This collection of papers presents research on language processing among second language learners and bilinguals. The nine papers include the following: (1) "The Bilingual's Language Modes" (Francois Grosjean); (2) "The Voicing Contrast in English and Spanish: The Relationship between Perception and Production" (Mary L. Zampini…

This workbook for elementary school teachers is designed to help make their first few weeks of school successful. It provides lesson plans, classroom management strategies, student assessments, and special aids for teaching bilingual students. After an "Introduction" that discusses the ups and downs of a first-year teacher, there are nine…

In California, the state is responsible for ensuring equality of educational opportunity for all of its students. Yet, with respect to English learners, the state has largely failed even to assess the conditions of education for these students. It has not adequately monitored their educational opportunities in terms of access to critical resources…

Describes one student teacher's experiences developing the literacy skills of a 13-year-old boy from the former Soviet Union who had poorly-developed first-language literacy skills and difficulty with English. After defining and describing linguistic development in general, the paper explains how the student teacher made tutoring effective and fun…

A successful collaboration resulted in a researcher and a teacher linking professional development with change in small-group reading instruction and student achievement. The context was a two-way Spanish-English bilingual immersion first-grade classroom with many English language learners (ELLs), located in a low-performing, high-poverty school.…

This volume brings together a broad range of academics, school-based educators, and policymakers to address research, policy, and practice issues related to improving the education of English language learners in U.S. schools today. It emphasizes throughout that instructional improvements cannot be achieved via curriculum alone--teachers are key…

This article reports the results of a survey of third-grade teachers of English Language Learners (ELLs) in Arizona regarding school language and accountability policies--Proposition 203, which restricts bilingual education and mandates sheltered English Immersion; the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB); and Arizona LEARNS, the…

Children from non-English-speaking homes are doubly disadvantaged when learning English in school. They enter school with less prior knowledge of English sounds, word meanings, and sentence structure, and they get little or no reinforcement of their learning outside of the classroom. This article compares the classroom standard practice of…

This study explored the extent of measurable differences in performance on Piagetian tasks among six year olds who are exposed to one or two languages. Subjects (N=120) were divided into four groups: (1) native English-speaking Anglo-Americans who live in the United States; (2) native Japanese-speaking Japanese who live in Japan; (3) native…

Communication strategies used by German-Swedish bilinguals when they have lexical difficulty are discussed. Findings indicate that in a language test situation, when attention is focused on words rather than topic, face-saving over a lexical gap seems to be of great importance to the speaker. When a communication strategy has led to a noticeable…

One in a series on cultural pluralism and multicultural education, this collection of 10 brief articles focuses on bilingual education with much of the material specific to Spanish-English programs. Dennis Wilson discusses Indian self determination and the task of preserving Indian culture while solving contemporary Indian problems. Lorenzo…

A Houston, Texas, elementary bilingual program did not produce consistently equal or superior cognitive outcomes but was effective in facilitating second language learning. In order to ascertain the effects of the program on participants' self esteem, English reading level, and grade point average (GPA), the elementary and seventh grade GPAs of an…

The recruitment and training of competent teachers for Spanish-speaking children is but one phase of the overall staffing problem facing schools nationally. Generally, the teacher shortage could be reduced by increasing wages, improving facilities and equipment, reducing the teacher's work load through employment of teaching assistants and…

This selective abstract bibliography prepared by ERIC Clearinghouse on Early Childhood Education is a guide to recent ERIC documents on bilingual education of children. Citations have been divided into four sections: (1) selected ethnic groups (Spanish speaking, native Americans, Chinese, Portuguese and Filipino); (2) migrants; (3) second language…

The purpose of this conference was to produce a set of recommendations and suggestions that could be available to teacher training institutions, state education agencies, and other private and public institutions concerned with the study of ethnicity and bilingualism/biculturalism. Five major topics that form the basis for the report are training…