English is used as a second-language (EL2) medium of instruction in a wide range of developing countries, notably in East and South Asia, the Middle East, and many parts of Africa, often in the face of a vigorous resurgence of indigenous and regional cultures and languages. A discussion of this situation illustrates some of the social, political,…

A framework for discussing the issues associated with language policy in the United States is offered, highlighting the history of the country's diverse language groups and language policies. It is proposed that language politics, and often the policies themselves, reflect the social relations between groups within a society. The history of…

A study compared the reading strategies in Spanish of three third-graders: two monolingual Spanish-speakers and one bilingual English-Spanish speaker. The Miscue Analysis Inventory was used for data analysis. Results indicated that the three readers performed below the proficient reader level, and their miscues followed similar patterns. The main…

Over 200 news items, journal articles, position papers, and other citations concerning the issue of English as the official language of the United States are included in this bibliography. While information on state and federal legislative efforts is presented, testimony of congressional hearings is kept to a minimum, as are unpublished…

This essay contrasts two approaches to household bilingual education with respect to the notion of identity. The notion of lingualism is presented. Lingualism emphasizes the continuum between monolinguals and bilinguals through a nonquantifying understanding of language (including speech, writing, gestures, and language potential). Kouritzin's…

Examines the communicative competence of young children acquiring English and French simultaneously in the home by observing how they used their languages during separate play sessions with monolingual strangers and their bilingual parents. Findings reveal that all of the children made some accommodations linked to the monolingualism of the…

Addresses the question of how constraints are established by which Hispanicity is determined vis-a-vis language. It argues that, if Spanish-English bilingualism comes to prevail among American Hispanics, they will lose the Spanish language as a mother tongue and their distinct culture, becoming an Anglophone subculture similar to Irish or Italian…

This study compared the performance of English-speaking children attending French schools (bilingual group) on phonological awareness tests with same age English-speaking children attending English schools. Results of the study are interpreted to reflect the role of second-language input in phonological awareness. (JL)

Reviews salient historical events and selected factors that reveal views on bilingualism in the United States from precolonial times to the present. Identifies patterns of attitudes toward bilingualism, and summarizes factors associated with various patterns in an effort to understand current controversy over bilingualism. Contains 42 references.…

The "working emotion vocabulary" typically shows a preponderance of words for negative emotions (50%) over positive (30%) and neutral (20%) emotions. The theory of affect-as-information suggests that negative emotions signal problems or threat in the environment and are accompanied by detailed and systematic cognitive processing, while…

The paper reminds readers of the importance of "playful talk" in bridging home and school discourses. Through a number of excerpts of bilingual and monolingual children drawn from homes and classrooms over the past decade, it illustrates how school discourse may be taken home and transformed into "home talk" through play.…

Literature on children's singing development is largely skewed towards findings based on English-speaking children. The present study aims to fill the gap in research through an investigation of the effects of age, gender and language on the singing competency of Cantonese-speaking children. One hundred and twenty children aged 7 and 9 years…

As a multicultural teacher educator, the author has committed her professional life to helping future teachers understand their roles and responsibilities in working with the populations that Delpit (1995) referred to as "other people's children." Since the author is a former bilingual instructional assistant and English as a second language…

The language planning activities undertaken by Belgium's government suggest that the goals of linguistic legislation have changed over time, reflecting the evolution and complex interplay of social, cultural, political, and economic characteristics. Initially, language legislation stemmed from the desire of Flemish militants to protect and promote…

The idea that bilingualism causes cognitive damage to children is no longer held by researchers, but it lingers in popular belief. It is based on the assumption that language is central to cognitive development, which is not held by all theorists. Another theoretical issue is whether the mind is a limited-capacity container or can accommodate two…