Research is presented in support of the theory that early French immersion of English-speaking children leads to bilingualism. The evidence is limited to children through the end of grade four. Comments and criticisms are made by three guest analysts. (RM)

A report is made of an investigation regarding the type of learning disabilities found in children who fail or do poorly in primary French immersion programs. Comments and criticisms are made by three guest analysts. (RM)

What do parents, administrators, teachers and trustees really think about immersion programs? (Editor)

This teacher's guide is intended for the instruction of both French as a first language and French as a second language in an immersion setting. It provides a host of strategies for teaching listening skills in the classroom in Grades 6 through 12. The first section is designed to bring the teacher's awareness to the training procedure. It…

Education policies of the European Commission and the Council of Europe stress the importance of cultural and language diversity. A white book by the European Commission on education and training recommends that every European citizen be able to communicate in at least 3 of the 12 officially recognized languages of the European Union by the end of…

Describes an investigation of individual differences in French language achievement in a group of first-grade anglophone students attending a total early immersion program. Discusses factors used to predict achievement in French language arts, listening comprehension, and oral production, and analyzes significant correlations. (Author/MES)

Exploring the school's possibilities and limits in promoting multiculturalism through bilingualism, the article describes and discusses various bilingual education programs developed in Canada and the U.S.A. in the last decade, giving special consideration to the student populations involved, and discusses the implications of the bilingual…

Canadian alternatives to early immersion programs for acquisition of French as a second language are discussed in the context of feasibility and known or potential value. The concept of a bicultural school is discussed. (Author/RM)

Shows how one teacher skillfully integrates vocabulary instruction with his subject matter teaching. The teacher links the target vocabulary to the students' experiences and concentrates on word meanings and their written and oral forms and syntactic behavior, pushing students to accurate use of the words in context. (12 references) (Author/CK)

Discusses a collaboration in the design and implementation of student portfolios to examine growth in foreign-language proficiency. Analysis of the portfolios showed that many factors should be considered by teachers in deciding on contents and objectives of the portfolios. (Author/JL)

Assesses the effect of a program of communicative language teaching on foreign-language (FL) acquisition in the United States. The article describes the frustration of FL teachers and students at students' difficulty in reaching senior-level status and suggests that colleges require FL majors to spend a year in an immersion program in countries…

A case study of a child not developmentally ready to handle the linguistic demands of a second language in an academic setting is presented as representative of a subgroup of students. It is suggested that new paradigms for researching suitability of early French immersion for all students are needed. (21 references) (Author/MSE)

Evaluates the role of age on the rate of acquiring English as a second language in an immersion setting in children with native languages typologically very different from English. Results suggest that on certain aspects of grammar, different-aged children can acquire a second language during the first three years of acquisition at similar rates…

Examination of a second grade additive-bilingual (Spanish-immersion) classroom, compared to a monolingual classroom for nonverbal problem-solving and native-language development, found significant differences in problem solving in favor of the bilingual class and no significant differences in native-language development. (46 references) (Author/CB)

With its focus on language teaching and learning processes, French immersion research of the 1900s deals with a number of issues of significance to teachers. These include the following: early development of strategic competence, the role of the first language, problematic language features, and learning needs. Field studies of classroom…