United States: Winooski refugee influx brings praise and concern

david — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 08:39:57 +0000

Vermont: The Burlington free press reports that ‘History is repeating itself in Winooski in the form of a wave of new immigrants. About a third of the students in the Winooski public-school system are English language learners, School Superintendent Steve Perkins said last week.’

This, apparently represents a 20 percent increase when compared to the student population of four years ago. Perkins, refreshingly, regards the refugee influx as an opportunity and a challenge, not a negative, while the district has hired people to teach refugees English, and all teachers have had extensive training in overcoming language barriers, he said.

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Girls have harder time than boys adjusting in language-learning environment

david — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 10:22:26 +0000

Girls who don’t share a common language may have more difficulty adjusting socially than boys, according to surprising new Michigan State University research looking at language acquisition among young children.

A study of 3- to 6-year-olds attending an international school in Beijing found that in general, girls had more social adjustment problems than boys. The students, representing 16 nationalities, were immersed in both Chinese and English, meaning each child was learning at least one new language.

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ELT World » Adjusting to a new language environment

United States: Winooski refugee influx brings praise and concern

Girls have harder time than boys adjusting in language-learning environment