A small working panel of scholars met to determine the major research issues and gaps in heritage language education. General research issues identified include data collection, stakeholder involvement, contextual considerations, underlying attitudes and motivations, and assessment. Specific research questions were organized into seven main areas:…

Japanese immigrants opened a Saturday school in a small Northeastern town to teach Japanese to their children as a heritage language. Because of parents' limited time and resources, a Saturday school worked well. The school became a place to share culture as well as teach language. Background, curriculum, and factors contributing to success are…

Describes the development and first year of a bilingual resource room in an Illinois elementary school. Discusses school and community context, students, and staff. Details resource room practices and activities for each grade, K-5, as well as multigrade activities. Outlines program problems--many related to staff attitudes and communication--and…

Inter-American Magnet School in Chicago, a highly acclaimed Spanish-English dual-language elementary school, established pull-out English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) classes to provide extra English instruction, primarily for new immigrants. Describes the school's founding and development, students, innovative bilingual staff, multicultural…

Describes development since 1985 of a Maori immersion school for children aged 5-17. Provides background on Maori and New Zealand history, the Waikato tribe and the community, indigenous language revitalization efforts, and national school restructuring that facilitated Maori immersion programs. Discusses the school's educational practices,…

From 1949 to 1957, the Chinese Communist Party's language policy took a pluralistic approach. A Chinese-monopolistic language policy was dominant, 1958-77. A pluralistic approach was again adopted from 1977 to the present. The Chinese experience illustrates how language minorities everywhere must balance maintaining their home language with…

In the small Alaskan village of Manokotak, the community participated in the school's shift from an "English submersion" program to Yup'ik immersion plus ESL. Discusses community involvement and participative planning, first-year goals, scheduling of instructional time in each language, staff development, materials development, cultural…

A Massachusetts elementary two-way bilingual education program represents a democratic, efficient approach to the education of two distinct language groups by balancing second-language instruction in English and Spanish and by integrating the two student populations. Discusses program goals, team teaching, classroom setting, program structure,…

A Massachusetts two-way bilingual education program provides initial first-language (L1) literacy development for all students, teaches half of the curriculum in L1 and half in L2 by third grade, and selectively integrates native and non-native speakers of the target language. Both target groups meet academic and linguistic goals by fifth grade.…

In the European Schools model, linguistically and culturally diverse students receive most of their education in their first language but must learn at least two other languages. Content teaching of other subjects in the target languages and the regular mixing of different language groups promote multilingual proficiency and cultural pluralism at…

Discusses the ways in which various American Indian community schools and programs have addressed the concept of language and cultural maintenance and renewal, focusing on the role of bilingual programs, classroom interactions, community involvement, and indigenous teachers. The perspectives of the Yupik Indians on indigenous education are…

Liberty High School (New York City) enrolls newly arrived immigrant students with limited formal schooling. Its Spanish Dual Language Literacy Program focuses on teaching content areas in Spanish while developing literacy skills in both languages. Discusses provision of both academic and social support, experiential investigations of the city,…

Describes a self-contained bilingual primary classroom in a nonsupportive school environment. Details educational practices and activities related to social and academic English, use of both languages for instruction, development of reading and writing in English and Spanish, and home-school connections. Discusses the need for staff development in…

Describes the growth and development of bilingual education on the Navajo Reservation and resultant outcomes for Navajo students, educators, and communities, and demonstrates how learning is mediated by language and culture in the Navajo context, as well as the critical conditions needed to sustain genuine two-language education. (16 references)…