Although the vast majority of people in Ireland have at least some knowledge of Irish, only a small minority speak it as a community language (in Gaeltacht areas in the west) or in the more widely dispersed Irish-speaking households in the large English speaking area. Primary schools have had a central role in language revitalisation since the…

This paper considers how children learning a second language were supported as active participants during storytelling sessions in an Irish-language immersion preschool in Dublin. Audio-recordings and observations were made of the story sessions once a fortnight over a period of six months. The resulting transcripts were analysed from an…

Examined beliefs and perceptions of practicing professionals and those in leadership positions regarding developing and maintaining dual immersion programs to produce long-lasting language policy reform, language transformation, and a restructured school culture. Based on combined findings of the surveys and interviews, the factors that are most…

Two-way bilingual immersion programs are noteworthy within the context of US public education because, in them, the children of immigrants are essential assets. Language-minority and English-speaking pupils are grouped together, starting in kindergarten or earlier and extending at least through grade five, with a goal of bilingual proficiency and…

Language teachers are called upon to understand both the nature of students' intercultural competence and their own role in its development. Limited research attention has been paid to the relationship between the types of behaviour that language teachers model and the intercultural competence their students acquire. This article reports on a case…

A recent survey of teachers in a French early partial immersion program revealed concerns for those who teach English as to whether an immersion program is suitable for all children. Teachers believed, among other things, that the problems of children who were learning English and French as second languages were compounded by the program.…

The results (compiled in 1989) of two studies relating to the Culver City (California) Spanish Immersion Program are presented. The program, begun in 1971, provides immersion education for kindergarten through fifth grade and is articulated with a middle school program for immersion students. In 1987, two surveys gathered parent and teacher…

Investigates a Canadian school system's elementary school French immersion program. Surveys and review of curriculum and materials made by parents, teachers, and principals indicate strong support for beginning the program at the primary grade level. Policy recommendations are presented for program planning. (CB)

Fostering preservice teachers' multicultural development is critically germane to teacher education programs. Preparing preservice teachers to teach in urban areas means preparing them to teach a culturally and economically diverse population of students. In this article, the authors feature the Urban Semester Program, a pre-student teaching urban…

This paper examines the evidence on negative effects associated with Irish immersion programs and concludes that even in earlier immersion schools, which frequently lacked parental support, there is little evidence of detrimental academic effects. Many Irish immersion teachers emphasized the importance of parental commitment to immersion…

Variables affecting the effectiveness of immersion language programs are evaluated, including sociolinguistic context, attitudes, the structure of immersion grammars, and the learning processes of the children. (MSE)

This book provides practical strategies and tools for assessing and teaching even the most hard to reach English language learners across the content areas. Syrja offers educators the latest information on working with ELLs (including using formative assessments) and provides a wealth of classroom-tested models and measures. These tools have…

Since bilingual education became an official government mandate, there has been much controversy regarding its philosophy, objectives, procedures, and effectiveness. Some educators choose to view bilingual education as transitory, and other educators believe minority students should be given bilingual instruction throughout their public school…

This paper describes the Chinle Primary School Dual Language Project in terms of both the activities of the project and the attitudes and aspirations of its bilingual teachers. Chinle Unified School District (Arizona) enrolls over 4,000 students in 7 schools; 99 percent are American Indians, and 62 percent are considered limited English proficient…

Focus groups and interviews with 37 teachers and 4 principals examined their roles and experiences in Papahana Kaiapuni, a K-12 program taught entirely in Hawaiian. Teachers integrated Hawaiian culture into the curriculum and viewed the program as a model of school reform for Native Hawaiians. The program transformed many teachers' views of…