Case studies of six foreign adolescents participating in a 3-week immersion English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) program at the American Village language camp in Big Sky, Montana, are examined, including the students' motivations in learning and using English. Research focused on exploring student motivations toward learning and using English at the…

The Bellevue (Washington) public schools' Spanish immersion program is described and program-related information is provided for parents. The description outlines general program goals and the basic educational assumptions underlying them, briefly chronicles the history of immersion education and of the Bellevue program, enumerates curriculum…

The partial immersion program at Key Elementary School in Arlington, Virginia, was prompted by work being done in Virginia and Connecticut public schools by the Center for Language Education and Research (CLEAR) at the Center for Applied Linguistics. Established within the gifted and talented strand at the school, for most of the year the class…

This study sought to examine to what extent language learners in an immersion classroom used their native language and the foreign language when performing the cognitive operations involved in math word problems. Thirty-two third- through sixth-graders in a Spanish immersion program participated in the study. Data were collected through: (1)…

The Language and Culture Initial Teacher Education: Primary (LACITEP) program in Australia, a preservice teacher education program designed to train elementary school teachers as specialists in Japanese language teaching, is described. In the partial immersion format, at least half the courses are taught in Japanese. Courses in the first year…

At Concordia College's Institute of German Studies (Minnesota), an immersion program, a 1-month course entitled "German in the Business World" concentrates on development of written and oral communication skills needed in firms dealing with German-speakers. As part of its emphasis on banking, insurance, and business, the course includes…

The fourth phase of a longitudinal study focusing on the cognitive and language development of children in a primary-grade Spanish immersion program (SIP) is reported. Subjects were the remaining 13 members of an SIP cohort beginning in 1987, 15 members of a standard program comparison classroom, 18 members of another class in the 1987 SIP cohort,…

There are over 3 million children in the United States whose primary language is other than English. Although bilingual education has been effective in meeting their needs, its availability is limited, and the alternative is often limited or no English instruction at all. It is not yet clear how effective total immersion is for non-English…

Results of studies by four research teams on French as a second language in Ontario are presented along with commentaries. Merrill Swain and Sharon Lapkin's findings from the study "Bilingual Education in Ontario: A Decade of Research" are reported, and Michael Canale's discussion of the purposes and theoretical framework development of…

A collection of papers on immersion programs focuses primarily on their applicability for language minority students, and addresses some common myths and misunderstandings about immersion education. In "An Overview of Issues in Immersion Education" (Wallace Lambert), major issues and misconceptions are outlined. A second group of papers…

In its first year, the Hawaiian Language Immersion Program combined kindergarten and first-grade students in two classes. About half of the students had no speaking knowledge of Hawaiian; the remainder had attended Hawaiian-language preschools and/or spoke Hawaiian at home. Both teachers, fluent speakers of Hawaiian, were new to teaching. The…

Sheltered English is a method of instruction for limited-English-proficient (LEP) students based on the Canadian model of immersion education in which content is taught in English and made comprehensible to the students by special instructional techniques. The goal of the program is to enable the LEP students to acquire high levels of oral English…

First year planning and implementation of the Portland (Oregon) Partial Immersion Program in Spanish--an elementary magnet program providing a total language experience in a multi-cultural setting--were assessed. The program uses both Spanish and English to instruct students; half of the instructional day is conducted in each language. The…

A new approach taken to teach English to visiting West German teenagers in an immersion course in England emphasizes language use for fluency. Although the syllabus is designed to provide practice in all four language skills, it focuses on integrating the four skills, increasing productive skills, sensitizing the students to the value of paired…

A study of the impact of language of instruction in schools on the divergent thinking, self-esteem, and locus of control of expatriate and Hong Kong native Chinese adolescents is reported and some of the cognitive and affective costs of the immersion method of bilingual education are examined. Hong Kong children in most schools must change…