This book provides resources for foreign language teachers, supervisors, and others involved in developing and implementing a curriculum. It is the outcome of a 1997 institute, "National Standards for Foreign Language Learning: Curriculum Reform for K-8 Foreign Language Education." The model shows how the national standards can be used…

This workbook for elementary school teachers is designed to help make their first few weeks of school successful. It provides lesson plans, classroom management strategies, student assessments, and special aids for teaching bilingual students. After an "Introduction" that discusses the ups and downs of a first-year teacher, there are nine…

In a fifth-grade transitional bilingual class in Hartford (Connecticut), a project was conducted to focus on writing to learn in science. The process of writing facilitates development of critical thinking, deepens understanding of science content, and develops collaborative learning skills. The example of a set of lessons on the skeleton…

The focus of this practitioner brief is: How do adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students manage their learning? The adult ESL instructor found that his students wanted more opportunities to speak English in class, and to practice actual oral communication skills in English, but felt too much of their time and effort was directed into rote…

Score linkages between the Verbal and Math sections of the SAT® I: Reasoning Test and the corresponding sections of the new version of a Spanish-language admissions test, the Prueba de Aptitud Academica® (PAA™) were investigated. A bilingual group design was employed. A language proficiency measure (ESLAT) was used to define the bilingual group…

This bulletin reports on the contributions of the Federal Government to the improvement of language and area studies. This report indicates that two fundamental conclusions have become readily apparent: (1) non-Western studies have received material assistance under the National Defense Education Act of 1958 (NDEA) without which the present high…

This report summarizes evaluation results from AISD's prekindergarten program during school year 2000-2001.

Discusses the three-year Spanish program in a mixed ability environment at a Western Australia university. In order to capitalize on the wealth of the instructor's linguistic and cultural knowledge, opportunity is given for group work where advanced students are de facto language tutors. Concludes that this unique learning environment is a…

Investigates Chinese students' interaction styles and reactions to peer response groups in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) composition classes. Interviews with Chinese-speaking and Spanish-speaking students were audiotaped and examined by researchers. Analysis of these tapes indicated that the Chinese students' main objective of group harmony…

Examines the modes of accommodation to America of working- and middle-class mothers of Cuban heritage living in Miami, Florida, in terms of language proficiencies. Findings indicate that working-class mothers encourage their children to learn English in order to succeed, a subtractive form of bilingualism, whereas middle-class mothers encourage…

Examines how computer technology and the World Wide Web can help enable and motivate students to read in a foreign language. Topics covered include: technology in foreign-language learning; theoretical and pedagogical considerations related to online and computer-based readers; and two examples of electronic readers for low-intermediate-Spanish…

Forty-three Puerto Rican mother-child dyads in Head Start programs, grouped according to whether the children had learned Spanish and English from birth (n=28) or Spanish from birth and English in Head Start (n=15) participated in a study of home literacy experiences and emerging English literacy abilities. Results found that literacy development…

Second language learners of English responded to a questionnaire requiring them to identify the antecedent of a reflexive pronoun. Responses were compared to those of a native speaker control group, and first language transfer and recapitulation of first language acquisition were examined. (24 references) (Author/OD)

The usefulness of kindergarten screening methods in predicting first grade achievement was studied in 246 children with English or Spanish as the home language. Results support the hypothesis that the predictive validity of kindergarten measures varied as a function of the predominant language in the home. (SLD)

To study impact of bilingual education programs on reading and mathematics achievement, 278 Mexican-American seventh and eighth grade students were examined over a three-year period. The effects of the following variables on posttest scores were examined: (1) pretest scores; (2) gender; and (3) group (bilingual or mainstream). (BJV)