Three polytomous DIF detection techniques--the Mantel test, logistic regression, and polySTAND--were used to identify GRE® Analytical Writing prompts ("Issue" and "Argument") that are differentially difficult for (a) female test takers; (b) African American, Asian, and Hispanic test takers; and (c) test takers whose strongest…

While language programs often include a cultural component as a requirement for language majors or as an option for other students, there is little agreement about the design of a civilization component for serious programs in languages for business. Although the traditional approach to cultural education is valid, a curriculum focusing on…

One teacher's experiences in incorporating non-hierarchic learning assumptions and values in the second language classroom, especially through the use of dialogue journals, are reported. In the first part, observations of accuracy-based classroom language teaching are contrasted with the meaning-based acquisition model. Six salient characteristics…

In the 1988-89 school year, Bilingualism in the Computer Age completed its final year of instruction at Morris High School in the Bronx. The project provided bilingual instructional and support services to 240 Spanish-speaking students of limited English proficiency (LEP) and utilized computers to develop students' English skills and native…

The mechanisms and issues in literacy are identified and analyzed as they relate to bilingualism. A wide range of current theory and research is synthesized, and concrete suggestions are made concerning the development of literacy skills in bilingual classrooms. The book is divided into nine chapters. The first chapter discusses varying…

Student materials, teaching suggestions, and resource lists for using newspapers in various content areas in elementary and junior high schools are presented. The first section provides an overview of a newspaper by having students identify items on the first page, reply to a "Dear Abby" letter, analyze a photograph, examine a ski…

The extent to which video has come of age with respect to language learning is the focus of this special issue, which provides information on sources of materials and offers practical ideas for the effective and creative use of those materials in second language instruction. Articles include: "Video and Language Learning: A Medium Comes of Age"…

The proceedings include: (1) "Communicative Competence Reconsidered," by M. Doushaq; (2) "Scenarios for Enhancing Communicative Competence," by G. Salah; (3) "Oral Style Strategies in EFL Written Discourse: Implications for Teaching College Composition," by O. Atari; (4) "Arabic and English Imperative Structures," by M. Anani; (5) "Simplification…

The results of surveys of early- and late-entry French immersion program graduates in Ottawa and Carleton, Ontario are reported and discussed. The majority of respondents were graduates who had transfered from early-entry immersion programs to bilingual programs in grades 7, 8, or 9, graduates of the full late-entry immersion program, and…

This monograph consists of 17 research studies in science education. Among the areas investigated in these studies are: modeling and monitoring of college level science education; classroom processes and their relationships with short-term outcomes in elementary school science; expectations of the scientific enterprise; a science laboratory safety…

The results of a survey of 180 part-time students' opinions on the standard of English in Hong Kong, on governmental efforts to improve the level of English in Hong Kong, and on how returning Hong Kong to China in 1997 will effect the standard of English are reported. The students were enrolled in a 6-year course in Chinese/English/Translation at…

An annotated bibliography of over 100 books, articles, and studies on bilingual education includes a summary and a review of each work. The bibliography has three focal areas: (1) bilingual education in general, including the rationale for it, attitudes toward it, historical and/or sociological perspectives, legal aspects, and evaluation of…

This guide is intended for vocational educators developing the vocational English as a second language (VESL) component of a course in cooking. The introductory section examines assumptions about second language learning and instruction and VESL classes, local adaptations of the curriculum, and sample VESL lessons. The chapter on language…

A collection of papers on language testing addresses these topics: language tests seen from a communicative viewpoint; microcomputers and testing; productive second language skills; developing teachers' assessment skills; content validity of holistic tests; statistical regression in group conversation tests; reading comprehension; unique…

The first section of the ninth annual report of the National Advisory and Coordinating Council on Bilingual Education (NACCBE) provides an overview of the Council's functions and activities. It also discusses current bilingual education law; the changed structure of the advisory council; the new doors opened by the 1984 Amendments of the Bilingual…