This is a time of great change, vulnerability and possibility for the Irish language and for Irish-medium education. Research shows the language in serious decline in the Gaeltacht; areas of Ireland designated as being predominantly Irish speaking. There are also inconsistent approaches at the policy level in addition to an ambiguous attitude to…

The amount of language input bilingual children receive influences their language acquisition. This three-year quasi-longitudinal study determined the extent home language input influences measures of expressive and receptive English vocabulary among Spanish-English school-age bilingual children. The study also determined whether a relationship…

The strengths and limitations of English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) have been extensively studied in the field of English language teaching. However, limited attention has been given to the aspirations of non-elite middle-class parents in Bangladesh, who strongly value EMI for its perceived instrumental benefits, thereby creating a…

The United States has witnessed a rise in dual language immersion (DLI) programs in recent years, with instruction delivered both in English, the majority language spoken in the wider society, and in another language, often referred to as the partner or minority language. But while accountability mandates have focused on students' performance in…

This is the first report from a 3-year (2012-2015) kaupapa Maori research project that investigates how best to support the continuity of reo Maori development of whanau as they transition between kohanga reo, kura kaupapa primary, wharekura, secondary and beyond. It aims to provide useful information about the reo Maori education options that are…

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) has been promoted by the European Union as a means to achieve multilingualism. While in Germany and other European countries the trend to use the L2 as a medium of instruction is increasing, in Hong Kong, however, we see a converse development. Many schools switched from English as a medium of…

A fundamental principle of second language acquisition is stated and applied to language teaching. The principle states that learners acquire a second language when they receive comprehensible input in situations where their affective filters are sufficiently low. The theoretical background of this principle consists of five hypotheses: the…

Study results indicated that there were no lasting differences in the English expressive syntactic skills of 57 junior kindergarten through third-grade English-speaking children enrolled in a French immersion program, relative to the English monolingual subjects who made up the normative data. (Author/CM)

Analyzes the processes and strategies used by English-speaking children when they learn to read and write in their first language, English, while enrolled in total French Immersion (in which all their schooling is in the second language). (KEH)

This report presents an overview of three major research projects on the instruction of French as a second language. The projects are being carried out in the schools of the Ottawa Roman Catholic Separate School Board, the Carleton Roman Catholic Separate School Board, and the Carleton and Ottawa Boards of Education. The projects are concerned…

Immigrant education and Language Shelter programs for Finnish speakers living in Sweden are discussed in answer to Cora Brent-Palmer's criticism that a middle class bias exists in the Swedish educational system. She claims that the system operates against the academic opportunities and employment success of Finnish immigrants. However, it is…

Second language acquisition research has led to a major emphasis on the need for learners to experience the target language (TL) in use if they themselves are to become users of the language. At the same time, there is discussion of the role of the first language (L 1) as a tool in the processing of language/culture experiences. Achieving optimal…

An immersion program in a public elementary school in Montgomery County, Maryland, uses French as the medium of instruction in academic subjects. The program is based on the theory that language is learned best when there is a need to understand and communicate in that language. All students are eligible for enrollment in the multi-age classes.…

Affirms the advantages to the child of early immersion second language learning programs. The second language proficiency of English-speaking Canadian students who received all instruction in French and English-speaking American children who received all instruction in Spanish surpassed that of students in more traditional language programs. (PMJ)

The report discusses the first- and second-language development, oral and written, of native English-speakers and native Spanish-speakers in the two-way immersion (TWI) program at Key Elementary School (Arlington, Virginia). Data were drawn from classroom observation from 1994-96, student performance measures, and student work samples. Three…