This paper addresses the issue of integrating students with special needs into foreign language programs in the early childhood years. A partnership between a university and a charter school in central Florida began as a result of parent and teacher interest in providing a foreign language program for its prekindergarten students. Since 2014,…

This article briefly reviews the social, political, and economic context that explains the present status of elementary language education in the United States and addresses the challenges identified by recent reports on the state of language education in the United States. Different curricular models of world language education--exploratory,…

This essay offers a candid overview of the past one hundred years of preK-fifth grade Spanish language teaching and learning in the United States. Among the topics addressed are numbers of programs, program models, and factors that impact the success of learners and programs.

The paper examines the recent national programme of English language instruction in the Mexican public primary schools, called the "Programa Nacional de Inglés en Educación Básica" (PNIEB). The programme, initiated in 2009 by the Ministry of Education as part of the national curriculum, represents the largest expansion of English…

Teachers and students can have ambitious educational goals, including critical reflection on the world around them, both that which is "home" and that which is "foreign." The environmental questions which face us all can be part of the elementary school curriculum, and the Foreign Language Elementary School (FLES) contribution…

Among the reported proven positive results of early world Language (WL) study are improved cognitive abilities and "higher achievement test scores in reading and math" (Stewart: 11), which are expected student performance outcomes for the Common Core Standards. The future viability of Foreign Language in Elementary Schools (FLES)…

During the 2010-2011 school year, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) piloted the After-School Global Language Opportunity Benefiting All Learners (GLOBAL) program for 12 weeks at eight different school sites. This school year the program expanded to 25 weeks and 11 sites. GLOBAL is an approach to learning that allows students to develop basic…

Educators have generally believed that foreign language instruction should begin in kindergarten or earlier to promote optimum oral language development (e.g., Abbott, 1998; Curtain & Dahlberg, 2010; Rhodes & Pufahl, 2010; Rosenbusch, 1991; Swender & Duncan, 1998). This article describes two Spanish programs in the Westport…

This study investigates children's attitudes and technology use for learning Spanish, and examines the type of technology-enhanced learning activities they enjoy. A survey with two versions was developed to gather attitudes and opinions of 2,220 children in grades K-2 and 3-8 in eight small rural school districts in the Midwest of the United…

Seventeen years ago the author had left teaching secondary school Spanish at Dwight-Englewood School in Englewood, New Jersey, to create a FLES program at that same school. It's been a labor of love and a work in progress ever since. Along the way she has become convinced of a few things: an early start, long sequence, proficiency target and…

One cannot teach language without teaching culture; culture is the context for language learning. Cultural instruction must be integrated into all lessons throughout the year, not just taught as mini-lessons in order. Teachers cannot expect their students to gain intercultural competencies through activities that are not embedded in cultural…

Explains the three approaches to foreign language teaching: immersion, Foreign Language in the Elementary School (FLES), and Foreign Language Experience (FLEX). Presents notable current examples of the use of each type of approach throughout the country that suggest that language teaching is reviving. (JM)

Research has documented that the study of a second language in an elementary school may positively affect the young child's general school achievement and linguistic progress, promote superior performance in high school language study, result in significantly higher mental maturity, make children more language-aware, and improve other cognitive…

Describes immersion education as practiced in Canada, outlining immersion programs' background, structure, methodology, and outcomes. Suggests that, to achieve the outcomes of immersion education developed for majority language groups, some minority language groups may require programs beginning in the first language and continuing in both the…

Describes an German in the elementary school program in Somerville, Massachusetts that is an example of university-school cooperation. (Author/VWL)