The teaching of grammar is discussed from an instrumental point of view: what beneficial effects does such teaching have for students' language abilities (especially writing)? Two ways of approaching grammar teaching are confronted with each other: the learning of explicit rules and meta-linguistic knowledge about language on one hand and learning…

This preliminary study provides an interpretive reading of focus group interviews of four Korean American children in the Phoenix metropolitan area. It examines how these Korean American children are negotiating their ethnic identity as Korean Americans while learning Korean as a heritage language. It shows that maintaining heritage language is…

This article presents a critical analysis of language ideologies in the instructional discourse of Spanish for heritage speakers in the United States. We focus on the discourse present in prefaces and introductions to Spanish for heritage speakers textbooks published between 1970 and 2000. Whereas previous research on language ideologies in…

This paper addresses questions and concerns of Head Start staff who strive to develop and implement programs to meet the needs of preschoolers who are linguistically and culturally different. The first concern addressed is the educational rights of children whose primary language is not English, and the nature of language assistance programs…

The struggle of one Cree community, the Waskaganish (formerly called Rupert House) in Quebec, to maintain its own language and culture within the larger multicultural Canadian context has led to the creation and development of a linguistic experiment, the Cree Way Project. After a discussion of the Canadian historical context, this report…

Project CABE (Content Area Bilingual Education) offered instruction in English as a Second Language (ESL) and Native Language Arts (NLA) to 823 limited English proficient Spanish-Speaking students in grades 1 through 9 in 34 schools in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens (New York). All students were two or more years below level in mathematics and…

A discussion of the use of native languages in the instruction of limited English proficient Asian students addresses three questions: (1) whether the students' native language should be used as a means of instruction; (2) whether there is a transfer of skills from the native language to the second language; and (3) how the language and culture of…

Second language learners are engaged in a self-directed learning program which is supported by regular interviews with their counsellor. Interviews with 15 persons were recorded during a 1-year period in order to get data for an analysis of the ways native and second language learning are similar to each other and so mutually helpful. The data…

Consistent results of two experiments, in which undergraduate students were taught relatively technical native language vocabulary through keyword methods, showed that effectiveness of such methods depended upon whether meanings of words to be learned were abstract or concrete and whether comprehension was assessed immediately or after a delay.…

This teacher's guide, intended for the instruction of both French as a first language and French as a second language in an immersion setting, provides a host of strategies for teaching writing skills in the classroom (Grades 6 through 12). Section 1 is designed to bring the teacher's awareness to the training procedure, discussing the motivation…

This CD-ROM is part of an interactive and dynamic multimedia package of information and games for learning K'iche' and Ixil. The CD-ROMs help bilingual pre-service teachers improve their reading, writing, and listening comprehension skills in their own Mayan language. After a musical and colorful introduction, users may choose introductions to…

This guide is designed for learning Ukrainian as a native or second language. The guide accompanies four intermediate- to advanced-level Ukrainian-language readers. It offers suggestions to language students and teachers for ways to read, study, and use the readers. (CNP)

Develops a critique of the "special diglossia" idea: the notion that Navajos speak Navajo but read and write English. Describes uses for English and Navajo literacy in one community on the Navajo reservation. Applies concepts such as institution, ideology, power, and empowerment to these uses. (JS)

Discusses Krashen's monitor model and input hypothesis of language acquisition, focusing on the implications of this hypothesis among Hispanic bilinguals in an English speaking-teaching-reading-problem-solving environment. The hypothesis maintains that individuals acquire more language only when they are exposed to comprehensible input that is a…

An Israeli study investigated high school students' perceptions of mathematics, English, Hebrew, and Arabic. A questionnaire measured affect, worth, gender typing, and perceived attributes contributing to success in each subject. Results indicated ethnicity more than gender affected students' perception of subject matter. (SM)