Exploring parent, student, and teacher language moves is essential to develop and implement strategies that cultivate Spanish use in support of dual-language engagement. We used Lareau's concerted cultivation framework to explore language use at a K-8 dual-language immersion school. A case-study design integrating content analysis was used to…

Despite the well-documented benefits of bilingualism, current educational practices in the United States reflect the deeply held belief that because the United States is an English speaking country, English should be the language of instruction. This belief was codified into law in California via the 1998 passage of Proposition 227, which banned…

This study examined opinions about some theoretical and practical tenets of bilingualism and bilingual education, as well as about the instructional use of English language learners' (ELLs) native languages in the classroom, of 77 teachers from Spain working in California as part of the California/Spain Visiting Teachers Program. In their…

Presently in the United States there are 4.4 million English language learners (ELLs) in public schools, with California public schools being home to more than 40% of these students (Rumberger & Gandara, 2004). Research indicates that it takes an individual up to seven years to fully develop a second language (Collier, 1987; Krashen, 1994).…

Drawing from multiple data sources collected during two ethnographic studies in a Latino immigrant community in Los Angeles, this study analyzes community members' perspectives on bilingualism and language uses--views that have largely been neglected in recent policy debates about bilingual education. (Author/VWL)

A survey of 100 parents in a California school district bordering Mexico examined relationships between the bilingual program parents chose for their kindergarten and first-grade children and parental demographic factors. Parents placed their children in settings that mirrored home language use. Parents with a higher level of education were more…