It has been shown that students in North America can learn both a foreign language and subject matter taught in that language at the same time successfully. The immersion model is first examined for the majority group child, then considered for several target groups. (SCC)

Reviews key issues generally addressed in studies of language attrition, including the effects of instructional methods on long-term retention, the effects of proficiency level on attrition, attrition's different effects on various language skills, typical forgetting curves, and typical attrition orders. 26 references.(CB)

This book incorporates a general discussion of bilingualism and its relation to sociolinguistic facts with a description of the Redwood City, California, bilingual education project, begun in 1969. Chapter 1 describes the phenomenon of bilingualism, while Chapter 2 deals with the concept of bilingual education. The relationship between…

This paper attempts to place bilingual schooling in a sociolinguistic context by relating language use in school to language use in the community. The city treated here, Redwood City, California, has a growing Mexican American population and was one of the 23 California cities selected for bilingual schooling through Title VII; programs were…

Reviews three linguistic studies from 1970s in light of approaches used in 1980s: (1) pretest-posttest analysis of spoken Spanish and English of Mexican American bilingual children; (2) assessment of Spanish grammar among Culver City Spanish Immersion pupils, and (3) effect of summer vacation on Spanish language retention among English speakers…

This paper reports on the Redwood City study of bilingual schooling for Mexican American bilingual children (grades 3-5), a sequel to Cohen's original study (Cohen, 1975). At the end of six years of bilingual schooling, the comparison group was surpassing the bilingually-schooled children in English reading, while the Bilingual group was generally…

This study sought to examine to what extent language learners in an immersion classroom used their native language and the foreign language when performing the cognitive operations involved in math word problems. Thirty-two third- through sixth-graders in a Spanish immersion program participated in the study. Data were collected through: (1)…

A 1971 study of formation of language attitudes and their basis, and in particular the concept of "best" language variety, among predominantly immigrant Mexican-American parents is reported. (RM)

Discussed are problems to consider and possible techniques to use in assessing the English speaking skills of bilingual children. Reviewed is literature on the reasons for differences in ease of acquisition of English speaking skills among bilingual children (such as personality variables) and on inadequacies of existing language assessment…

A study is reported in which 14 bilingually schooled and 16 conventionally schooled Mexican-American children and their parents were subjects of research over a two-year period. The bilingual program students were found to be using Spanish more after several years and continued this pattern over time. (Author/RM)