This article discusses the importance of family practices to children's acquisition of literacy and describes attempts to influence such practices through the institution of family literacy programmes. One of these is the Family Literacy Project in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, which both served as a model and provided material for a similar…

Discusses the growing use of ethnic mother tongues as languages of instruction in Canadian public classrooms. Reviews the development of private ethnic schools and then examines the role, varieties, and motivations of public bilingual programs. Concludes that, despite the growth of public bilingual education, private ethnic schools will not become…

Provides statistics on school failure and presents methods used to teach language and second language courses in Belgian primary schools. Included are the aims of language courses, the principles of instruction, and descriptions of specific instructional strategies employed. (JDH)

Many minority languages are unwritten, undocumented, and thus considered unsuitable for institutional communication and for inclusion in national literacy campaigns. Literacy should be set in a context that puts the local people at the center of the process, respects their cultural identity, and enables them to set their own agenda for…

A summary of the findings and recommendations of the Swedish Government's Committee on Linguistic Minorities among Children of Preschool Age is provided in this report. The first six chapters supply background material. Chapter 1 describes the target group and its estimated size, and suggests new definitions for use in native language backing…