The aim of the study was to check whether minorities such as LEP/ZEP (limited/zero English proficiency) speakers can expect the same access to justice as competent English speakers in a majority language (US English) justice system. The main hypothesis is that, due to linguistic and cultural factors, the instances of miscommunication in the…

Chapter 3: This study investigated the effects of a new, Spanish two-way immersion program on first through third grade students' English and Spanish proficiency. All students were from an urban, high-poverty community in the Midwest that is English dominant, in a predominantly Anglo state. English-speakers in the two-way immersion program score…

This paper presents an overview of the impact of the Elementary Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title VII Spanish/English bilingual program. Student, teacher, and project data were collected in 38 projects in their fourth or fifth year of funding, along with data from non-Title VII comparison schools. The research design of this national study is…

The belief that bilinguals are an asset to their country is not held by most bilinguals today, much less the general public. This paper describes on-going research into the discovery that many bilinguals conceal their linguistic skill in the home language when in an English-speaking environment, passing as English-speaking monolinguals. Data are…

Researchers investigated Spanish learning outcomes for fluent and nonfluent limited-English-proficient Hispanic subjects in a maintenance bilingual program. Spanish reading and mathematics achievement were analyzed for each group using Texas norms. Both groups performed at or above the norms for 11 of 12 grade clusters for Spanish reading or…

Describes the history and phrasing of questions related to English language proficiency on U.S. censuses since 1890 and details the changing definition of language minorities. Describes and relates the Children's English and Services Study and the 1976 Survey of Income and Education to language-related questions on the 1980 census. (SB)

Cultural factors should be taken into consideration in a bilingual education program. The cultural background of the students learning English as a second language should not be regarded as inferior. A realistic analysis of a student's language capability must be made so that his language-learning problems can be recognized and solved as much as…

Unique in its use of several major national data sets to create a data base for future projections, this study reports the projected number of non-English language background and limited English proficient persons in the United States to the year 2000 for the nation, and by state, age, and language. (Author/CM)

The Bilingual Education Act of 1968 (also know as Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965) recognized that the educational needs of Limited English Proficient (LEP) students could not be met by traditional, English-only instruction. This legislation provided funding to state education agencies and local school districts to…

A study was conducted to supply data on the characteristics of young adult Chicanos compared with their Anglo peers. A stratified random sample of undergraduate Mexican-American (N=153) and Anglo (N=148) students was taken at the University of Texas, El Paso, where one third of the students enrolled have a Spanish surname. A self-devised…

This report was written at the request of the Latino caucus of the California State Legislature and was completed as the debate surrounding Proposition 227--a measure requiring a substantial cutback in special services to limited-English-proficient (LEP) students in California public schools--was getting underway. The impetus for the report was to…

The accomplishments of Theodore "Tug" Andersson (1903-1994) cover four major areas: (1) the teaching of modern languages in general; (2) the foreign languages in the elementary school (FLES) in particular; (3) bilingual education in the United States; and (4) preschool biliteracy. The 11 articles of Andersson's work are as follows: (1)…

Three successful school program models designed to help language minority students conserve the language skills acquired in their homes and continue normal native language development are described. The programs were developed to counteract a trend toward wasting valuable existing language skills and resources. The programs include: (1) an…

The test reviews in this guide are intended to be used by school personnel charged with locating and administering appropriate assessment instruments to limited-English-speaking elementary school children. Assessment instruments are reviewed for native speakers of Chinese, French, Italian, Navajo, Portuguese, Spanish and Tagalog. Each instrument…