Recognizing English as an increasingly powerful lingua franca, many governments in East Asia have implemented English-language education at the primary school level. The zeal for teaching English to younger and younger learners extends to both within and outside of the formal education system. While there are many unique local issues, a number of challenges and issues apply across the East Asian region. In this article, I focus on three such topics: (a) the widespread belief in the increased benefit of starting English-language learning when children are very young; (b) the emergence of new instructional models in early English teaching; and (c) the growing gaps in English-language achievement by children’s socio-economic status (SES). In discussing these issues, I draw on examples from previous studies as well as my own applied linguistics research in East Asia. I conclude by offering suggestions for future research directions that will inform pedagogy and policies for early English education.

TiC-TiB2-SiC system was a ternary eutectic, whose eutectic composition was 34TiC-22TiB2-44SiC (mol%). TiC-TiB2-SiC ternary eutectic composite were synthesized by a floating zone method using TiC, TiB2 and SiC powders as starting materials. The TiC-TiB2-SiC eutectic composite showed a lamellar texture. TiC(022), TiB2(010) and SiC(111) of the eutectic composite were perpendicular to the growth direction. TiC-TiB2-SiC ternary eutectic composite had specific relationship among the crystal planes: TiC[011]//TiB2[010]//SiC[112], TiC(200)//TiB2(001)//SiC( 402 ) and TiC( 111 )//TiB2(101 )//SiC( 220 ).

Ru-C nano-composite films were prepared by MOCVD, and their microstructures and their electrode properties for oxygen gas sensors were investigated. Deposited films contained Ru particles of 5-20 nm in diameter dispersed in amorphous C matrix. The AC conductivities associating to the interface charge transfer between Ru-C composite electrode and YSZ electrolyte were 100-1000 times higher than that of conventional paste-Pt electrodes. The emf values of the oxygen gas concentration cell constructed from the nano-composite electrodes and YSZ electrolyte showed the Nernstian theoretical values at low temperatures around 500 K. The response time of the concentration cell was 900 s at 500 K.