This paper provides a critical overview of the theoretical and practical questions that prevail in the teaching, learning, and assessment of learners from diverse linguistic backgrounds in Lesotho. It investigates how far exclusion of minority languages affects both assessment and/or educational development of learners whose mother tongue is not…

The fifteen articles in this volume are generally concerned with the role of vernacular language in bilingual education on an international scale. They examine specific nations and how bilingualism affects their social milieu. The following articles are included: (1) "Bilingualism and the Vernacular," by Shana Poplack; (2) "The…

This paper explores the different patterns of cognitive behavior of children from varying linguistic, socio-economic, and cultural backgrounds. Several perspectives on cognitive consequences as related to language, class, and culture are presented. The sample consisted of grade one children, one hundred ten boys and one hundred girls between six…

The materials in this document present the results of a study of French native language testing in Alberta (Canada) public schools for grades 1-3 based on the curriculum instituted in 1998. As a result of the study, this collection was developed for grades 1-3 students who should be taught French as a first language. A separate section is devoted…