This paper argues that young Hispanic (or Latina/o) children (ages 3 to 8 years) should be of particular interest to policymakers, practitioners, and researchers in education. Young Hispanic children constitute an urgent demographic imperative. Young Hispanic children are not only the largest racial/ethnic group in the U.S., but also the youngest…

nter arguments are presented to defend the author's data selection practices and to point out pitfalls in Baker's critique. (SLD)

Discusses the effect of a 10-week, 40-hour program used to prepare 16,000 elementary school (ES) teachers to teach English when it becomes compulsory in Dutch elementary schools. A second issue examined is the competency level an ES teacher must reach to teach a foreign language in elementary school. (SED)

In response to an earlier article on the effectiveness of French immersion, research on immersion, and the best second language teaching approaches for Canadian schools, it is argued that French immersion research has been misinterpreted and misrepresented and that the stated view on second-language teaching is an extreme one. (22 references) (MSE)

Responding to criticism of an article finding fault with research on French immersion instruction, the author of the first article chides researchers for their unwillingness to re-examine their theories in a new context. (24 references) (MSE)

French immersion is seen as a viable alternative to traditional unilingual education. Issues needing to be addressed so that French immersion education can be supported and enhanced as part of a pluralistic approach to language and culture are discussed. (23 references) (Author/MSE)

A review of research on foreign language proficiency, constraints of language learning, and constraints of the learner suggests that current oral language proficiency standards and tests are more helpful in evaluating the effectiveness of a foreign language program than in evaluating the achievement of individual students. (CB)

It is argued that cognitive/academic language proficiencies in first and second languages are interdependent and empirically distinguishable from interpersonal communication skills. This analysis is applied to the interpretation of data on the effects of bilingual education programs and on the age issue in second language learning. (PMJ)

The meta-analysis by A. C. Willig of bilingual education evaluation literature was not successful in comparison with and did not replicate the Baker and de Kanter narrative review. Willig's conclusion that bilingual education is effective is not supported by the analysis. (SLD)

One of ten studies commissioned to investigate research needs and to stimulate planning activities, this paper identifies and summarizes key issues within the area of second language teaching. The discussion is developed in three main sections: (1) a summary of research efforts from 1960-1980; (2) identification of research gaps; and (3) statement…

A discussion of student and program assessment in the context of Chinese language instruction looks at theory and methods of assessment, and proposes that norm-referenced language proficiency testing is inadequate to evaluate student achievement and program effectiveness. It is further proposed that criterion-referenced tests are more appropriate…