A two-year study of "Learning Disabilities Found in Association with French Immersion Programming" indicated that children who encounter difficulty in primary French immersion programs may have a specific learning disability characterized by a maturational lag in the temporal lobe regions of the brain. In addition, it was found that…

Higher literacy needs and global communication technologies such as the Internet require that students worldwide develop academic level mastery of international languages. However, while school and university second language programs are frequently able to help students achieve mastery of the basic interpersonal communications skill level of a…

This collection of papers examines the critical literacy development of English learners, focusing on English reading instruction in an immersion setting, English language development, and cultural issues pertaining to English learners in and out of the classroom. The 16 papers include the following: (1) "Reading and the Bilingual Student: Fact…

This paper examines efforts to save rapidly declining indigenous languages around the world. The entire process of language preservation and revitalization is a massive undertaking that requires immense long-term planning and support. These problems extend well beyond the linguistic concerns of the language itself. Language policy is inherently…

This chapter describes the nature of bilingual education for Hispanics of Mexican origin (Chicanos), outlines successful and unsuccessful classroom approaches to bilingual education, and proposes a research agenda for the future. Four principal approaches have been used in observational studies of language use in bilingual classrooms, including…

The first-year evaluation of a two-way Spanish/English bilingual education program at two Austin (Texas) elementary schools is presented. The developmental program has as its objectives the development of students' oral proficiency in Spanish and English, development of grade-level appropriate literacy in both languages, increase in academic…

The report reviews current research findings related to the three entry points (early, middle, late) for French immersion programs in Ottawa (Ontario) elementary and secondary schools. It consists of: an executive summary and brief overview; an annotated bibliography covering authoritative immersion research reviews and reports published since…

The journal for teachers of Celtic languages in the United States and Canada contains six articles. "Motivation and Gender: A Welsh Case Study" (Christine M. Jones) examines data on characteristics of one group of students of Welsh, focusing on gender-related motivational differences. "Morphological Objects" (Annette…

This handbook is designed to help Alberta (Canada) elementary school administrators facilitate efficient and successful experiences for French immersion students receiving formal English language instruction for the first time. In question-and-answer format, it discusses briefly the following issues: what administrators need to know about students…

This study examined the relationships among a set of psychosocial variables (academic competence, physical appearance, self-worth, and motivation) and between the psychosocial variables and academic achievement for 236 third grade and fifth grade native Spanish speakers and native English speakers enrolled in a bilingual immersion program since…

This collection of essays on multilingual education includes the following: "A Global Perspective on Multilingualism and Multilingual Education" (G. Richard Tucker); "Psycholinguistic Perspectives on Multilingualism and Multilingual Education" (Jasone Cenoz, Fred Genesee); "Curriculum Decision-Making in Content-Based…

The Exemplary Capacity Building Program of Transitional Bilingual Education was a federally funded program serving 266 limited-English-speaking, Spanish-speaking students in two Manhattan (New York) elementary schools. Participating students received instruction in English as a Second Language (ESL), native language arts (NLA), and content areas.…

Tucson, Arizona's Sunnyside School District pilot bilingual education program is described. The program was begun in 1985 to help prevent academic failure in limited English-proficient, high academic risk students. The pilot program offered sheltered immersion instruction in biology and United States history for language minority students with a…

The report summarizes findings of a pilot study of 1985 graduates of bilingual high school programs at the University of Ottawa and Carleton, Queen's, and McGill Universities. Data on French language proficiency, attitudes toward the French language, and current patterns of French use at the universities are compared for early and late immersion…

In response to rapidly falling foreign language enrollments, the State University of New York College at New Paltz designed and actively promoted a language immersion program in the summer of 1981. The program consisted of instruction in twelve languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Russian,…