A study was conducted to determine if context facilitated the understanding of idiomatic expressions and multiple-meaning vocabulary words presented in narrative passages and if the passages containing these linguistic elements were comprehended. Specifically, the study compared the performance of monolingual and bilingual sixth grade and eighth…

In comparing the written and oral English syntax of Mexican-American bilingual and Anglo-American monolingual students, this study sought to learn specifically whether these two groups of students represent the same speech population in English syntactic use. A total of 70 subjects were randomly selected for the four groups (bilingual and…

In order to determine whether bilingual (Spanish/English) readers of English are less efficient in using language cues than are monolinguals (English), the Reading Miscue Inventory (RMI) was used to analyze the reading performances of 60 subjects--ten bilinguals and ten monolinguals each in fourth, fifth, and sixth grades. Subjects read orally at…

Describes and assesses American Indian bilingual programs and names colleges and universities that accept American Indian languages in fulfillment of foreign language degree requirements. Some reactions to bilingual education projects are briefly described. (CM)

Responds to an article on aspects of African language policy and discusses the following issues: multilingualism and monolingualism, proposed changes in language policy from the Organization for African Unity and South African initiatives, the language of literature, bilingual education, and whose interests English-language teaching is serving.…

Discusses the consequences of "language shift through erosion" on the basis of an analysis of the gradual disappearance of Dutch as a native language in French Flanders. Sketches the theoretical language-in-contact framework, breaking down the chronological evolution into diglossic, bilingual and (almost) monolingual phases. (37…

A study investigated word recognition processes of Greek/English bilinguals in relation to linguistic and syntactic differences in the languages, then compared those processes with those of monolinguals. Bilingual readers performed differently in the languages, conforming more to monolingual patterns in their native language (Greek), interpreted…

Compares the acquisition of English as a third language by Catalan/Spanish bilingual high school students in an immersion program with the acquisition of English by Spanish monolinguals. Data from 201 participants were submitted to a hierarchical multiple regression analysis, rendering results that show that bilingualism has a positive effect on…

In Spanish-monolingual Colombia, social pressures push for access to early 50 = 50% Spanish-English medium instruction from the age of five. Parents and school administrators consider this the best way to achieve bilingualism. This article takes a first general look at the effects of this type of bilingual education on the Spanish and English…

The Northern Territory's bilingual education programmes, in which local Australian Aboriginal languages and English were used side by side in a minority of Aboriginal primary schools in remote northern Australia, came into being in 1973 under the broader federal government policy imprimatur of "self-determination" for Indigenous…

Language contact is traditionally associated with language communities having a long and close association with a second language--through an existing official language, or extensive use of the language spoken by past colonial rulers, or both. Japan neither falls directly into these categories, nor is it considered a country with a strong…

A study tested the hypothesis that the production of derivational (as contrasted with grammatical) morphemes is acquired through a systematic development of three distinct psychological processes: comprehension, segmentation, and production, regardless of whether the individual is a first- or second-language learner. The subjects were 32 children,…

The purpose of the present study was to compare performance of bilingual and monolingual children on certain language-related skills. Fifteen children between the ages of three years, eight months, and seven years were matched for age and sex in each of the following four groups: middle-class monolinguals, lower-class monolinguals, Spanish-English…

Bull (1965) has proposed that grammatical gender in Spanish is not an intrinsic characteristic of nouns but rather a matter of matching terminal sounds of nouns with those of adjectives and determiners. One implication of this theory is that the child has a cognitive understanding of the matching of terminal noun sounds with particular adjective…

Compares word-attack and comprehension skill mastery of 65 native Spanish-speaking upper elementary students in a bilingual English/Spanish program and 55 native Spanish-speaking students of the same grade levels in an English monolingual program. There was no significant difference in the word-attack skills of the two groups but the bilingual…