There is much that can be done in early childhood education programs to foster second language learning in young children. The research literature on early childhood bilingualism clearly indicates that children can learn two languages simultaneously without apparent effort, without cognitive strain or interference in learning either language…

A number of Arab countries, particularly those in which English is a foreign language, have gone to considerable lengths to stress and ensure the use of Arabic as a medium of instruction and expression for all branches of higher education. Progress in Arabicization has been accompanied by a diminishing role for the teaching of English to Arab…

This summary of a dissertation reports results of a study of teachers providing bilingual education at a Navajo border town school. History, demography and geography, socioeconomics, and politics all affect cultural knowledge to be taught and teachers must study these subjects. However, teaching Navajo language and culture in a bordertown school…

This study describes rules of code-switching (choice between languages) in four six-year-old Spanish/English bilinguals in a school setting, to show that bilingualism is a sociolinguistic competency. Data included 306 episodes of situational code-switches and 64 episodes of conversational code-switches. The children consistently applied the…

This study was undertaken to examine the suspicion that a young Greek girl in the short time span of two years had become more fluent in a second language (English) than in her native tongue. To provide a basis of comparison the tests used in this study were also given to the child's older brother who had been in the United States for…

A study based on two hypotheses: (1) The cognitive and academic effects of bilingualism are mediated by the levels of competence attained in the first and second languages, and (2) the development of skills in a second language is a function of skills already developed in the first language. (AMH)

Compares the use and maintenance of the Quechua language in a bilingual and nonbilingual education school and community. Findings indicate a significant change in teacher-pupil language use, an improvement in pupil participation in the bilingual school, and an improved attitude among the community members regarding the value of their language.…

Historical forces and factors affecting the development of Canada's bilingual programs for ethnic minorities include changing immigration policies, a decline in Anglo-conformism and growth in multiculturalism, fears about native language maintenance and second language learning, and language and cultural attitudes in second language learning. (MSE)

Discusses the progress made and problems still surrounding Greenland's Home Rule Act which established the roles of Greenlandic and Danish in the instructional arena, covering attempts to make Greenlandic the native language while also encouraging bilingualism through mastery of Danish. (Author/CB)

Although studies of Vietnamese refugees indicated that their language values and attitudes encouraged the use and maintenance of Vietnamese as well as the development of English proficiency, a study of adolescent Vietnamese suggested that "Vietnamese English" is an emerging dialect featuring modifications of English structures.…

Examines the determinants of native-language maintenance among the Canadian Indian population. Employs a simultaneous-equations model in which mother tongue retention and economic activity are determined by background characteristics. Suggests that attempts to improve the economic conditions of native Indians (for example, by education) may have a…

Presented in Inuttitut, French, and English, this report summarizes research initiated by the Kativik School Board, which oversees education in Nunavik (northern Quebec). Four studies examined the current status of Inuttitut in Nunavik, the intellectual ability of Inuit students, and the effects of bilingual education on Inuit students'…

Even though Nahuatl is the most widely spoken indigenous language in Mexico, it is endangered. Threats include poor support for Nahuatl-speaking communities, migration of Nahuatl speakers to cities where English and Spanish are spoken, prejudicial attitudes toward indigenous languages, lack of contact between small communities of different…

During the 20th century there has been a widespread pattern of language shift among the indigenous communities of the United States and Canada. The language-of-work hypothesis posits that if the national language is used as the language of work for virtually all jobs in a minority-language community, the national language will, within a few…

This paper presents personal reflections on factors in the preservation and stabilization of North American indigenous languages. All indigenous languages in North America are in danger of being lost. Linguistic and cultural minority communities must control the institutions that affect their lives if there is to be significant and sustainable…