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ERIC Number: ED331281
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1984-Dec-13
Pages: 38
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
The Social Context of Bilingual Education: Bilingual and Monolingual Students' Attitudes at a Boston High School.
Zanger, Virginia Vogel
A study investigated the attitudes of bilingual (BL) and monolingual (ML) students at an urban high school with a large bilingual education program. The attitudes investigated included: (1) BL attitudes toward Americans; (2) how BLs think they are perceived by Americans; (3) ML attitudes toward BLs; (4) changes in BLs' attitudes toward Americans since arrival in the United States; (5) correlation of the amount of time in the United States and BL attitudes; (6) the nature of BL stereotypes of Americans; and (7) the nature of ML stereotypes of BLs. The 76 subjects included 45 ML program students and 31 BL program students in Vietnamese and Spanish classes. Results showed mixed BL perceptions of MLs, although a large minority felt positively. Vietnamese BLs felt more positively about Americans than did Hispanics, although 11% of the Vietnamese saw Americans in purely negative terms. A substantial minority of both sensed Americans felt negatively about them, and only a small minority predicted Americans would describe them positively. Most BLs felt Americans had mixed feelings about them. BL perceptions of American attitudes were fairly accurate. Most BL attitudes had not changed greatly since arrival, and length of residence did not affect attitudes. BL stereotypes focused on personal attributes; BL stereotypes focused also on language and background. The questionnaire is appended. (MSE)
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Massachusetts (Boston)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A