In a highly multilingual country like India, challenges and opportunities arise in education and language policy. Although multilingualism is often associated with developmental advantages, Indian primary school children generally show low learning outcomes, specifically on literacy. Here we examine the influence of mother tongue education and…

This paper shall describe the bridging strategies used by Grades 3 and 4 English teachers from schools in two regions in the Philippines to help their multilingual students transition from using the mother tongue as medium of instruction in the different subject areas to using English in the English classroom. Data were obtained through…

This paper documents the new trend towards a first-language-first multilingual model in formal education in three former French colonies of West Africa, namely Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. It compares the sociolinguistic situations, the conditions of the development of multilingual education and the achievements of mother-tongue-medium education…

The project "The educational value of various aspects of multilingualism in the classroom of the Basque Country and of Friesland" concerns a comparative study of the languages in the schools in the Basque Autonomous Community and in the Province of Friesland. It is part of the agreement between the general administration of the Basque…

Singapore's officially bilingual education policy, in which the majority of children are schooled through a non-native medium with their "Mother Tongue" (an ethnic heritage language that is not necessarily spoken in the home) as a single school subject only, has resulted in dramatic language shifts in the population and high academic…

The idea that an individual's basic perceptions and experiences can create a resistance to learning is applied to native and second language instruction. It is suggested that general pedagogy and language pedagogy be decompartmentalized and, similarly, that native and second language instruction be decompartmentalized to expose their commonality…

Studies Nigerian adult literacy learners reading at about the fifth-grade level. Finds that, although each of the groups had a significant mean score gain, those instructed in a mixture of English and Hausa (1 of 394 recognized languages or dialects in Nigeria) outperformed those instructed in English only or Hausa only. (SR)

Compares bilingual education programs in the United States and West Germany, emphasizing instructional models and political and social influences. Summarizes current debate about the role of the home language in the education of minority-language children and points out general problems with home language instruction in the West German context.…

The paper adds to the ongoing debate over whether education in multicultural societies should be provided in the native tongue of the children in the classrooms. Material is presented from two grassroots level village studies carried out in Senegal and Sri Lanka as a source of insiders' perceptions and desires. Comparative data from diverse…

The core of the case for bilingual education is that the principles underlying successful bilingual education emphasize the same factors that underlie successful language acquisition in general: understanding messages and obtaining comprehensible input; using background knowledge; and the development of literacy. The importance of the first…

Discusses language policy in the multilingual settings of Australia and the Philippines. Examines language policies, language curricula, government initiatives, language attitudes, and cultural maintenance in Australia. Studies language policies, national language development attempts, bilingual policies, viability of minority languages,…

The experiences of five California school districts in implementing English immersion instruction for all limited-English-speaking students are described and compared. The districts range from populous urban settings to small, isolated rural communities. The first part of the report profiles the five districts, and the second part sets forth three…

This study on Basque language learning is part of a project investigating alternative curriculum designs to promote native language maintenance in the Basque Country of Spain. This study measured the level of Basque and Spanish of fifth-graders (n=586 divided among 167 classrooms) in three program models (Basque taught as a second language--Model…

This study on Basque language learning is part of a project investigating alternative curriculum designs to promote native language maintenance in the Basque Country of Spain. This study, similar in design to an earlier study, measured the level of Basque and Spanish of second-graders (n=1,196 from 301 classrooms) in three program models (Basque…

Reports on a study of an innovative secondary bilingual program for preliterate immigrant adolescents. Researchers compared classroom processes used in the bilingual program to those in English-as-a-Second-Language classrooms. Observations indicated no significant differences in off-task behavior. Neither group participated in many higher level…