Two considerations are brought to bear on the reading approach presented here. First, because the major focus in a teaching method designed for use with bilingual education students is to increase both language facility and reading ability, the approach is designed to provide the student with the opportunity to read, use, and listen to a standard…

This paper investigates the influence childhood bilingualism has on adult foreign language learning ability. Early research exploring the influence of bilingualism on general intelligence is mentioned as well as recent studies that present more favorable results. It is hypothesized that childhood bilingualism will have a positive effect on adult…

Immigrant education and Language Shelter programs for Finnish speakers living in Sweden are discussed in answer to Cora Brent-Palmer's criticism that a middle class bias exists in the Swedish educational system. She claims that the system operates against the academic opportunities and employment success of Finnish immigrants. However, it is…

A report is presented of an evaluation study that was set up to monitor the effects of a bilingual program on students' progress in all subject areas, its effects on student attitudes towards the French language and culture, and the patterns of language usage in the bilingual classroom. The sample for the study consisted of three groups: a…

The 1974-75 Austin Independent School District bilingual/bicultural program was designed as a comprehensive program of bilingual (Spanish and English) education for schools with the highest concentrations of Spanish-dominant Mexican American students. Bicultural instruction was inherent in the program which used both languages for a portion of all…

A revised Spanish/English oral-proficiency test battery was administered to 40 Spanish-surnamed pupils equally divided by sex at grade levels 1, 3, 5, and 7. The test battery included parallel Spanish and English versions of: (1) a 12-item vocabulary pretest, (2) a 32-item vocabulary-by-domain test consisting of four sections--home, neighborhood,…

There is wide variability in the type and degree of bilingualism exhibited by persons from the various Spanish-speaking groups in the USA. Within particular subcultural groups, there is significant variability among individuals in the use of language patterns. An empirical study investigated the use of language pattern in specified social contexts…

There have been four major court decisions affecting bilingual education: Lau v. Nichols, Serna v. Portales, Aspira v. the New York Board of Education and Keyes v. Denver School District No. 1. Lau v. Nichols was an action brought by non-English-speaking Chinese-origin students claiming to be denied an education because they could not comprehend…

This publication presents three suggested language arts curriculum units. They represent a cross-section of materials that have been developed to deal with the learning problems of students with special language difficulties. Originally developed for grades 7-12, these units may be adapted for use in adult education or at other grade levels. They…

This article describes an experiment in early Welsh-English bilingual education which was begun in September of 1968 with 35 children and which continued for two years. There was one male teacher who used mostly Welsh and taught for one hour per day. The average age of the children at the beginning of the two-year experiment was five years, two…

The purpose of this study was to construct a data base concerning the home background of Puerto Rican students as it relates to present and potential educational programs. The focus was on parental perceptions of educationally relevant variables in hopes of improving the planning and implementation of educational programs by school and community…

Because most Nigerian children receive only limited schooling, it is important to use this time as effectively as possible. One way to improve Nigerian schools is by teaching children in their native language, so that they will not be hindered by the need to master two languages and cultures. (IS)

In Portugal's monolingual school system, foreign students are expected to succeed just like Portuguese native students, despite their linguistic and cultural needs and differences. This study characterized the attitudes and motivation of four 9th grade foreign students toward Portuguese and English language classrooms in two Portuguese public…

The first article, "The Cost of English Acquisition Programs: Arizona Department of Education English Acquisition Cost Study" contains excerpts from a study (Phases 1 and 4) conducted for the Arizona Department of Education on the costs of various English-acquisition programs. Six successful but varied English-acquisition programs for…

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…