Various interpretations of the historical forces affecting U.S. language policy and attitudes toward bilingual education are examined. Changing political, social, and economic forces, rather than any consistent ideology, have shaped the nation's responses to language diversity. U.S. language ideology has shifted with changing historical events,…

Describes the influence of the Progressive Education movement, with its emphasis on experiential learning and community schools, on Bureau of Indian Affairs schools during the 1930s. Discusses the subsequent development of bilingual education programs for American Indian students and offers recommendations for improving the education of Navajo…

Examines growth of metropolitan Miami's Spanish-language economy and the economic and cultural advantages of a multilingual workforce. Discusses Hispanic and Latin American businesses, Spanish-language media, statewide and local Spanish instructional programs, Dade County census data on language use and educational attainment, a Miami business…

English-only advocates and bilingual education supporters have generally disregarded the harsh symbolic and material conditions that contribute to the failures of English learners. Interviews with three bilingual and ESL teachers in an urban school describe inadequate facilities and materials, de facto segregation, oppressive teacher attitudes,…

The compulsory education system in the autonomous Spanish region known as the Comunidad Valenciano has offered a varied program of bilingual education. Spanish and Valenciano, an autochthonous variety of Catalan, alternate according to various curricular programs as the main teaching languages. Examines the objectives of each of these programs, as…

Focuses on complexities and challenges of the social and cognitive enterprise involved as young children learn English as a second language. Summarizes research on various types of bilingual programs and identifies effective program components. Presents implications for early childhood teachers, focusing on the importance of teachers having high…

An exploration of the increasingly important role of linguistics in literacy research and instruction reviews literature on reading comprehension, written language, orthography, metalinguistics, classroom language use, reading disabilities, native tongues, nonstandard dialects, bilingual education, adult literacy, and second-language reading. (86…

Panelists involved in deaf education teaching, research, and administration discuss the application of English-as-a-Second-Language methods for teaching English to deaf students, focusing on educational theories, use of American Sign Language, teacher education needs, and sociocultural factors. (CB)

Considers the status and corpus planning aspects of three of Peru's Quechua policies in light of the language planning orientations of language-as-problem, language-as-right, and language-as-resource. Current Quechua/Spanish bilingual education recognizes the rights of Quechua speakers and the role of the language as a national resource.…

Describes Jacobson's New Concurrent Approach to bilingual instruction, which systematically incorporates intersentential code-switching to teach content to limited English proficient children raised in a bilingual environment, and how such incorporation and adaptation contributes to the balanced distribution of the two codes in question. (24…

Describes the process for developing a bilingual curriculum for Guatemala's four largest Mayan language groups. The process took into account the Mayans' maintenance of a distinct linguistic and cultural identity. The results of this experimental curriculum and the current direction of bilingual education in Guatemala are discussed. (Author/CB)

Discusses the problems of perspective in dealing with minority cultures, citing many examples from world history. Discusses effects of dominant languages and cultures upon minority ones. Mobility is examined as a feature of peripheral cultures with fragile economies. Implications for multicultural education discussed. 23 notes and references. (TES)

Although formal western-oriented educational planning is the basis of the search for educational direction in South Pacific countries, the planning process has often been subverted by tensions based in local cultural contexts. In Vanuatu, planning has been hindered by political instability and a colonial inheritance of two languages of instruction…

Reviews the literature on mentoring teachers, focusing on bilingual and bicultural education and emphasizing issues relevant in urban settings. An interactive model of mentoring is proposed in which bilingual teachers, whether mentors or new teachers, can share perspectives sorely needed in this age of increasing cultural diversity. (SLD)

This article presents theoretical, empirical, and practical considerations of creating a bilingual (American Sign Language and English) environment in which deaf children can develop linguistic competence. Traditional environments for these students are compared with bilingual environments, and empirical support for deaf bilingualism is…