Many ideas attributed to the whole-language approach are not new. Whole language demands that literacy instruction be indirect, unsystematic, and nonintensive and that scope-and-sequence charts be abandoned. Experimental research has judged the major tenets of whole language to be erroneous--a point accepted even by whole-language leaders favoring…

A study evaluated two El Paso, Texas bilingual education program types, including a state-mandated transitional model (n=18 schools, 5,607 students) and a bilingual immersion program (n=19 schools, 4,717 students). Both programs are designed so students will exit after grade 4, but some continue in grades 5 and 6. Student characteristics are…

Describes the development and implementation of a whole language program in Quebec (Canada), a unilingual French province. Focuses on the meaning of educational change at various levels of Quebec's educational system. Presents perspectives and competing ideologies on whole language. (Author/BB)

A study assessed and compared the effectiveness of two distinct approaches of bilingual education used within a single school district in El Paso (Texas). The program designs, one a traditional transitional bilingual and the other a bilingual immersion, were implemented under similar conditions of resources, school year length, class size, and…

A kindergarten teacher implemented a 10-week practicum study designed to enhance the English acquisition of 38 limited English proficient kindergarten children. Primary goals of the study were to: (1) narrow the learning gap between the English speaking children and the limited English proficient children; and (2) develop language skills the…

This document consists of the three issues of "FLESNews" published during school year 1992-1993. This newsletter of the National Network for Early Language Learning contains articles on a variety of topics in elementary school second language teaching, listings of instructional materials, classroom instructional activities, and…