently reported difficulties comprehending foreign-language textbooks, lectures, and assessments, leading to poor academic outcomes, increased stress, and higher dropout rates. (2) Communication Skills with Patients: Studying and training in a foreign language hindered students’ ability to communicate effectively with patients in their native language, impacting empathy, medical history collection, and overall patient care. Many studies highlighted students felt more confident and effective when using their native language during clinical interactions. Conclusion Language barriers in foreign-language-based medical education significantly impede students’ academic performance and patient communication skills. Addressing these challenges through reforms, such as integrating native language instruction and supplemental language training, is crucial to enhancing medical education quality and ensuring effective healthcare delivery. Future research should explore innovative solutions, including bilingual education and AI-driven translation tools, to bridge these gaps.

This study explored the role of vocabulary knowledge and morphological awareness in reading comprehension ability of Chinese as a heritage language (CHL) learners. One hundred ninety five CHL students participated in this study and completed a series of measures including two sets of vocabulary knowledge (one consisting of items pertaining to early exposure to spoken Chinese and the other comprised of items selected from a pool of words in Chinese as a foreign language classrooms), morphological awareness (structural awareness and functional awareness), and reading comprehension ability (lexical inference and passage comprehension). Drawing upon structural equation modeling with a bootstrap estimation method, the study found that vocabulary knowledge and morphological awareness both contributed to reading comprehension among CHL learners. More critically, the results indicated that morphological awareness mediated the relation between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension in CHL learners. Furthermore, multiple regression analyses probed the relative contributions of vocabulary knowledge measures to morphological awareness and reading comprehension, and found that vocabulary knowledge acquired in formal Chinese instruction contributed to morphological awareness and reading comprehension, to a greater extent, than that gained through early exposure to spoken Chinese.

Research in sub-Saharan Africa investigating the effect of mother tongue (MT) literacy instruction at medium scale is limited. A randomized controlled trial of MT literacy instruction was implemented in 2013 and 2014 as part of the Primary Math and Reading (PRIMR) Initiative in Kenya. We compare the effect of two treatment groups—the base PRIMR program teaching literacy in English and Kiswahili and the PRIMR-MT program, which taught literacy in English, Kiswahili, and mother tongue—in two different language environments. Implementation of the MT program faced challenges because many educators were not speakers of the languages, some communities resisted mother tongue instruction, and some areas were more language heterogeneous. Effect sizes on MT literacy averaged between 0.3 and 0.6 standard deviations. The base PRIMR program also increased MT learning outcomes in some measures but had smaller effects than the PRIMR-MT program in oral reading fluency and comprehension. Los estudios en África subsahariana que investigan el efecto de la alfabetización en la lengua materna (MT, por su sigla en inglés) a mediana escala son limitados. Se implementó un ensayo controlado aleatorizado de la alfabetización en la MT en 2013 y 2014 como parte de la Iniciativa de Matemáticas y Lectura en Primaria (PRIMR, por su sigla en inglés) en Kenia. Comparamos el efecto en dos grupos de tratamiento; el programa PRIMR básico de alfabetización en inglés y kiswahili y el programa PRIMR-MT, que enseñaba lectoescritura en inglés, kiswahili y la lengua materna; en dos entornos lingüísticos diferentes. La implementación del programa de MT enfrentó obstáculos debido a que muchos educadores no hablaban el idioma, algunas comunidades se resistieron a la enseñanza de la lengua materna y algunas áreas fueron más heterogéneas en la lengua. La magnitud del efecto en la alfabetización en la MT tuvo un promedio de 0.3 y 0.6 de desviaciones estándar. El programa básico de PRIMR también aumentó en alguna medida los resultados de la educación de la MT pero tuvo menor efecto que el programa PRIMR-MT en la fluidez de la lectura oral y la comprensión. Les recherches en Afrique subsaharienne qui étudient les effets de l’alphabétisation dans la langue maternelle à moyenne échelle sont peu nombreuses. Un essai de contrôle randomisé appliqué à l’alphabétisation en langue maternelle a été réalisé en 2013 et en 2014 au Kenya dans le cadre de l’initiative PRIMR (lecture et mathématiques élémentaires). Nous comparons l’effet de deux groupes de traitement – le programme PRIMR de base, avec alphabétisation en anglais et en kiswahili, et le programme PRIMR-MT, qui ajoute la langue maternelle – dans deux milieux linguistiques différents. La mise en œuvre du programme en langue maternelle a connu des difficultés : beaucoup d’enseignants n’étaient pas locuteurs des langues concernées ; certaines communautés s’opposaient à l’alphabétisation dans la langue maternelle ; et certaines régions présentaient une grande hétérogénéité linguistique. La taille des effets sur l’alphabétisation dans la langue maternelle s’élevait en moyenne entre 0,3 et 0,6 d’écart-type. Le programme PRIMR de base a également amélioré les résultats de l’apprentissage dans la langue maternelle à certains égards, mais avec des effets moindres que le programme PRIMR-MT sur la facilité de la lecture orale et sur la compréhension. 对于非洲撒哈拉沙漠以南地区的研究，进行中型规模的母语(MT) 读写教学调查有限，于是在2013和2014年执行了MT读写教学的 随机对照试验，做为肯尼亚主要数学和阅读(PRIMR)计划 的一部分。我们比较两个控制组的影响， 分别为英语和西瓦斯里语的基本PRIMR计划读写教学， 以及PRIMR-MT计划，即以英语、西瓦斯里语和母语（使用两种不同语言环境）教导 读写。MR计划的执行面临挑战，因为许多教育者 不说那些语言、有些社区抗拒母语教学，有些地区 则是语言混用。MT读写教学的效应值平均 为0.3到0.6的标准偏差，基本PRIMR计划在 有些测量中也增加了成果，但是在口语流畅度和理解力 影响比PRIMR-MT计划来得小。 الأبحاث التي أجريت في مناطق الصحراء الأفريقية على أثر التدريس والتعليم باللغة الأم على نطاق متوسط محدودة. ولذلك فقد تم تطبيق تجربة عشوائية خاضعة للتحكم على التدريس باللغة الأم في عام 2013 و 2014 في إطار مبادرة مبادئ الرياضيات والقراءة في كينيا. سوف نقارن أثر مجموعتين علاجيتين هما البرنامج الأساسي لتعليم مبادئ الرياضيات والقراءة بالإنجليزية، والسواحيلي )لغة البانتو الأفريقية(، والبرنامج الخاص بتعليم مبادئ الرياضيات والإنجليزية باللغة (PRIMR) والذي تستخدم فيه اللغة الإنجليزية، والسواحيلية، واللغة الأم في التدريس في بيئتين مختلفتي اللغة. ، (PRIMR-MT) الأم واجه تطبيق برنامج اللغة الأم التحديات نظرًا لكون الكثير من المعلمين لم يكونوا يتحدثون اللغات، وبالتالي قاومت بعض 0.3 المجتمعات التدريس باللغة الأم، وبعض المناطق كانت متنوعة اللغات. تراوح حجم الأثر على التعليم باللغة الأم ما بين و 0.6 كاختلاف قياسي. كما أن البرنامج الأساسي لتعليم مبادئ الرياضيات والقراءة زاد من نتائج تعلم اللغة الأم في بعض الإجراءات ولكن كان له أثر أقل من برنامج تدريس مبادئ الرياضيات والقراءة باللغة الأم في إجادة وفهم القراءة الشفوية. Существует ограниченное количество исследований, ставящих своей целью изучить влияние мер по распространению грамотности на родном языке (РЯ) в среднем масштабе в странах Африки к югу от Сахары. Рандомизированное контролируемое исследование обучения грамотности на РЯ проводилось в 2013 и 2014 годах в рамках Инициативы по обучению основам математики и чтения (PRIMR) в Кении. Мы сравниваем эффект для двух экспериментальных групп- участников базовой программы PRIMR, обучающихся грамотности на английском языке и суахили, и программы PRIMR-MT, где обучение грамотности ведется на английском, суахили и родном языке, в двух различных языковых средах. Внедрение программы PRIMR-MT столкнулось с рядом проблем, так как многие преподаватели не являлись носителями соответствующих языков, некоторые общины сопротивлялись проведению обучения на родном языке, отдельные районы являлись сильно неоднородными в языковом плане. Величина эффекта для грамотности на РЯ в среднем варьировалась от 0,3 до 0,6 стандартных отклонений. Базовая программа PRIMR также улучшила результаты обучения РЯ по некоторым показателям, однако произвела меньший эффект, чем программа PRIMR-МТ по критериям беглости устного чтения и понимания.

There is a need for Vietnamese language education for the Vietnamese American community in the United States, and the Vietnamese Language Program at Westminster High School (WHS) in Orange County, California, has been able to preserve the Vietnamese language. Students in the program also learn about their heritage and culture to stay connected to their families and community. Author Pauline Phi Nguyên Đồng, a Vietnamese language teacher at the high school, suggests that the WHS Vietnamese Language Program is a model for how heritage language programs can be sustained in schools and communities.

Morphological awareness has been shown to contribute to the acquisition of literacy in various languages. The current study focuses on an explicit derivational morphology training program in French-speaking fourth graders with the aim of measuring direct effects on morphological awareness and transfer effects on spelling and reading. The intensive training given in class consisted of (1) learning how to segment words into smaller units and (2) understanding the meaning of affixes in relation to words. Thirty-six children received the morphology training and 34 age-matched participants followed an alternative visuo-semantic training matched for intensity. The results of this pre-post group comparison study show a significant Group by Time interaction: Substantial progress in morphological awareness is observed for the group trained in morphology, on both trained as well as on untrained items. A similar gain was observed for the spelling of morphologically derived words, for trained and untrained words. Both roots and affixes were spelled more accurately. For reading however, we found a learning effect in speed and accuracy on trained words, but no generalization to untrained words. All effects were maintained four months after training. These results highlight the role that morphology plays in children’s literacy development.

Previous studies have indicated that students’ writing skills benefit from contextualized L1 grammar teaching, in which language structures are observed and analyzed in authentic texts and as embedded into teaching of reading and writing. The contextualized approach is also promoted by the current Finnish curriculum for basic education. This study investigates the relationship between grammatical understanding and writing skills using statistical methods as well as a complementary qualitative analysis of student texts. The data are derived from a large cross-sectional assessment of L1 learning achievement in Finnish year 9 students (N = 6,044). Linear regression analyses indicate that grammatical understanding is a significant predictor of writing skills and correlates strongly with the syntactic, stylistic, genre-related, and orthographical quality of the students’ argumentative texts. Weaker writers use less complex vocabulary and sometimes “lose control” of syntactic structures. Learning grammar is related to metalinguistic understanding which, in turn, helps writers to analyze and control their language use, and thus produce better texts.