A study compared the types of information included in English narratives written by monolingual American students, English narratives by bilingual Mexican students, and Spanish narratives by monolingual Mexican students, and possible differences by grade level. Subjects were in six groups: monolingual (English-speaking) American; bilingual…

A survey of the status of language usage in Iraq begins with an overview of the usage patterns of Arabic and Kurdish, especially in the context of recent political events and the agreement to make Kurdish a second official language in the Kurdish autonomous region, and to allow limited use of Kurdish in instruction and public communication. A…

Investigates the real-time costs of sentence processing in early Spanish-English bilinguals. Bilinguals use an amalgam of monolingual strategies in choosing the agent of a sentence. The reaction time data reveal a larger language-specific component than the choice data. (37 references) (Author/CK)

A study investigated the emerging journal-writing skills of 16 monolingual Spanish-speaking Mexican Americans and 10 monolingual English-speaking first-graders in San Diego County, California, in a whole-language, two-way bilingual classroom. The research looked for developmental stages in writing in the primary language, similarities or…

This collection of six papers consists of works in progress undertaken by students and faculty of the University of Pennsylvania's Language in Education Division of the Graduate School of Education. The papers are: (1) "Language Planning and Identity Planning: An Emergent Understanding" (Rebecca Freeman); (2) "Communicative…

A small-scale ethnographic study investigated: (1) the instructional role of the paraprofessional/teacher aide in dealing with the educational needs of limited-English-proficient (LEP) students; (2) to what extent the paraprofessional is aware of those needs; (3) whether ethnic or linguistic differences between paraprofessionals yield distinctive…

A survey of the status of language usage in Mexico begins with an overview of language distribution among the population, mono- and multilingualism, changes in patterns of usage between the 1970 and 1980 censuses, and linguistic issues related to assimilation of the Indian population and the role and philosophy of the Instituto Nacional…

A survey of the status of language usage in Tanzania begins with an overview of the three levels of language use: (1) Swahili, the national and official language, used in public life; (2) English, used in international affairs and in technical and intellectual matters; and (3) the over 120 vernacular languages used in family and religious life,…

A survey of the status of language usage in Liberia begins with an overview of the distribution of the 16 languages and dialects spoken natively there that are recognized by the government. These include, in order of number of native speakers: Kpelle, Bassa, Gio, Kru, Mano, Lorma, Krahn, Gola, Mandingo, Kissi, Vai, English, Gbandi, Mende, Belle,…

A survey of the status of language usage in Chad begins with an overview of the usage patterns of four languages. They include: French, designated the official language as a practical necessity; Chadian Arabic and Sara, important popularly spoken languages in their respective regions; and Toubou, a less prevalent language but one that is spoken by…

Americans generally lack foreign language competence, and their exposure to foreign languages in the United States is inadequate. Foreign language instruction is deficient in both quality and quantity, and although there are indications of improvement in both areas, it will be many years before the effects of improvements are clear. The…

Teacher insurgency is on the rise as critical educators refuse to accept the authoritarianism of English-only reforms by struggling to undermine current educational policies while at the same time advancing alternatives. Federal hijacking of language policies -- presently manifested by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) -- is being met with…

A survey of the status of language usage in Ghana begins with an overview of the distribution and usage of English, as the sole official language, and of the local languages Akan, Ewe, Adangme, Dagbani, Nzema, Ga, Dagaari, and Hausa. A matrix follows that rates these languages on: (1) their usage rating using State Department classifications; (2)…

A survey of the status of language usage in Ethiopia begins with an overview of the distribution of Amharic, the sole official language and medium of elementary instruction, and Tigrinya, Oromo, Wolayto, Somali, Sidamo, Hadiyya, and English, the medium of secondary and higher education instruction. The relationship of language usage patterns to…

A survey of the status of language usage in Algeria begins with an overview of the usage patterns of Arabic, the Berber languages, and French. The country's return to Arabic as its official language after independence from France in 1962 is discussed along with the resultant language planning, issues of language of instruction at the elementary,…