Many parents in the United States who speak and value a language other than English feel torn-between wanting their children to develop age-appropriate fluency and literacy in the language of their heritage, and wanting their children to acquire English as quickly and flawlessly as possible. When parents support communication in and acquisition of…

This study examines the effectiveness of teachers' incidental focus on form on vocabulary learning. Seventeen 45-minute audio-recorded teacher-led conversation, 204 learners' diaries (17 sessions x 12 learners) reporting what the participants had learned after each conversational class, 204 post-test translations, and 204 delayed post-test…

This regional dossier aims to provide concise, descriptive information and basic educational statistics about minority language education in a specific region of the European Union--Fryslan, one of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. Aspects that are addressed include features of the education system, recent educational policies, main actors,…

In this article, the author shares vocabulary development activities for young learners. These activities channel students' energy and make learning more effective and fun. The author stresses the importance of giving young learners a good language-learning experience, and the challenges of teaching young learners who are not literate in their L1.…

Many U.S. students speak nonstandard forms of English, yet dialect issues are slighted in teacher education programs and literacy courses. In this study, classroom teachers who spoke Standard American English (SE) were familiarized with seven syntactic features characterizing African American English (AAE). Three approaches to instruction based on…

While defining a heritage language (HL) learner is problematic, it is critical for how HL issues are framed. Underrepresented in the discussion are those learners who identify the HL as key to their development of self identity while having limited exposure to the HL in the home environment. This study investigates such students in the context of…

Over the years, the author has observed the vicious cycle that undermines the effectiveness of and access to good basic education in her own village and family, and in poor rural areas in general. Located in one of the most deprived areas of rural Ghana, there is a huge "reality gap" between school and children's everyday lives. The weak…

The transcript (translated into English) of a roundtable discussion of literacy among francophone women in Canada begins with the personal narrative of one women who gained literacy skills as an adult. The panel of three specialists in francophone women's literacy in Canada then look at the literacy rate among Canadian women, and the demand for…

The design and development of GRACILE, a collaborative learning environment in the domain of Japanese language patterns and expressions, is described. The environment is designed to allow learning goals communication, learning activities negotiation, and collaboration between learners. From a group of student models, a potential development level…

The purpose of this study was to compare the Gilbertian mathetical sequence (MS) with the Skinnerian logical sequence (LS) methodologies in their effectiveness for language teaching. A series of 3 experiments were designed to investigate the effect of MS and LS on the teaching of Japanese Kanji characters to 24 Japanese fifth-graders. The students…

This report summarizes advances in bilingual education that help linguistically and culturally diverse (LCD) students reach high levels of achievement and performance. Factors to be considered include the native language, bilingualism and academic achievement, curriculum, parental and community influences, and programmatic evaluation. The reports…

The directory lists French immersion programs at the elementary and secondary school levels in each province and territory of Canada. They are arranged alphabetically by province or territory, then by city or town within those categories. Data pertain to the 1995-96 school year. Information provided for each region includes general information on…

In response to problems encountered in teaching Spanish to native speakers who had learned Spanish as their first (oral) language but because of their schooling were literate only in English, a study was conducted to explore issues related to development of native-language literacy skills after acquisition of second-language literacy. Two adult…

In a case study, a child's acquisition and maintenance of Chinese (as a first language) and English (as a second language) were documented. The child brought to the United States at age 3.5, acquired English in 2 years and was encouraged to maintain his Chinese skills through a family-based education program. For 6 months the boy was given Chinese…

This volume includes papers delivered at the Ninth Annual International Native American Language Issues (NALI) Institute. Dick Littlebear's keynote address describes the importance of maintaining Native American languages. James Crawford's "Language Freedom and Restriction: A Historical Approach to the Official Language Controversy,"…