Dual language programs are bilingual education immersion models designed to address the needs of limited-English-proficient students and native English speakers by proving an additive language approach. In this program, English and Spanish are used for the purpose of developing bilingual and biliteracy skills. The project was structured after the…

This paper examines the special challenges that English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students face in succeeding in science classrooms in U.S. schools. Particular focus is on how students in one experimental classroom (a Grade 2 and Grade 3 two-way bilingual English-Spanish class in a small western city) learned to apprehend scientific meaning with…

A student's entire journey along the educational spectrum is affected by what occurs--and, crucially, by what does not occur--before the age of eight or nine. Yet early learning has never received the attention it deserves and needs. In his latest book, education expert Gene Maeroff takes a hard look at early learning and the primary grades of…

Describes the many educational and employment aid programs to assist counselors working with our fastest growing minority population, Americans of Spanish ancestry, now totalling over twelve million. Notes efforts to accommodate differences among the groups (Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and others) and lists publications providing helpful data.…

Presents evidence contradicting previous findings regarding the relative academic superiority of recent Mexican immigrants over native-born Mexican Americans. Discusses the problem of the relative achievement levels of the two groups in the context of three possible explanations: socio-economic differences; teacher expectancy effect; and native…

Student replies to a questionnaire evaluating the use of the language laboratory revealed positive attitudes regarding the effectiveness of the individual practice the lab provides. They emphasized the need for a language lab monitor. Cross tabulations examined attitudinal differences among old and new users, professorial encouragement, and…

Profiles a 16-week learning unit that led students to develop literacy in their native Spanish, as well as academic and computing skills. The reading and writing assignments incorporated grammar, geography, and local and family histories to create a sense of pride in the students' community and culture. (MJP)

Investigates the real-time costs of sentence processing in early Spanish-English bilinguals. Bilinguals use an amalgam of monolingual strategies in choosing the agent of a sentence. The reaction time data reveal a larger language-specific component than the choice data. (37 references) (Author/CK)

Computer conferencing offers many opportunities for linking college students and faculty at a distance. From the Binational English and Spanish Telecommunications Network (BESTNET) has evolved a variety of bilingual video/computer/face-to-face instructional packages to serve institutions and nontraditional students on several continents. (MSE)

A study with 118 male and 87 female junior high school students in Spain using a scale developed to assess anxiety among Spanish students associated with learning a second language found a relationship between low anxiety and superior performance in the second language (English). The scale obtained predictive validity. (SLD)

Discusses research on the importance of context and social interaction on the development of school literacy, particularly writing development, concentrating on five classes of Latino elementary school students. Specific features of institutional contexts that shape writing process instruction are identified. Necessary broadening of current…

Examples from a multiyear project in a Los Angeles (California) school in a low-income Hispanic school district illustrate successes of a program to improve the early reading achievement of Spanish-speaking primary school children. The interplay of research, practice, and school improvement resulted in significant improvement in early Spanish…

Dickinson College (Pennsylvania) has established an immersion language program for high school foreign language teachers at its French, Spanish, and German overseas sites. The program focuses on political and cultural life, history, art, industry, and preparation of a new curriculum to implement at home. Greater self-confidence and more classroom…

Reports on a study of an innovative secondary bilingual program for preliterate immigrant adolescents. Researchers compared classroom processes used in the bilingual program to those in English-as-a-Second-Language classrooms. Observations indicated no significant differences in off-task behavior. Neither group participated in many higher level…

Interviews with 103 limited-English-proficient middle school students in California examined student and parent attitudes toward learning English, student use of English with family and friends, homework and study assistance, participation in extracurricular activities, and the influence of frequent absences and years of English instruction on…