Presents model using elements of status, social group or speech community, and values for treating literacy as a sociolinguistic phenomenon and in support of bilingual education. Uses Navajo and medieval Jewish languages as examples. (BK)

Disillusionment with the many bilingual programs developed under Title VII, 1965 Elementary Secondary Education Act, indicates only a lessened commitment, and a justifiably more cautious approach; the seeds of doubts, the problems, and possibly the likelihood of failure were built into the program from the beginning. (Author/JM)

This is both a report on the numbers of native speakers of Apachean languages and a statement of the need for sociolinguistic studies of these languages. (CK)

This article describes the English-Navajo bilingual education program at Rock Point, Arizona, and reports on the results of various reading achievement tests illustrating that learning to read in one's mother tongue will result in better reading skills, and will improve second language reading skills. (CLK)

In American-Indian and Spanish-American populations, many schools ignore the first language and culture of their students and teach English as a second language in a "hit and miss" manner. Bringing some order out of this chaos has been one of TESOL's most significant contributions. The author feels, however, that there is no substance to…

The development of literacy in selected bilingual societies was investigated. Historical and comparative studies were conducted of medieval Jewish communities, the Navajo community, a northern New Mexico village, and the countries of Paraguay and Tonga. The goal of the case studies was to develop a model for the development of literacy in the…

The purposes of this first phase of a proposed two-phase study were (1) to collect necessary baseline data for the completion of the total two-part study, and (2) to note the effects on school achievement of one year's instruction in English given to kindergarten Navaho-speaking monolinguals. The following groups from the Window Rock-Ft. Defiance…

This report discusses trends in the study of Athapaskan, concentrating on language maintenance and bilingualism. It presents both the potential richness and the actual poverty of studies of sociolinguistic aspects of the Athapaskan languages. Noted are two trends--(1) There is a greater interest among linguists in the studies of language in use:…

Several articles dealing with bilingual education and language acquisition among American Indians illustrate problems representative of this ethnic minority. The major article by W. Miller considers the Shoshoni language as an "obsolescing" language, and a bibliography of the Numic languages is included. The information exchange section reports…

This collection of papers examines, from an international perspective, opportunities and challenges of societal bilingualism in the new millennium. The 18 papers include the following: "Introduction: Opportunities and Challenges of Bilingualism" (Li Wei, Jean-Marc Dewaele, and Alex Housen); "'Holy Languages' in the Context of…

These Reports deal with the American English, Texan Spanish, and Navajo languages and cultures. "English in Bilingual Education" by Elizabeth Ott describes the history of education in the Southwest and examines the concept and many forms of bilingualism. An example of a possible bilingual instructional program is given. "The Spanish…

The articles included in this book are intended to demonstrate the diversity of academic interest in the phenomenon of bilingualism. Articles treat Mexican-Americans, American Indians, and Suggestions for Further Research. The first two parts contain the following subdivisions: (1) Assumptions and Methods, (2) Language Resources and Development,…

Discusses the relationships among bilingual education, biliteracy, diglossia, and native language maintenance. Pedagogical research in Latin American indigenous languages and Navajo indicate that indigenous language literacy instruction and bilingual methods also contribute significantly to literacy development in the national language (English or…

Provides a conceptual framework and concrete guidance for Navajo language teaching that follows an immersion approach. Explains key theoretical starting points for immersion instruction and program development; then describes in step-by-step fashion how to go about implementing immersion language teaching in various classroom contexts. (Author/TD)

This content analysis schedule for the Bilingual Education Project for Navajo of Monticello, Utah, presents information on the history, funding, and scope of the project. Included are sociolinguistic process variables such as the native and dominant languages of students and their interaction. Information is provided on staff selection and the…