The Threshold Project focuses on the language and learning difficulties that children in Southern African schools experience when they change from their mother tongue to English as a medium of instruction in their fifth year of schooling. This report discusses Threshold Project research relating to the nature of pupils' cognitive capacities and…

The European Teachers' Seminar held in Vaaksy, Finland in August 1989 was attended by 29 participants from 12 European countries representing elementary and secondary school teachers, adult educators, teacher trainers, and national school board officials responsible for minority education. The theme was instruction of linguistic and cultural…

Kiswahili was declared the national language of Kenya in 1968 and since then has also been established as the language of parliamentary debate. There are, however, inadequate instructional materials in this language, particularly at the primary level of schooling. Since there are almost 20 different languages, or dialects, in Kenya, Kiswahili must…

Although there is no federal department of education in Canada, the Government of Canada supports education by providing funds for certain education-related activities in the 10 provincial and 2 territorial departments of education. Because of this financial support, the Federal Government exercises a strong indirect influence on the conduct of…

Compiled for early childhood educators, this list of resources for multicultural education provides a total of 153 entries in the categories of readings for teachers, curriculum materials, nonprint media, children's books, resource bibliographies and catalogues, Canadian periodicals, and resource agencies. Brief annotations accompany most entries.…

Papers in this collection were presented at a 1982 symposium convened to address the question, "What is the best way to provide school education for immigrant children?" The papers (and their authors) include (1) "The Social and Ideological Context of Multicultural Education in Immigrant Countries" (Ronald Taft); (2)…

Data from three different teacher surveys are compared in a study of Paraguayan bilingual teacher attitudes on the choice of the language to be used in the classroom. The surveys were conducted in 1976, 1979, and 1986. Paraguay was chosen because of the stability of Guarani-Spanish bilingualism in that country and in its educational system. A…

A study of bilingual education in the Northwest Territories is conducted to survey literature on bilingual education; to assess programs being implemented at present in the Northwest Territories; to seek views and ideas of individuals involved in and interested in northern education; and to develop recommendations for changes and/or increased…

This journal of educational research contains five papers written by international authors. The initial paper presents the evaluation of a French immersion program for students from the second through the fourth grade in Toronto. The aim of the second paper, written in French with an English summary, was to find the attitude dimensions of French…

Mexico and Guatemala are undergoing changes in their educational systems due to a paradigm shift that replaces ethnic assimilation with pluralism. Both countries' governments have legally recognized the linguistic and cultural diversity of their countries via amendments to their constitutions. Both countries face tremendous obstacles in…

This paper examines four indigenous language programs to compare common components, problems, and outcomes. The programs are Cree Way in Quebec, Canada, Hualapai in Arizona, Te Kohanga Reo (Maori) in New Zealand, and Punana Leo (Hawaiian) in Hawaii. These programs were chosen for four characteristics: (1) the languages are no longer transmitted to…

The collection of essays on the relationship between English literacy and indigenous education, particularly in the Australian context, includes: "Double Power" (Mandawuy Yunupingu); "History, Cultural Diversity & English Language Teaching" (Martin Nakata); "Scaffolding Reading and Writing for Indigenous Children in…

Examines two initiatives to revitalize Quechua, the language of the Incas: Bolivia's 1994 reform incorporating the provision of bilingual intercultural education; and a community-based effort to incorporate Quichua as a second language instruction in a school in Ecuador. Points out that census records and sociolinguistic studies document a…

Discusses the development of bilingual education policy in Britain from the 1960s to the present, focusing on assimilation versus pluralism, multicultural education, the 1985 Swann Report on education policy, and the role of English in the national curriculum. Argues that more needs to be done to promote bilingual education in Britain. (17…

Describes the use of MultiLIS, a fully bilingual integrated library-management software package, at Laurentian University. The authority control module is explained, its potential as a control system for multilingual or multithesaurus controlled vocabularies is considered, and an evaluation of the MultiLIS authority module is presented with…