Among 187 Arizona Mexican-American children with limited proficiency in both Spanish and English, participation in a maintenance bilingual education program during grades K-2 produced significant gains in oral language acquisition for both languages. Students with the lowest proficiency scores in kindergarten showed the greatest gains. (SV)

Focuses on English-language education in the Swedish compulsory school, where the framework and foundation for the achievement of English fluency is established. Oral skills and practical aspects of English learning are emphasized in the compulsory school curriculum. (Author/VWL)

Describes a speech course conducted recently with a group of Chinese graduate students who have minimal experience with spoken English. The students were highly competent in their field of study--engineering--but displayed low oral proficiency in English. The course encourages repetition of utterances and focuses on voice quality and reduced forms…

This article describes effects of parent-professional collaboration in a partnership in which a mother of an elementary school-age child with severe to profound hearing loss assumed the role of "parent as teacher" in an effort to promote spoken language. A positive effect on the child's spoken language proficiency was found. Implications for…

This article is divided into two parts. The first discusses theoretical issues related to the software program introduced, and the second deals with practical issues, including technical and pedagogical considerations in implementing the program. (Author/VWL)

Focuses on how skills required by the visually impaired to facilitate language learning are acquired in mainstream and special schools. (18 references) (CK)

Investigates the functional projections in second-language (L2) acquisition by examining the emergence of functional categories in the L2 acquisition of French by children. Data include the productive use of determiners, inflection, case marking, subject clitics, wh-questions, and correct negative placement. (57 references) (Author/CK)

Argues that the proceduralization of linguistic knowledge is the most important factor in the development of fluency in advanced second-language learners. Experimental results indicate that learners become more fluent (as measured by speaking rate) after a period of residence abroad. It is concluded that quantitative and qualitative evidence…

Reports on the training experiences of workers from linguistically diverse backgrounds via a focus on their learning activities in community college apprenticeship programs. A survey identified areas of linguistic difficulty that students were experiencing in their coursework and ways in which instructors could reduce these barriers to success.…

Describes a case study and a follow-up comparative study that focused on expert foreign language teachers' professional knowledge as it was reflected in their spoken and written discourse. Both studies provide evidence indicating that professional knowledge can develop via its verbalization in reflective-narrative discourse from personal…

In this article, the authors describe the Georgetown University Consortium Project (GCP), a three-year assessment study designed to document the learning abroad of students from Georgetown University, The University of Minnesota, Rice University, and Dickinson College. Funded by two Department of Education Title VI grants, this ongoing three-year…

This paper reviews studies that have contrasted the effectiveness of structured-input instruction with output-based instruction. It then presents results from a study comparing the relative effects of structured-input and output-based instruction on students' ability to comprehend and produce direct object pronouns in second language French. Three…

Components of first-grade intervention programs that addressed oral language and listening comprehension instruction within an intensive literacy intervention for native Spanish-speaking students struggling with reading difficulties are described. Findings for the intervention are based on 4 large-scale experimental studies (published elsewhere)…

This study compared the narratives of three groups of advanced speakers of Spanish with different learning backgrounds. The first group was made up of heritage speakers; the second group was composed of missionaries that had recently returned from a two-year sojourn in a Spanish-speaking country; and the third group comprised students who had…

"Read Well" is a research-based reading curriculum designed to improve student literacy. This program includes explicit, systematic instruction in English decoding, sustained practice of decoding skills and fluency, and instruction in vocabulary and concepts presented in text. It also provides support for English language learner (ELL)…