During the 1994-1995 school year, the town of Sierre/Siders implemented and evaluated the first bilingual kindergarten class in the Valais canton of Switzerland. The following year the towns of Sion/Sitten and Monthey in the same canton also launched bilingual education classes. In these bilingual classes German is introduced as a second language…

This volume highlights the language and learning needs of pupils with English as an additional language in the United Kingdom. It includes chapters by British teachers and researchers working in this field. The book addresses a number of issues of interest to practitioners, scholars, teacher educators, and policy makers. Each chapter is prefaced…

This paper examines assumptions about second language acquisition, bilingualism, and language planning that underlie Singapore's bilingual education policy, noting how the experience in Singapore illuminates current theories in second language acquisition and language planning. In Singapore, English is promoted as the "working language,"…

Six essays on the links between official languages and the economy in Canada include: "An Economic Analysis of Language" (Albert Breton); "The Economics of Language in a Virtually Integrated Global Economy" (Richard G. Harris); "Speak and Ye Shall Receive: Language Knowledge as Human Capital" (Krishna Pendakur, Ravi…

Compares effects of three grade-six late immersion programs in British Columbia which differed in amount of instructional time in French (90 percent vs 60 percent), previous student French background, and use of selection criteria. Significant differences occurred in attitudes, but not in French comprehension, English achievement, mathematics,…

Discusses relationship of language conflict and political conflict. Uses a case study of the attempt to establish a bilingual secondary school in Wales to illustrate various conflicts that arise over the implementation of policy already agreed upon in principle. Concludes that developments and conflict related to bilingualism are locally specific.…

Three psycho-educational principles are outlined (additive bilingual enrichment principle, interdependence principle, and sufficient communicative interactive principle) to illustrate research on the maintenance of Frisian among native speakers and the development of Frisian fluency among native Dutch speakers. (Author/CB)

Focuses on determining which semantic classes were being easily learned and which were causing difficulty for pupils in Brunei Darussalam's bilingual-education system. Also sought to determine, through analysis of pupil translation errors, which factors made a particular word or class of words difficult to learn. (Author/VWL)

Based on interviews with teachers and students, the paper looks at some of the ways in which teachers' use of English as a medium of instruction sometimes frustrates the students' learning efforts instead of facilitating them. While options for change may include adopting mother tongue as an alternative medium, there are theoretical reasons for…

The Inventario de Comportamiento de Estudio (ICE), a Spanish translation of the Study Behavior Inventory (SBI) was developed and tested using a group of 594 undergraduate students from randomly selected classes at a private comprehensive university in Mexico. Both instruments were designed to assess the study behaviors of students in institutions…

This paper considers psycholinguistic aspects of bilingualism from two perspectives: the psychology of the individual and social psychology. The linguistic development of children is described and research is presented that compares bilingual and monolingual children with respect to cognitive development. The emotional consequences of parents'…

Little data are available concerning the native languages of Scandinavian residents, other than the official languages, despite the linguistic diversity of the region. Foreign language teaching starts early in schooling, but there has been little study of actual language needs. Three basic program designs are available for teaching foreign…

A discussion of bilingual education begins with a look at theoretical issues and then describes a community bilingual education program in London. Issues addressed include the distinction between additive and subtractive bilinguality, the relationship between contexts and outcomes of bilingual education, the cognitive and academic effects of…

Observations from site visits in England and Wales and a limited review of the literature about bilingual education of young children, particularly of preschool age, are reported here. The current native language teaching situation in England and several related ongoing research projects are described, and English as a second language programs and…

While French is the official language of the Congo, the study of English is compulsory throughout the entire seven years of secondary education. A study evaluated the effectiveness of English education, focusing on the training, qualifications, motivation, and morale of the English teacher; the suitability, appropriateness, and design of existing…