For young bilingual students a feeling of connection to their background languages and cultures forms one important aspect of their developing identities. This paper addresses some of the findings from a larger study examining students' understandings of their identities as bilingual. The study involved students who are part of a bilingual program…

Reviews arguments for considering whether Pachuco (the borderlands vernacular which is neither United States English nor Mexican Spanish) belongs in curricular considerations. (SR)

Traces the changes from multilingual to monolingual educational programs in the U.S., describes current bilingual programs and students, and notes the benefits for all children of treating bilingual education as a normal instructional program. (RW)

Argues that teaching writing effectively to diverse students of non-English background will require an examination of existing views about the nature of writing and a critical evaluation of the profession's ability to work with bilingual individuals of different types. Discusses the nature of bilingualism, trends in current scholarship, and…

Discusses the role and components of both bilingualism and multiculturalism in preschool settings. Notes implications for the preparation of teachers and suggests strategies that preschool administrators could utilize in meeting needs of bilingual communities. (Author/DLH)

It is very important to determine if a bilingual child's language delay is simply in English or also in the child's native language. Understandably, many children have higher levels of language development in the language spoken at home. To discover if this is the case, observe the child talking with his parents. Sometimes, even without…

Examines some of the differences between monolingual and bilingual reading. Focuses on some factors that are likely to influence young bilingual readers' capacity to read in their second language. Offers suggestions for pedagogy. (RS)

Presents case promoting foreign languages in elementary schools using study conducted to explore relationships between bilingual and cognitive abilities of Mexican American children. Favors additive over subtractive bilingualism. (BK)

This paper argues that teaching writing effectively to diverse students of non-English backgrounds will require an examination of existing views about the nature of writing and a critical evaluation of the profession's ability to work with bilingual individuals of different types. Part 1 of the paper suggests that existing compartmentalization…

The literature on testing has documented the existence of persistent anomalies in test scores of bilingual students. School psychology, which is test-dependent and test-defined, has an inadequate technology and knowledge base to deal with the testing of bilingual students, leading to error and misdiagnosis exacerbated by lack of viable testing…

Five common assumptions are held by teachers about learners: (1) adults should choose what children need to learn; (2) oral language must be mastered before written language can be introduced; (3) real, whole language is too difficult for students learning language; (4) language learning is different in different languages, and simultaneous…

Responding to O. Weininger's concern about Early French Immersion (EFI) programs, the author declares that evaluations from all over Canada have shown that EFI students achieve high levels of French proficiency at no apparent academic cost. Other objections to Weininger's conclusions are also raised. (PP)

Instructional methods and teaching resources are discussed in this document for the kindergarten teacher of bilingual beginning readers. The instructional program presented suggests, for instance, enlisting the aid of children's librarians to identify books of universal appeal; parental involvement is sought in selecting books for individual…

This article reviews literature asserting that legal mandates eliminating overrepresentation in special education classes may have hurt minority children and argues that such a position ignores the impact of bilingualism on psychometric test performance. The article proposes that psychometric tests be excluded from any aspect of decision making…

Much work is needed in the area of testing and assessment of limited-English-proficient students. The article discusses characteristics of bilingualism, code switching and other bilingual language patterns, the five types of tests currently used with limited-English-proficient students, and the new curriculum-based achievement tests which are more…