The Language Immersion Magnet (LIM) program was established in five San Diego (California) city schools to "immerse" students in a second language by providing a strong emphasis on basic academic skills taught in that language. The primary language--English--is introduced later (as late as grade 3). This study attempted to describe the…

A discussion of foreign language immersion instruction in elementary schools begins with a definition of immersion instruction and its goals. The history of the establishment of such programs in the United States and Canada is briefly described. A variety of program options available within the immersion approach are outlined, including early…

Two-way, or bilingual, immersion education, a major innovation in the integration of language and content instruction, is intended to improve the quality of language education for language minority and language majority students in the United States. The emerging educational practice responds to the increasing proportions of language minority…

The handbook is designed primarily as a preservice training guide for prospective immersion program teachers and secondarily as a resource for immersion program administrators and parents of prospective enrollees. It includes: (1) an overview of the immersion model, describing its historical context and key features and briefly reviewing research…

A discussion of the use of science activities as a technique for second language instruction focuses on its application in both immersion and more traditional pull-out programs in the elementary school. First, a rationale for the use of hands-on science experiences in grade school second language classes is presented, noting the value of the…

The Sabal Palm Elementary School in Miami, Florida, cooperated with Florida International University to develop three innovative language programs: (1) Spanish, employing a modified immersion technique for kindergarten and first and second grades; (2) Latin, emphasizing the Latin origin of English for grades five and six; and (3) Shakespeare's…

A special journal issue on French language immersion programs in Canada consists of these articles: "The Immersion Phenomenon" (H. H. Stern); "For My Kids, It's French without Tears" (Judy Gibson); "A 'First' for a Toronto High School" (Claire Mian); "The Teachers, Key to the Success Story" (Andre Obadia);…

A participant-observer case study of a school controversy, written by the superintendent involved, describes the shifting of students among several elementary schools in St. Boniface School Division, a French- and English-speaking district in Manitoba (Canada). The story begins with the closing of two schools in 1974 because of declining…

This document presents sample lesson plans for Level 3, part of a proposed fourth volume in this series of curriculum guides, and a more detailed sampling of Level 4, which will be volume 5 of the series. The samples for Level 3 are two lesson plans for Unit Two, the content of Unit 7, and some lesson plans for that unit. The Level 4 section…

Immigrant education and Language Shelter programs for Finnish speakers living in Sweden are discussed in answer to Cora Brent-Palmer's criticism that a middle class bias exists in the Swedish educational system. She claims that the system operates against the academic opportunities and employment success of Finnish immigrants. However, it is…

This rationale for the German immersion program of the Milwaukee public schools (grades K-5) sets forth general and specific program goals as well as criteria for evaluating communicative competence. A list of sample exercises for specific communicative acts (e.g., telling, informing, requesting) is included. Topics for oral and written…

A report is presented of an evaluation study that was set up to monitor the effects of a bilingual program on students' progress in all subject areas, its effects on student attitudes towards the French language and culture, and the patterns of language usage in the bilingual classroom. The sample for the study consisted of three groups: a…

In 1973-75, as a result of federal grants, the four major boards of education in Ontario experimented with different approaches to the teaching of French, and an evaluation of the experimental programs was also undertaken. The present report is an overview and evaluation of the entire research effort. Three approaches to French instruction have…

This study examined bilingual children's performance in reading Persian and English at grades one, three and six. Two types of programs, one an immersion curriculum and the other a split curriculum where half the daily instruction is in one language and the remaining half is in the other, were compared with monolingual control groups. The results…

Discusses the minority French-speaking population in Ontario from its 17th century origin to the present day, focusing on the changing circumstances affecting minority French-language education. Political, economic, and demographic processes are shown to influence the role played by the French-language schools in the maintenance of French language…