Bahasa Malaysia (the Malay language) was chosen as the national language to unite the linguistically diverse groups in Malaysia in the mid-1950s. This choice brought about a total change in education policy, whereby Bahasa Malaysia became the medium of instruction for all subjects (other than English) in public schools. The decision saw a complete…

In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in "Brown v. Board of Education" (1954), this volume of "Review of Research in Education" looks at education research linked to issues addressed in that decision. In the "Brown" case, the court asserted the central importance of the government's…

Narrowing the achievement gap between students who are native English speakers and those learning English as a second language is one of the biggest challenges facing U.S. educators. This article discusses the approaches used by the Saint Paul (Minn.) Public Schools in narrowing this achievement gap. Saint Paul (Minn.) Public Schools has one of…

The majority of learners in southern Africa receive their education through the medium of a second language, English. Although teachers of English play a crucial role in helping learners to acquire language skills in the medium of instruction, we argue that subject content teachers' lack of attention to the teaching of the four language skills may…

This book is for teachers, teacher educators, school and district administrators, policy makers, and researchers who want to know about literacy, cultural diversity, and students who speak little or no English. It offers a rich picture of the incredible diversity of students who enter secondary school as immigrants--their abilities, their needs,…

Changing demographics have a major impact on schools and societies. This report is a study of how three New Zealand primary schools are working with student populations that are becoming more diverse and increasingly multi-ethnic in nature. One major theme that emerged from interviews with 25 teachers and school leaders was the concept and…

This report offers guidance to those involved in bilingual education who may be or may want to mentor novice teachers in the field. The concept of mentoring is defined, and issues of mentoring implementation and alternatives in bilingual education are discussed, such as language of instruction, culture and instruction, language and cognitive…

Findings of a task force on introduction of a school governance system for Manitoba's (Canada) francophone minority population are reported. The document outlines the background--i.e., the Canadian context--of this report, principles and procedures, the resulting recommended structure for governance, and suggestions for addressing such issues as…

Discussion of multilingual education looks at three European models, each designed for a different population, and compares them with the Canadian immersion model. The models are: (1) trilingual education applied to the entire school population of Luxembourg; (2) multilingual education in the nine-institution, five-city European School network,…

A study investigated the relationship between the degree to which students in an elementary foreign language immersion program use appropriate grammar, sentence structure, and vocabulary, and how many minutes per week teachers use direct instruction to teach these skills. Elementary foreign language teachers (n=53) were surveyed to (1) investigate…

A study of question and response patterns in middle and secondary schools in Indonesia is presented. The study examines questioning from the point of view of several previous studies. Interactions in 12 classes in English and in Bahasa Indonesian were videotaped in three middle schools and three secondary schools. Analysis of the data revealed…

An evaluative study in New York (New York) comprehensive half-day public school prekindergarten programs serving language minorities is reported. The study investigated effectiveness of city policy supporting the use of the children's native (home) languages for some portions of instruction. Information was gathered on: (1) supervisory staff's…

This article describes the shift from English to Filipino (Tagalog) as the language of instruction in elementary social studies education in the Philippines, focusing on the Philippines Department of Education's efforts to implement pre-service and in-service teacher training programs to expedite the change. In 1974 the Department of Education…

The information on two-way bilingual programs presented in this volume was gathered as the first phase of a study for the National Center for Research on Cultural Diversity and Second Language Learning. Two-way bilingual programs integrate language minority and language majority students and provide instruction in and through two languages. This…

There is no better way to teach African-American children than through their dialect. Yet, American schools generally respond to the language needs of black youth inappropriately. This conference presentation focuses on appropriate educational practices that support the language and cognitive development of African-American children, and the ways…