The guide is designed to encourage parents of children in elementary school French immersion programs to take an active role in the programs, and to provide practical information to support such participation. Sections address these topics: terminology concerning program types and other aspects of immersion instruction; the rationale for learning…

Describes Forest Glen Elementary School, a successful K-5 magnet school with an international focus located in suburban Indianapolis. Explains how three components of the curriculum--the foreign-language program, wise use of technology, and child-centered climate--are helping prepare students for tomorrow's world. (TJQ)

An analysis was conducted of relevant documents published by federal and provincial governments and other French as a Second Language (FSL) stakeholders to examine whether governmental and school board policies are contributing to the general decline in status of FSL instruction in Canada. Federal documents published by the Office of the…

The United States has seen a tremendous growth in dual-language programs over the last decade. This rapid growth brings up questions about the congruency between labels and implementation. Our experiences observing some of the programs and listening to teachers talk about the programs in New York City led us to propose that many of the…

The aim of this collection is to present "state of the art" papers in language curriculum studies by writers who have been actively involved in shaping theory in the field and who, between them, have applied that theory in almost every part of the world and in a variety of contexts. Papers include the following: "A Decision-Making Framework for…

The curricular framework for Maryland's elementary and secondary school second language programs is designed to assist administrators and teachers in planning, developing, and implementing language curricula. It provides a broad outline from which local systems can plan comprehensive curricula, develop a local philosophy, define local goals and…

This paper explores enrollment for foreign language programs (FLPs) in French, Spanish, and German using data collected from students in Grades 7 through 12 in the Grand Blanc Community School District (Michigan) for the 1987-88, 1988-89, 1989-90, 1990-91, and 1992-93 school years. Research questions address: (1) enrollment figures, (2) loss rates…

A study investigated the relationship between the 1982 native language proficiency of 4,700 newly-enrolled Spanish-speaking, limited-English-proficient (LEP) kindergarten through seventh grade students and their success rates in acquiring English proficiency in the following 4 years. Findings of the study, and the implications derived from the…

This Gulf Arabic text is designed for those who want to acquire a conversational tool beyond the basic level; it is also of interest to Arabists, anthropologists, and Arabic dialectologists. The language in this text is used in informal situations by the indigenous populations of the southern coast of the Persian Gulf. The text contains 21 lessons…

This guide provides general direction to school districts on elementary French programs. In addition to giving the rationale of an elementary French program and indicating where supplementary resource material can be found, it suggests program goals and learning outcomes for programs in grades K-7. A second section on current research on second…

Based on a Ph.D. dissertation on an experiment involving the teaching of French with the widely used "Parlons francais" course to three groups of Grade 4 students, this article compares and evaluates the methods of staffing and implementing these FLES programs described in the report. The institutional approach methods assessed are--(1)…

America's lag behind many countries in foreign language training, particularly the Soviet Union, is examined from the viewpoint of her ever-increasing need for foreign language proficiency in many areas. Differences between domestic and foreign curriculums are considered and a proposal is made, based on the specific assumption that what is needed…

This state handbook details guidelines and regulations for teachers of foreign language in the elementary schools. Principal factors to be considered in the establishment of a FLES program are examined; they include: (1) community and professional support, (2) choice of a foreign language, (3) teachers, (4) students, (5) programs, (6) syllabuses…

It is maintained that if foreign language learning is included at the elementary school level, it should be done to make it possible for the large majority of the pupils to reach a certain minimum objective in secondary education. And, elementary schools must reach one common objective which is closely related to the minimum objective of secondary…

Examines the following factors, cited as important for building enrollments in a report on successful slavic language programs: (1) speaking and listening skills; (2) individual attention; (3) outreach activities; and (4) extracurricular programs. (AM)