Focuses on the changing role and status of English within new language-in-education policies in South Africa. The article presents a model providing a descriptive framework for analyzing and evaluating decisions made relating to language-in-education planning. The article concludes by identifying issues related to the process of…

Arguments for students' use of their first language as well as English in the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) classroom are reexamined. Pedagogical and political aspects of ESL instruction are noted. (LB)

Reports the preferences and attitudes held by English- speaking primary school children in Hawaii toward Hawaiian Creole English (HCE) and Standard English (SE). Findings indicated that, while those from a lower socioeconomic strata initially favored HCE, SE was preferred by all by the end of grade 2. (PMJ)

Some data dispute the common assumption of linguists that speakers of nonstandard varieties of English lack functional command of Standard English. Hawaiian high school students were found equally competent in Standard and Hawaiian English. Implications of this finding for educational practices in Hawaii are discussed. (CHK)

Discusses the sociolinguistics of literacy with reference to three examples: the history of Jewish education and attitudes toward literacy, the Rock Point Community School bilingual program, and the Pacific Northwest Indian Reading Program. (EKN)

The interaction patterns of eleven Spanish-speaking preschool children in two bilingual programs were observed for one year. In predominantly English-speaking classrooms, greater English proficiency was related to English use with peers. In prevalently Spanish-speaking classes, English proficiency was more related to interaction in English with…

Summarizes research on educational programs that use stigmatized varieties of English in the classroom, and reviews relevant theory and research in psycholinguistics and second language acquisition. Research on educational programs shows that using the stigmatized variety in formal education seems to have a positive effect on the acquisition of…

Nine generalizations on optimal age, first language cognitive development, and second language academic achievement are proposed in order to expand the current theoretical base in second language (L2) acquisition. These generalizations summarize research on L2 acquisition for schooling purposes. (57 references) (Author/VWL)

Provides a critical analysis of the language-in-education situation in Tanzania, documenting how teachers and learners perceive English as a resource for personal development. Argues that knowing English is viewed by Tanzanians as an essential symbolic attribute of being an educated person. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the relationship between English language proficiency and academic success of English as a second language (ESL) students in universities and colleges where English is the language of instruction. The study points out difficulties associated with determining this relationship and makes suggestions for establishing guidelines to determine…

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)

This article describes the English-Navajo bilingual education program at Rock Point, Arizona, and reports on the results of various reading achievement tests illustrating that learning to read in one's mother tongue will result in better reading skills, and will improve second language reading skills. (CLK)

Reviews recent research in bilingual education and English as a second language (ESL) in an attempt to arrive at some generalization about what characterizes effective bilingual and ESL instruction. Challenges the conventional conceptualization of ESL as an isolated element within bilingual programs and offers suggestions for improving ESL teacher…

Describes an English immersion "Bridge Program" for Hong Kong children that aims to provide a bridge between primary schooling in Chinese and secondary schooling in English. Also discussed are the role of communicative language teaching in content subject teaching, theoretical assumptions of Canadian immersion programs and the Bridge…

A study of nine federally funded Special Alternative Instructional Programs for language-minority students in which English was the primary language of instruction showed that the incorporation of students' native languages in instruction need not be an all-or-nothing phenomenon. The complexities of using students' native languages in schooling…