While language has been the chief factor cited as causing Chicano youth to score below the majority population on mental and educational measurement scales, other explanatory factors identified by researchers over the years include socio-economic status, residential area (urban/rural), ethnicity and culture. Citations for 253 studies, books,…

This report is a summary of the results of the administration of the Modern Language Association of America (MLA) Proficiency Tests to native speakers in Chile, Columbia, France, German, Italy, and Spain. The notion of a "superior" level of competence in reading, writing, aural comprehension, and speaking a second language is specified…

A study evaluated the overall evaluative validity of the Four Skills Exam, a Spanish language proficiency test designed to ensure that bilingual education teachers in New Mexico can meet Spanish language demands in the bilingual education classroom. The test's construct validity was limited for several reasons. In designing a test capturing…

This collection of papers reports research on the effects of bilingual learning on the ability to speak two languages and the ability to acquire full literacy in both. There are 12 chapters in 4 parts. Part 1, "Background," includes (1) "Assessing the Effects of Bilingualism: A Background" (D. Kimbrough Oller and Barbara Zurer…

Examines methodological problems affecting assessment of bilingual children's cognitive and language development. Analysis of three qualitative instruments used to identify gifted students among Mexican American bilingual kindergartners revealed the influence of first and second language, verbal and nonverbal assessment procedures, multiple…

Describes programs and services available to students of Limited English Proficiency (LEP) in secondary schools in California, where almost a quarter of a million LEP students of diverse backgrounds are enrolled. The grim reality is that these students are tracked and provided with inadequate materials and poorly prepared teachers. (SLD)

This study measured the English and Spanish language proficiency and phonological sensitivity skills of Hispanic children who attended Head Start. Its primary objective was to determine the relationship between language proficiency and phonological sensitivity in English and Spanish independently, and whether this relationship differed in English…

The major purpose of this study was to explore, in a phenomenological tradition, factors that lead some students to persist in foreign language study past the usual 2 years in high school. Factors that have been prevalent in the literature include language aptitude, motivation, grades, intellectual and cultural curiosity, language learning…

A study investigated the use of manipulatives-based mathematics tasks as an alternative method for assessing young Hispanic students with limited English proficiency. Students (n=45) from kindergarten and grades 2 and 3 were administered 14 manipulatives-based tasks. Each task was retested over a period of 2-3 weeks. Task performance was scored on…

Previous literature on classroom testing of second language speech skills provides several models of both task types and rubrics for rating, and suggestions regarding procedures for testing speaking with large numbers of learners. However, there is no clear, widely disseminated consensus in the profession on the appropriate paradigm to guide the…

A study investigated how elementary school students form a mental representation of simple addition and subtraction word problems, focusing on critical elements in the problems' semantic structure, and the extent to which the accuracy of the solutions found was related to the students' English language proficiency when the problems were presented…

The rubrics are designed for productive use (speaking and writing) of English and Spanish in two-way bilingual immersion programs. The rubrics were developed by classroom teachers working in elementary school Spanish partial immersion programs, in consultation with a special education teacher, reading specialist, middle school partial immersion…

At the Louisiana State University Laboratory School, the 4-year course sequences in French and Spanish use American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) proficiency guidelines as a basis for planning for language skill development. In listening proficiency, the course sequence integrates teaching of listening skills with other…

This resource guide is designed to provide foreign language teachers with suggestions for helping students become better language learners. The four chapters of the guide for teaching speaking skills are as follows: (1) Teaching Learning Strategies (e.g., rationale for teaching, types, useful strategies, guidelines, instructional sequence, and…

The relationship between the relative language proficiencies of bilingual children and their scores on tests administered in one or both languages was studied in students referred to special education because of suspected learning disabilities. Bilingual Hispanic students (25 males and 15 females) in grades 2 through 4 from an urban school…