This study investigated the nature of dyadic interaction between secondary English language learners (ELLs) engaged in mathematics peer tutoring sessions. An analysis of 15 ELL expert/novice student‐tutoring dyads and three mathematics teacher/ELL novice dyads revealed the importance of questions and wait time in developing novice tutee ownership of mathematical problem‐solving activities. Under current U.S. policy, mathematics teachers are encouraged to adapt to reform‐oriented teaching practices that emphasize discourse and communication, as noted in the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics standards published in 1989, and to prepare ELLs to participate in high‐stakes large‐scale assessments. Often used as gatekeepers to high school graduation, secondary school math teachers are not only under pressure to adapt their teaching strategies to reflect reform‐oriented methods, but also under an immense time constraint to prepare all students for graduation. The results of this study are supported by Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development and can offer secondary mathematics teachers of ELLs practical strategies that reflect reform‐oriented teaching practices and support active participation, vocabulary development, and independent ownership of mathematics problem‐solving activities.

This study examined lexical organization in English language learners (ELLs) who acquired their second language (L2) either during or after the period of maximal sensitivity related to the critical period hypothesis. Twenty-three native-Spanishspeaking ELLs completed psycholinguistic tasks to examine age effects in bilingual lexical organization. The tasks involved the use of primes, or stimuli presented for very short time frames (below a level of conscious perception), followed by wordnonword lexical decision tasks with translation and semantic relationships to the primes. Primes presented in the first language facilitated speed of lexical decision in L2, but not the reverse. Reaction times were faster for translation than for semantic primes, with no differences related to age of acquisition or prime duration. However, participants who acquired L2 later showed different error patterns than those who acquired L2 earlier. Results are discussed with regard to the critical period hypothesis in second language acquisition.