Fifty poverty-level Mexican American bilingual children in first and fourth grade were tested for verbal facility in both English and Spanish to determine which language was dominant at the initial grade level and an advanced grade level. An East Los Angeles almost all of its students lived in the same Federal Housing project, thus ensuring low…

Patterns of French acquisition, use, and proficiency among Ontario anglophones are examined, and their implications for changes in both French native language instruction and French second language instruction to support the maintenance and use of French are examined. (MSE)

Argues against bilingual education in the United States, asserting that the English language binds together a multicultural people. Claims that the Bilingual Education Act of 1968 is divisive, and that immigrants now have greater difficulty assimilating to American life because they can avoid learning English. (MM)

Examines flaws in the literature of dialect interference, examines the seven correlates of Patrick Hartwell's print code hypothesis and finds them wanting or uninstructive, and sets forth suggestions for a more sophisticated study of this issue. (HOD)

This study investigated the writing processes of first grade bilinguals from majority- and minority-language backgrounds who were in a two-way bilingual education (TWBE) program. The program integrated native English and native Spanish speakers for all or most of the day, promoting high academic achievement, dual language and literacy development,…

Discusses why there has been a decline in the political and educational pressure to learn languages other than English in Australia. Recent political, economic, and educational changes are outlined that encourage the study of European and Asian languages. (Author/CB)

Two experiments conducted with 49 Chicano high school students, aged 15-17, found that balanced-proficient bilingual speakers had slower rates of cognitive information processing at the level of short-term memory than did unbalanced bilingual speakers. The groups did not differ in rates of cognitive information processing at the simpler level of…

Examines assimilation as it exists in the United States, including the ethnic concentrations in specific socioeconomic groups; educational attainment by ethnic ancestry; the decline of the mother tongue; and intermarrying and the marriage patterns of major ancestral groups. Overall, evidence shows that ethnic distinctiveness is eroding among…

Students' academic achievement scores have been found to improve with the use of graphic organizers. Unfortunately, most previous research on graphic organizers has been constrained to English speakers in secondary and higher education. This study examines the effectiveness of graphic organizers when used by fourth grade students engaged in…

Differences in test performance on time-limited tests may be due in part to differential response-time rates between subgroups, rather than real differences in the knowledge, skills, or developed abilities of interest. With computer-administered tests, response times are available and may be used to address this issue. This study investigates…

Although the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) has been administered to Chinese test takers in Taiwan and Hong Kong for more than 22 years and in China for the past decade, there is very little documentation on the history, test taker volumes, performance, or law school admission rates of these candidates. The current study addresses the following…

This examination of the sociology of language in Canada focuses on the social or societal aspects of the relationship between languages and society rather than on linguistic aspects. The study is developed in seven sections: (1) an introductory discussion of language and communication systems, language acquisition, messages, and language…

Informal teacher-made tests and cross-cultural suggestions are presented as a supplement to a lesson guide for English as second language (ESL) instruction in grades K through 12. The testing ideas are intended as an accompaniment to an activities-based audiolingual language learning program. Following a general discussion of informal language…

Sixty bilingual Mexican American children (20 language disorderd, 20 not qualifying for placement, 20 comparison) between the ages of 7-10 from 2 school districts in southern New Mexico participated in the study to develop and validate an assessment procedure to determine language disorders in Spanish/English bilingual children. An ex post facto…

The descriptions of 200 tests for a variety of language groups are designed for use with the test file maintained by the Evaluation, Dissemination, and Assessment Center for Bilingual Education (EDAC). The content areas covered include reading, mathematics, self-concept, language dominance, language proficiency, and intelligence. Tests are…