This article investigates the acquisition of a variety of standard English (SE) by children whose first language is Hawaii Creole English (HCE). The hypothesis was made that, in a speech community with high prestige and low prestige codes, learning the dominant code would not adversely affect performance in the first language. The subjects, in…

This study analyzed a public school prekindergarten Montessori bilingual program, investigating second grade reading achievement scores on Spanish and English norm-referenced tests and comparing students who had participated in the Montessori program with those who had participated in a prekindergarten traditional bilingual program. Participants…

Voters in California will vote June 2, 1998 to decide the fate of Proposition 227, a measure proposed by businessman Ron Unz that would substantially change the way that students who are not proficient in English are taught. If approved by the voters, Proposition 227, the Unz Initiative, would essentially eliminate bilingual education programs in…

California's Proposition 227 requires that all children be taught English by being taught in English. This proposition, which basically outlaws bilingual education, is the newest chapter in the history of how non-English speaking and limited English proficient (LEP) students should be educated. After presenting the historical, social, political,…

Narratives of Puerto Rican and Mexican American students, written in 8th grade and then 11th grade, describe who they are and illustrate school-sponsored silencing, with student critiques of their educational experience ignored by schools. The narratives help explain the Hispanic student high dropout rate, reasons behind students' academic…

This article examines issues in language assessment in children exposed to two languages, including arrested language development in preschool children, arrested development and language loss in school-age children, effects of educational policy (especially the devaluation of non-English languages) on bilingualism, problems in primary language…

This booklet consists of five articles. The first, "Bilingual Education: Reading through Two Languages," by Arturo Luis Gutierrez, stresses the importance of teaching Spanish-speaking children to read first in their native tongue. The second article, "Teaching All Children to Read," by Donald E. Critchlow, discusses methodology and the problems…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 26 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) comparison of achievement test scores between bilingually and nonbilingually instructed Cherokee Indians; (2) issues related to the social phenomenon of black…

Recognizing a need for an objective, multidisciplinary and comprehensive look at the field of bilingual education, the Office of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the Center for Applied Linguistics cooperated in a state-of-the-art study of the field. State-of-the-art papers were commissioned in four general areas concerning bilingual education:…

One hundred twenty first-grade Mexican-American students (60 from each Fort Worth and Laredo, Texas) were subjects of an experiment which attempted to determine whether bilingualism inhibits verbal ability in one or both of the children's languages. The PPVT-A (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Form A) was used to test verbal ability and…

The increased number of Spanish-speaking migrant workers utilized in New Jersey agriculture has made it necessary for the public schools to provide educational programs for bilingual students. This document presents activities and rationale designed to help such children in becoming bilingual and bi-cultural. Included are English-to-Spanish word…

This language program guide is designed for teachers of first grade children whose native language is Spanish or for children who are limited in their command of standard English, the oral language necessary for success in the usual school environment. The conceptual content for the 40 lessons is drawn principally from three areas: (1) social…

This study examines how a French- and Spanish-speaking child acquired English as a third language. It describes the linguistic experience of the 10-year old boy whose French and Spanish home, school, and playmate environments were changed to English school and playmate environments with French being maintained exclusively at home with the child's…

The Let's Be Amigos bilingual education program served over 2,000 students in 12 schools in Philadelphia. Model A provided bilingual education to English- and Spanish-dominant pupils in prekindergarten through Grade 6. Model B provided bilingual instruction to Spanish-dominant pupils in kindergarten through Grade 5. The ARRIBA component provided…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability of a motivational/attitudinal questionnaire developed for use with francophone students, and to assess the relation of attitudes and motivation to achievement in English. A secondary aim was to evaluate the relation of the context of second language acquisition to attitudes and achievement.…