Of the original number of Alaskan natives entering the University of Alaska from rural and urban areas, 50% drop out at the end of their freshman year, and less than 2% are likely to receive a degree at the end of 4 years. This high attrition rate is caused by poor elementary and secondary school preparation, and strong personal feelings of…

This is the third in a series of four reading books written in Spanish and designed for use in elementary bilingual education programs. The reader contains nine stories, most of which deal with some aspect of nature study, such as plants or insects. Each story is followed by a list of new vocabulary and enrichment exercises and activities in the…

Intended as a supplementary text or a library book for Navajo children, this book is written both in English and Navajo. Color pictures illustrate each passage in the text. The pictures graphically depict the living conditions of the Navajo people. (TL)

This report discusses trends in the study of Athapaskan, concentrating on language maintenance and bilingualism. It presents both the potential richness and the actual poverty of studies of sociolinguistic aspects of the Athapaskan languages. Noted are two trends--(1) There is a greater interest among linguists in the studies of language in use:…

Makes the point that literature should be an integral part of programs that teach English as a second language by considering six reasons for studying poetry in language classes. Illustrates those reasons with poetic works from around the world. (RL)

Calls for a language-centered view of composition instruction, illustrating that view by comparing and contrasting two recently published books about teaching composition. (RL)

Foreign language teachers need a reservoir of techniques designed to dispel misconceptions students may have about poetry and to lead them step-by-step into its study. This article presents learning experiences of such a nature and illustrations for teachers to help them devise activities. (Author/SW)

Summarizes contact-linguistic research on the Samis and Finns, the northernmost minorities in Scandinavia. The monolingual view of northern Scandinavian languages in the past is complemented with a multilingual perspective of the interaction between minority and larger languages. Among contact patterns discussed are North Germanic-Sami,…

Presents a model of second language acquisition based on the social-psychology of acculturation, including factors in social, affective, personality, cognitive, biological, aptitude, personal, input, and instructional areas. Studies which test this model are reviewed and evaluated. (Author/CB)

Offers four suggestions for creating a classroom with a suportive, stimulating, and language-conducive environment. (HOD)

The purpose of this study was to examine which of three instructional modalities was more effective in enhancing the ability of nonnative English speaking children to read during the first grade. In this study, sixty-three first-grade children were randomly selected from four first grade classes from two primary schools in a university town in a…

Describes how The 14th Dragon,'' a children's book, can be used to stimulate the student's imagination in an experience approach to language and reading. (MM)

Author offers five principles to guide curriculum specialists in organizing their plans for sequencing language experiences in reading. (MB)