In a study comparing executive functions among US Spanish-English bilinguals from low socio-economic (SES) backgrounds to monolinguals of each language, Grote et al. find that bilingual advantages already manifest themselves in pre-school children. This commentary recommends building on this finding, and further investigate the causes underlying…

Education and outreach bring science to the general public, engage families, and ignite a passion for science in youth to seek careers in STEM. However, engagement in science depends on access, and language can be a major barrier. To ensure a welcoming, inclusive, and diverse community in the geosciences, we are calling for a community of practice…

This article is a personal reflection about the acknowledgement of my "taken-for-granted frames of reference" (Mezirow, 2003, p. 59), which were replicating the hegemonic narrative I grew up surrounded by as a white, Mexican, Spanish-speaker; while hindering a more thorough understanding of the educational and linguistic topics that…

This article presents the experiences of six bilingual Spanish-English students transitioning from high school to college, highlighting the ways they theorize translation and its relationship to writing and learning. As increased attention to theories of translingualism has established translation as deeply embedded in writing processes, and…

Monolingual speakers of a national language continue to be the ideal figures on which national identities and senses of community are built. Yet this longstanding equation between nation and language is being contested by other ideologies. Alternatives are emerging from such disparate social locations as the European Union, now advocating for…

The role of language contact in linguistic change remains a polemic issue in the field of contact linguistics. Many researchers (Weinreich, 1953; Lefebvre, 1985; Prince, 1988; Silva-Corvalan, 1994; King, 2000; Sankoff, 2002; Labov, 2007) believe that there are limits on the types of linguistic patterns that can be transmitted across languages,…

The five papers in this issue cover a range of perspectives on the acquisition and use of the Spanish copulas "ser" and "estar" in a variety of contexts, including language contact, bilingual language acquisition, and classroom second language learning. The fact that these papers cite work in this area as far back as the early part of the 20th…

Any person who has taught Spanish as a second language or who has interacted with a non-native speaker of Spanish can easily tell that mastering the correct use of the copulas "ser" and "estar" is very difficult in both spoken and written production. But L2 learners are not alone. The Spanish copulas also present difficulty and frustration for L2…

Schools are faced with problems resulting from the increasing number of Spanish-speaking people in the United States. The growing bilingual labor force should be of concern to educators. Business educators must assist non-English-speaking students through a sound program of study. (JOW)

Presents an historical survey of Spanish language and educational policy in California highlighting those factors which may account for the present survival of the Spanish language. The role of education as an instrument of societal integration is examined in terms of its impact upon the Chicanos' language and educational achievement. (JMF)

In the face of the globalizing tendencies of our times, religious communities will depend on the appropriations and reinterpretations of traditions in constant dialogue with increasingly diverse cultural groups. Religious communities that want to respond to the challenge of cultural pluralism cannot hold to the idea of religion as something…

Bilingual business education is increasing in importance in response to the growing Spanish speaking population, bilingual student population, and need for bilingual employees. The continued immigration from Mexico and growth in the number of unskilled Spanish speaking workers will lead to an increased need for bilingual supervisors and managers.…

Describing the dialectics of theoretical versus applied linguistics and sociological data, this study compares the average achievement in French of Spanish-speaking learners (Chicanos in a southwestern university) with English-speaking monolinguals. Although Spanish and French belong to the Romance Languages and share a great number of cognates…

Teachers in traditional bilingual settings confront strict program requirements under the guise of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), excessive assessment demands (state, district and program assessments in both English and Spanish), and negative attitudes about bilingual education from many in the political and public spheres. Since 1998, the passage…

A number of issues related to the production of literacy materials for the Chicano children of New Mexico are discussed. First, a historical survey gives some idea of the way in which instructional materials available for use with Spanish-speaking children have contributed to cultural estrangement and alienation from their own particular home and…