In a present-day global world, immigrant communities manage multiple cultural and linguistic contexts. To better understand these cross-cultural connections, and bridge the fields of linguistics and transnationalism, the present study analyzes the interconnection between language use and symbolic transnationalism among heritage speakers of…

This study focuses on the linguistic foundation of sound pedagogic practices related to non-language content areas referring especially to language objectives; it employ Tharp and Gallimore's theory on learning: making teaching visible in order to develop the students' thinking. In the contexts of training both before and after service, a study…

From 1890-1914, Argentina received a large influx of Italian immigrants who wanted to "hacer la América," or live the American dream of economic prosperity. With Italian immigrants representing nearly half of all immigrants entering Argentina, the government strived to create a new sense of Argentine pride and nationalism. The objective…

An extensive body of research documents the successes of immigrant groups in establishing community language schools. Studied within this tradition, Latino immigrant communities appear to come up short, because of the scarcity of such schools for Spanish-speaking children. However, as we show in this paper, Latino immigrant communities do have…

A discussion of the language skills of Maya-speaking children in Mexico describes the relationship of Maya and Spanish languages in this population's education and reports on a study of the construction of orthography by these children. The study first examines how language is used in literacy education and the difficulties of literacy in a…

Five Spanish teachers working in California elementary schools participated in this project. Although they were assigned to teach in mainstream English programs, they noticed that some of the Latino students in their classrooms were officially classified as English language learners (ELLs) and, as such, had difficulties understanding their…

Bilingual education teachers need a clear understanding of the nature of language and language variation, and of how language relates to culture in order to be effective. With the needs of these teachers in mind, and drawing from anthropological linguistics and sociolinguistics, this chapter clarifies concepts of language and culture that have…

This book on mother tongue (native language) teaching in Europe contains three parts. The first explores definitions and teaching implications of mother tongues, including issues of language identity, language standards, mother tongue roles, and language policies in the European Union. The second part consists of nine case studies: "Teaching…

The roles of first and second languages were studied, using ethnographic methods, in a middle school two-way bilingual education program that served Mexican-background students. The primary stated program goal was to develop bilingualism and biliteracy in both minority and majority language students. Classes were taught using English and Spanish…