Analyzes the effect of language of instruction on the verbal reasoning of sixth grade French-English bilinguals (N=36). Results showed a significant interaction between language of instruction and language of presentation and differences associated with level of difficulty and mean response times. (Author/CB)

This article presents a practical approach to assessing Spanish-English bilingualism in Mexican-American children entering school. The general aim of bilingual assessment is discussed. The approach to assessment includes a method of selecting subjects, the use of a sociolinguistic survey, and tests for measuring bilingual communicative competence.…

Current practices for assessment of language in bilingual students frequently involve the use of tests translated from English to the target language or tests designed for, and normed on, monolingual people. This Digest explains why these common approaches are not well suited for a bilingual population and provides guidance regarding more suitable…

Article presented in Spanish and English versions. (DS)

Based on the introduction to the author's report on the 1968 Summer Bilingual Institute at the University of Texas. Appears in "The Florida FL Reporter special anthology issue "Linguistic-Cultural Differences and American Education. (FWB)

Deals with: (1) the meaning of grasp of language" and the possibility of discovering if an individual has a better reading grasp of one language than of another; (2) the effects which differences in grasp of language have upon reading comprehension; and (3) ways of helping students read their weaker language more effectively. (FB)

Presented are findings from numerous studies in terms of a theory which integrates the theoretical position of Piagetian developmental psychology with the concept of the learning set proposed by Harlow. This integrated theory, called the metaset, is offered as a new approach to explaining the efforts of childhood bilingualism. (NQ)

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 survey discusses the following: definition of bilingual education; origin and development of bilingual education; history of the Chinese bilingual program; the learners; language transfer or maintenance; types of Chinese bilingual education; treatment of language mediums; courses in a bilingual program; and teaching Chinese as a first…

Interviews with "Shin Nisei," new second-generation Japanese, university students reveal how strongly motivation influences persistence in taking Japanese courses and the intensity with which these students use Japanese outside the classroom. The discussion stresses problems facing Shin Nisei students in traditional college foreign-language…

Examines Singapore's multilingual society, and finds that after 10 years of bilingual education, most young adults are primarily monolingual readers of English, the first school language, and largely will not read in their ethnic languages. Examines social, political, educational, and personal factors contributing to a general lack of success in…

Examines the relationship between language use in Maltese bilingual classrooms and societal contexts within which the classrooms are embedded, explaining that the use of Maltese and English for instruction reflects the functions of each language in society. Discusses code switching and terminology switching and explains how the discursive and…

This article describes the development of a Spanish-spelling measure designed to assess the progress made by Spanish-English bilingual children from Grade 2 to Grade 5. Different stages of measure development are described, such as the selection of the focus features, the pilot phase of the assessment, and the finalizing of the operational…