Music departments in Chinese universities incorporate Western musicology and instruments as part of their undergraduate or graduate courses (or both). However, many of these students may have had limited exposure to Western classical music and English, as a medium of communication. Furthermore, these courses are predominantly offered in Chinese.…

Correctional Education English as a Second Language (ESL) literacy programs vary from state to state, region to region. Some states enroll their correctional ESL students in adult basic education (ABE) classes; other states have separate classes and programs. At the Maryland Correctional Institution in Jessup, the ESL class is a self-contained…

James E. Alatis has a distinguished career in Foreign Language teaching and Bilingual Education that spans 50 years. Early in his career he served as a language researcher for the U.S. Departments of Education and State. At Georgetown University in Washington, District of Columbia (DC), he has been a professor of linguistics and Modern Greek since…

This article focuses on Daisaku Ikeda's (1928- ) philosophy and practice of intercultural dialogue--what I call "value-creative dialogue"--as a new current in interculturalism and educational philosophy and theory. I use excerpts from Ikeda's writings to consider two aspects of his approach to dialogue. First, I locate his approach…

For many centuries people who speak more than one language, that is to say second language (L2) users, have been admired. In the 16th century an advisor to Elizabeth I of England said: "For even as a hawk flieth not high with one wing, even so a man reacheth not to excellency with one tongue." (Roger Ascham, "The Scholemaster,"…

While the idea of plurilingual competence is widely established theoretically and promoted in European language policies, it is not implemented in educational practice, where separate plurilingualism is still dominant. The idea of languages as autonomous entities is e.g. reflected in the "Common European Framework of Reference for…

This paper describes the ways in which New York City schools have responded to the multilingualism of its children in the last 40 years, and suggests changes needed in order to accommodate the greater linguistic heterogeneity of the city. In the predominantly Puerto Rican community of the 1960s and 1970s, traditional bilingual education programs…

The widespread implementation of newborn hearing screening and advances in amplification technologies (including cochlear implants) have fundamentally changed the educational landscape for deaf learners. These changes are discussed in terms of their impact on sign bilingual education programs with a focus on the relationships between language and…

Ninety-five percent of students at Redwood City's Hoover School, in San Mateo County, California, come from low-income and working-class Latino families, and nearly all start school as English language learners (ELLs). The elementary and middle school piloted the Sobrato Early Academic Language (SEAL) program in 2009 in hopes of raising reading…

This report summarizes highlights from December 2015 discussions, or "platicas," held with Austin Independent School District elementary principals about the district's dual language program. Principals provided their opinions about the program and gave suggestions for improvements.

This report summarizes Austin Independent School District's English language learner students' 2015 state academic test (STAAR) reading, writing, and science results (grades 3-5) and state English language proficiency test (TELPAS) results (kindergarten through grade 5).

For over 25 years in some countries and more recently in others, bilingual education involving sign language and the written/spoken vernacular has been considered an essential educational intervention for deaf children. With the recent growth in universal newborn hearing screening and technological advances such as digital hearing aids and…

This report summarizes the Austin Independent School District bilingual and English as a second language programs students' academic performance during 2017-2018. Students' advanced placement course performance, state academic tests (STAAR and EOC) performance, and graduation and dropout rates are summarized. [For the Executive Summary, see…

A program of helping students learn French by integrating students' native tongue into their school instruction, along with French--the country's national language--promises to improve education outcomes in one of the world's poorest nations.

Some 37 million U.S. residents speak Spanish at home and more than 55% of them say they also speak English. That creates what is called linguistic capital. Although linguistic capital is difficult to quantify, it is enormously valuable and is determined by an individual's language competency, and is too frequently wasted instead of being…