The modified American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Educational Testing Service (ACTFL/ETS) oral proficiency scale was developed in response to a request from the New Brunswick (Canada) Department of Education for assistance in comparing the results of its French immersion and core programs. Because the existing ACTFL/ETS academic…

A study was conducted to assess the French language proficiency of grade 10 and grade 11 students from three different French immersion programs: early, grade 7, and grade 7/8 immersion. English and French control groups were included in the study. The results indicate that: (1) the three immersion groups scored significantly higher than the…

This study examines the occurrence of transfer in the simultaneous acquisition of French and Hebrew by 57 native English-speaking children in a primary grades French/Hebrew immersion program in Montreal. The study focuses on three issues: (1) whether transfer of genetically related first and second languages differs quantitatively and…

This publication, an update of previous reports of the same title, provides information on language programs in Canada under the following headings: (1) programs in the nine provinces (excluding Quebec) including a description of minority language and second language education as well as French immersion programs; and (2) programs in Quebec,…

Background on the current status of English and French as a second language (ESL, FSL) and English as a second dialect (ESD) programs in Ontario is provided by questionnaire responses, interviews and a review of pertinent literature. The author concludes that declining enrollment will jeopardize ESL/D and French immersion programs. Reduction in…

The present paper questions the validity of Macnamara's (1966) finding that teaching arithmetic through a bilingual's weaker language leads to retardation in problem arithmetic. By comparing the performance of immersion pupils on an Irish (as a second language) version of the problem arithmetic test with the performance of non-immersion pupils on…

The school performance of pupils in grades 2-4 of the French immersion program in operation in the Ottawa-Carleton public schools is evaluated in comparison with the performance of those in the regular English program. The results indicate that by the end of grade 2, pupils in the immersion program show the same level of cognitive development as…

The school performance of pupils in grades 1-3 of the French immersion program in operation in Ottawa public schools is evaluated in comparison with that of pupils in the regular English program. The results indicate that by the end of grade 1 immersion program pupils taught reading in French are found to lag behind their peers in the regular…

The school performance of pupils in grades K-2 of the French immersion program in operation at Allenby Public School in Toronto is evaluated in comparison with that of pupils in the regular English program. The results indicate that by the end of kindergarten pupils in both programs are equally ready for beginning school work in grade 1. By the…

A panel discussion of the effect of immersion programs on first and second language learning. Questions are raised regarding the effectiveness of the regular curriculum, results of immersion for majority language and minority or immigrant children, the meaning of linguistic competence and underlying cognitive and intellectual processes. (AMH)

Describes how community resources for French have been identified and utilized in Louisville, Kentucky, over a 10-year period. Those resources include the university, public libraries, art museums, planetariums, and local theatre. Organizations such as the Alliance Francaise, Amicale Francaise, and historical societies have provided additional…

Reviews educational research on bilingual education and describes biases present in recent evaluations of bilingual programs. Contrary to assumptions about bilingual programs, recent findings suggest that native-language programs may be very effective. They support a strong foundation in the native language and set the basis for subsequent…

Studies on reading comprehension for bilingual students are reviewed to examine the importance of first-language mastery prior to second-language acquisition. Immersion program factors analyzed include automaticity, plateau effects, need for a variety of sociolinguistic settings, oral facility versus cognitive academic linguistic abilities, and…

Reviews the results of six studies which indicated that the output of students involved in an immersion program was linguistically faulty, and suggests ways in which immersion programs can be made more effective and lead to greater linguistic competence as well as communicative competence in its students. (CB)

Describes instructional differences among English Immersion Strategy, early-exit, and late-exit transitional bilingual education programs. The three differ radically in the use of English and the primary language for instruction; these language-use patterns are consistent with each instructional model. Little or no differences were noted in…