Language immersion students' lexical, syntactic, and pragmatic competencies are well documented, yet their phonological skill has remained relatively unexplored. This study investigates the Spanish vowel productions of a cross-sectional sample of 35 one-way Spanish immersion students. Learner productions were analyzed acoustically and compared to…

A questionnaire was administered to twenty-five teachers of the El Paso, Texas, area to determine their attitudes toward the Spanish and English spoken in the area. Most viewed the language as a "border slang" not equivalent to correct English or Spanish. (CK)

A successful bilingual English/Spanish program for Puerto Rican elementary school children in Rochester, New York, is described. The program placed particular emphasis on reading instruction. (CK)

The range of feeling among scholars, activists and teachers on the subject of the desirability of the dialect of the Spanish Southwest is discussed. Bilingual education teachers must have special preparation in the dialect to deal with students speaking this form of Spanish. (CHK)

Strongly suggests the establishment of methodology courses designed to address the needs of the exceptional child--specifically in relation to learning a foreign language. In addition, the need for more bilingual teachers in the fields of special education, reading, testing, and interpreting is stressed. (SL)

The development of two children who learned to read Spanish before age two is traced. Both children soon became bilingual in English and Spanish. The process of teaching them to read is described. (CHK)

This background article provides a general discussion of the possibilities of teaching preschool children to read in one or more languages. If external stimulation can match the rapid inner development of young children, rapid and extensive learning can occur. (CHK)

The definitions of and differences between language acquisition and learning in early reading are discussed. Preschool children who are bilingual can learn to read Spanish more easily than English; early and bilingual reading would be a great educational benefit. (CHK)

A survey of 64 University of New Mexico undergraduates examined their attitudes toward the different varieties of Spanish and the use of Spanish. (HP)

Explores the ability of children to use discourse markers (DMs) as indicators of register, examining the distribution of various DMs in the role-play speech of Spanish-dominant bilingual elementary students as they played with puppets representing several characters with different social relationships. Children used DMs to specifically mark…

Presents an overview of various bilingual and bicultural education programs in San Diego County. Factors such as funding, language learning theory, and local characteristics of the Mexican-American population are considered. (EJS)