MSI Press Blog

  Today's back story is about the book, Mommy Poisoned Our House Guest  by Shenan (CB) Leaver with Betty Lou Leaver. From the co-author: CB Leaver , the author, is a mentally challenged CHARGE Syndrome adult who never learned to read or write. His mother, Betty Lou Leaver, a highly published author, who wanted her son to understand the purpose of the written word: sharing thoughts and/or information with others. It took a full year of working together to put CB's remembered stories on paper, to check that they had been accurately transcribed. CB learned a lot about the written word both in the process of writing and in getting feedback from pre-publication readers of the manuscript. CB subsequently did a book signing at the Los Angeles Book Fair. He had a great time learning about reader reactions to his book. He was also adept at using his people skills and humor to draw readers to his booth.  Book available at 25% discount with code FF25 at msipress.com/shop. Read excerpts a

  Achieving Native-Like Second Language Proficiency  (Speaking) by Betty Lou Leaver is a research-based catalogue of factors that would seem to predict ability to reach the highest level of foreign language proficiency and is based on common characteristics shared by more than 200 near-native speakers, identified by self-report, survey, and interviews by master testers. One of those common characteristics turned out to be tenacity in study. Some of these learners struggled in the bigger, but they never gave up. This motivation was mentioned more often than instrumental and integrative motivation, the widely recognized framework posed decades ago by Gardner and Lambert and still prevalent among language educators. Instrumental motivation was a high second. Sometimes, the instrumental motivation was for reasons of a job; other times it was to be able to communicate with newly acquired relatives. Integrative motivation was not strong at Level 4 though it was reported as strong among first

  Achieving Native-Like Second Language Proficiency (Speaking) by Betty Lou Leaver is a research-based catalogue of factors that would seem to predict ability to reach the highest level of foreign language proficiency and is based on common characteristics shared by more than 200 near-native speakers, identified by self-report, survey, and interviews by master testers. One of those common characteristics turned out to be the social environment in childhood. Nearly all survey respondents reported growing up in a bilingual or multilingual home or community. The conjecture is that having been surrounded by other languages, (1) additional sounds (not present in the native language) lodged in the brain for later use (whereas, typically, unused sounds disappear around age 15 or even earlier) and (2) the concept of another language as a form of communication facilitated the embrace of any other language later not as a system of words and grammar rules to be learned but rather as a tool for e

  MSI Press managing editor, Dr. Betty Lou Leaver, recently returned from conducting a workshop at Emory University, a follow-up to a workshop she conducted there last spring. For more posts about Dr. Leaver, click HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Planning on self-publishing and don't know where to start? Our  author au pair  services will mentor you through the process. Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com. Want an  author-signed copy  of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com. Want to communicate with one of our authors? You can! Find their contact information on our  Authors' Pag

  Excerpt from review of Transformative Language Learning and Teaching in by Benjamin Rifkin (Farleigh Dickinson University) in Russian Language Journal --  The length parameters of this review prevent me from offering even the shallowest analysis of each of the chapters in this outstanding volume. Suffice it to say that the volume includes chapters on language learning as well as on east-west concepts of selfhood, community engagement, service learning, virtual immersion, dual immersion, engagement with migrants and refugees, technology, open-architecture curricular design, and testing and assessment, among others. I confess that I ordered this volume the moment I saw it appear in press and read it cover to cover with great interest as soon as I had it in my hands. Reading it again 204 Russian Language Journal, Vol. 72, Nos. 1-2, 2022 Reviews for the purposes of this review was just as powerful. The editors of the volume and all the contributing authors are to be commend

  This week's book back story features Individualized Study Plans for Very Advanced Students of Foreign Language s by Betty Lou Leaver,  from the author -- Ironically, given the popularity of this book, it was the fastest and easiest I have ever written. Based on years of experience working with highly proficient language students, in 2003 I put together a conference presentation to share "what works" with other teachers. Many of those in attendance wanted a copy of the power point slides, but my slides are nearly always just prompts for more in-depth information. I decided to write up the information behind the slides instead of just sending the slides. It took the better part of a week, but when I was done, I discovered I actually had a book! Purchase the paperback at 25% discount with coupon code FF25  at the  MSI Press webstore . For more posts about Betty Lou Leaver and her books, click HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter , 

  Recently released - the audiobook for Think Yourself into Becoming a Language Learning Super Star! by Betty Lou Leaver. This book encompasses traditional tips that have worked for most people and then goes way beyond them. adjusting them to individual learners and teaching the learners to develop their own heuristics for rapid and successful language learning. Within these pages, the reader can find a trove of treasure, such as strategies and tactics reading, listening, writing, and speaking mental management ways to manage cognitive dissonance ways to control emotional reasoning the connection between health and language learning understanding and improving memory knowing how personality type and cognitive style affect learning successfully preparing for tests Read less For more posts about Betty Lou Leaver and her books, click HERE . Purchase this book at discount from the MSI Press webstore . Use Coupon Code FF25 for 25% off. Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Pr

      Available for download, article from JDLS 8: " On the Cusp:  Zone of Proximal Development Tables to Guide Formative Assessment "  (Dr. Betty Lou Leaver, MSI Press LLC) Abstract: The chasm between the successive proficiency levels (ILR 1, 2, 3, 4/ACTFL Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Distinguished) is large. The Cusp Tables, developed with the support of the National Foreign Language Center, with input from large numbers of Level-4 language users and informed by proficiency testing instruments in use at the time, articulate proficiency elements believed to be most critical for passing from one level to the next. They suggest how to use this knowledge, along with formative assessment, to determine best next steps for individual learners based on their zones of proximal development (Vygotsky). The tables provided in this article for English, Russian, and Heritage Spanish can be used to guide the development of similar tables for other languages. Order HERE . --- We now h

  Excerpt from Think Yourself into Becoming a Language Learning Super Star! by Betty Lou Leaver, PhD.  INTRODUCTION This is not your typical tip book on how to learn foreign languages. It does not tell you to do a list of 15 things and assure you that you will become the language classroom star because typical lists of tips do not work for all leaners. Sometimes, almost none of the traditional tips and tricks work for some people. This book does not offer you learning strategies for reading, listening, writing, speaking, memorizing for vocabulary, and getting good with grammar. There is no need for yet another book on the topic of learning strategies. Good books exist. The best on, in opinion, is Teaching and researching language learning strategies: Self-regulation in context (Oxford, 2017). You should get it, use it, and keep it handy. You will not need a better guide for learning strategies than that. Oxford (1986) has also produced a well-vetted instrument: Strategy Inventory f

  Excerpt from The Invisible Foreign Language Classroom by Laura Dabbs and Betty Lou Leaver. Defining and Recognizing the Invisible Classroom Artisans General Orientation The SP seeks freedom and action.  Artisans would rather not have rules to follow but go where the impulse takes them.  To them, work is essentially play.  They have no real desire for closure or completion of a task or assignment—to the Artisan, the doing is the learning independent of any conclusion.   As Learners SPs are often the most misunderstood learner in the average classroom.  The SP craves action and hands-on learning;sitting in a regimented row, day after day, can seem like the ultimate torture.  Giving the SP freedom to be creative and to experience hands-on learning can be the key to reaching the SP learner.  SPs are often misunderstood in the classroom and seen as discipline problems because they can’t sit still daily and routinely perform as does the SJ.  The SP wants and needs choices and independe

  Today's fortune cookie is associated with The Invisible Foreign Language Classroom by Laura Dabbs and Betty Lou Leaver.  Read more about The Invisible Foreign Language Classroom HERE . Get a copy at  MSI Press webstore . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com. Want an  author-signed copy  of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com.  Want to communicate with one of our authors? You can! Find their contact information on our  Authors' Pages .