Part of the Eleventh Annual Report to the Ontario Ministry of Education, this report describes the grade and program location of students who entered kindergarten in Ottawa and Carleton, Ontario in 1974, known as the K-74 cohort. The first section of the report deals with the K-74 cohort; later sections deal with students who joined either early…

Trends and issues in immersion programs are discussed, including the rationale behind implementation of immersion programs and attitudinal and academic differences between immersion and non-immersion students. The need for more documentation on the dynamics of the immersion classroom and the need for more cultural experiences are stressed. (MSE)

This study analyzed informal Finnish compositions written by the first pupils in Vaasa (Finland) who were taught Swedish by immersion method and the compositions of their parallel class. Compositions in the fourth and fifth forms were compared. The immersion pupils were taught mostly in Swedish, while their peers in the parallel group were taught…

A study compared immersion and nonimmersion learning environments, as perceived by students, in 95 New Brunswick grade 6, 7, and 9 classes. In grade 6, no significant differences in perception were found; in grade 7, immersion students see their environment more positively; and in grade 9, the differences seem to disappear. (25 references)…

The patterns of second grade French immersion students' spontaneous reading in English during the first and second year of their immersion program are reported and compared with their French reading performance. (MSE)

Compared 719 first-, second-, third-grade students enrolled in partial-immersion (PI) programs in Japanese, Spanish, or French to 3 comparison groups. Outcome measures used were a mathematics test, Metropolitan Achievement Test in Reading, and Student Oral Proficiency Rating. PI students scored at least as well as, and to some extent better than,…

Using the Communicative Orientation of Language Teaching (COLT) observation theme, this study compares the second-language-learning environments of elementary-level students of French in four submersion and four immersion classrooms in Montreal, Canada. Results indicate clear differences between the two environments. (Author/VWL)

Examines the variable presence/absence of third person plural marking on French verbs in the speech of French immersion students. Considers both linguistic and social factors that condition variation and compares results with those found for native speakers of French. (Author/VWL)

This study examines out-of-school use of Irish and motivation to learn Irish among final year post-primary students from three different instructional backgrounds: mainstream students studying ordinary and higher level Irish as a subject only and immersion students. Information on motivation and use is linked to student proficiency in Irish.…

Following a brief history of bilingual education (BE), the author makes a meta-evaluation assessment of BE research, arguing that the findings are not so contradictory if one examines the theoretical frameworks chosen by the researchers. The equilibrium and conflict paradigms and the structural-functional theory are considered. (SJL)

A study of the writing processes of ten fifth-grade French immersion students examined 22 features of their writing in both English and French. Differences across languages occurred in eight features, and students displayed a wide range of writing process behaviors in both languages. (Author/MSE)

This article suggests that the terms "bilingual education, multicultural education, bilingual instruction, and total immersion" refer to four distinct processes, each needing to be defined more clearly. To define them, a theoretical framework is proposed based on two sets of variables. The first set integrates the anthropological model of human…

This study, undertaken from 1983-84 through 1988-89, compared the relative effectiveness of two alternative programs (structured English immersion and late-exit transitional bilingual education) with that of the program typically funded through the Bilingual Education Act, the early-exit transitional bilingual education program. The…

A preliminary report on a long-term empirical investigation of advanced language acquisition in a study-abroad environment is presented. The project is based on an American Council of Teachers of Russian (ACTR) longitudinal study of the gains in Russian language competence demonstrated by American students in semester-long language programs in…

A study was undertaken to assess the French second language proficiency of kindergarten students in two intensive French programs and to assess the development of mother tongue skills of native English speakers in a third program. The three subject groups were as follows: (1) students in a full-day immersion program; (2) francization (half-day)…