This monograph in the Urban Diversity Series examines historical and current policy in the teaching of language minority students in New York and California. It explores the key issues in the public's understanding of bilingual education and defines bilingual education in terms of local educational legislation and implementations. Part I,…

Presented in Inuttitut, French, and English, this report summarizes research initiated by the Kativik School Board, which oversees education in Nunavik (northern Quebec). Four studies examined the current status of Inuttitut in Nunavik, the intellectual ability of Inuit students, and the effects of bilingual education on Inuit students'…

This study explored bilingual education in California, analyzing California law on instruction for English Learners before and after Proposition 227. Proposition 227 required that all English Learners (EL) participate in a sheltered English immersion program in which most instruction was in English with curriculum and presentation designed for…

This paper reports on an investigation of learning strategy applications in elementary foreign language immersion classrooms. The focus of the paper is on identifying strategies more and less effective learners use for classroom reading and writing tasks in the target language. Think-aloud data from third grade and fourth grade students were…

This document, comprising volume 5, issues 1-3 of Learning Languages: The Journal of the National Network for Early Language Learning (NNELL), includes the following articles: "Poverty, Race, and Foreign Language Immersion: Predictors of Math and English Language Arts Performance" (Stephen J. Caldas, Nicole Boudreaux); "Meet a…

The experience of Wales and Canada with various techniques of bilingual education, and the application of first language acquisition principles to second language acquisition, are outlined and discussed with regard to the kind of communication skills sought. (MSE)

Details the results of four tests comparing the French and English achievement of francophone, anglophone, and mixed subpopulations of fifth-grade students in Edmonton Catholic School System French immersion programs. Discusses the behavioral, cognitive, and academic correlates of language competence of the three subgroups. (SB)

Studies are reported which attempt to discover the exact level of second language proficiency reached by students in second language immersion programs, with emphasis on analysis of error. (RM)

Reflects on the achievement in math and science of Australian students in an immersion French program. The immersion math students outperformed mainstream students at a level not significantly different, and by the end of the first year, the science students performed as well as their mainstream counterparts, indicating that immersion students…

Data from three well-documented American Indian language immersion programs (teaching Navajo, Hawaiian, and Keres) and from an ongoing large comparative study of language shift/retention in six Indian school-community sites suggest that immersion schooling can serve the dual roles of promoting students' school success and revitalizing endangered…

Explored the relationship between race and language as related to bilingual students' educational experiences. Used Latino/a critical theory, Asian American legal scholarship, and critical race theory as frameworks to examine the aftermath of California's Proposition 227. Data from teachers and administrators highlighted significant variance in…

This cross-sectional investigation focused on second language (L2) communication among students in a junior high French late immersion program. Effects of language, sex, and grade on willingness to communicate, anxiety, and perceived communication competence, on frequency of communication in French, and on attitudes and motivation variables were…

Describes bilingual/bicultural programs being developed in New Zealand which embrace the Maori culture and nationalism through such approaches as "language nests" for preschool children and their parents or primary grade immersion programs. Social studies guidelines emphasizing Maori culture are also discussed. (Author/CB)

A discussion of past and future research on immersion instruction focuses on the following areas: product variables, teaching and learning processes, and teacher education. It is found that the "product" emphasis of research in the 1980s has shifted to encompass administrative, instructional, testing, and program design issues. (91 references)…

Describes several preschool, elementary, and high school Maori immersion and bilingual programs in New Zealand, focusing on how the programs define and establish Maori space in the schools, local and tribal concerns, and the basis for the revitalization of the language. (29 references) (Author/CB)