(1997). Niha'alchini Dayistl'o Nahalin. Journal of Navajo Education, v14 n1-2 p60-67 Fall-Win 1996-1997. In 10 families in which parents spoke Navajo and children did not, factors that inhibited the transmittal of Navajo to children were the use of English at home, shame toward the Navajo language and culture, the perception that a "glass ceiling" hindered the job advancement of Navajo speakers, and influence of the media. Suggests ways to preserve Navajo. (TD)…
(1995). Implementing the Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach: CALLA in Arlington, Virginia. Bilingual Research Journal, v19 n3-4 p379-94 Sum-Fall. Describes the implementation in Arlington (Virginia) schools of Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach (CALLA) science and mathematics programs for secondary students learning English as a Second Language. Discusses program goals, curriculum and materials development, teacher education, instruction, native-language support, parent involvement, and student evaluation. Includes a critical assessment of the success of CALLA's implementation. (Author/SV)…
(1995). A Visual-Spatial Approach to ESL in a Bilingual Program with Deaf International Students. Bilingual Research Journal, v19 n3-4 p469-82 Sum-Fall. The English Language Institute at Gallaudet University (District of Columbia) prepares foreign deaf students to attend college in the United States through a year-long intensive literacy program in American English and immersion in American Sign Language and deaf culture. The Institute's educational philosophies and teaching strategies focus on visual-spatial approaches to second-language learning. (SV)…
(1996). Nahim and the New Trainers: Language Learning in a Bilingual Reception Class–Who Is Learning What from Whom?. Multicultural Teaching, v15 n1 p18-22 Aut. Describes the efforts of a teacher in a British class for limited English speakers to learn the home language of her language-minority students and the students' reactions to her approach. Attempts to use the children's language provide a context for discussions of language differences and English structure. (SLD)…
(1997). Keep Up the Good Work! Part III: Using Multimedia To Build Reading Fluency and Enjoyment. Learning & Leading with Technology, v24 n5 p22-25 Feb. Discusses building fluency in reading and writing and teaching students to read and write for pleasure. Highlights include multimedia storyboards; bilingual instruction; writing programs for building fluency; CD-ROM storyboards; student-created storyboards; and an annotated bibliography of CD-ROM storyboards, poetry collections, and composing programs. (Author/LRW)…
(1988). A Case of Blaming the Victim: The Dunn Monograph on Bilingual Hispanic Children on the U.S. Mainland. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, v10 n3 p219-36 Sep. Responds to Dunn's paper on Hispanic-Anglo differences in IQ scores. Argues that vocabulary use influences ethnic group IQ scores, that mainland Hispanic-American vocabulary scores decline after school entrance, and that native language proficiency achieved in a true bilingual program facilitates acquisition of English language skills. Contains 34 references. (Author/SV)…
(1994). Lessons from Research with Language-Minority Children. Journal of Reading Behavior, v26 n4 p439-56 Dec. Summarizes four projects that attempt to use cultural resources for instruction, each in a unique way. Suggests that these projects serve as catalysts to challenge the status quo by creating conditions and activities for novel uses of literacy. Highlights the important mediating functions of literacy, especially in two languages, in helping learners establish connections between texts and social worlds. (BS)…
(1991). Parental Attitudes to Gaelic-Medium Education in the Western Isles of Scotland. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, v12 n4 p253-69. A questionnaire and interview survey shows that Gaelic is no longer the language of the home for a majority of parents of preschool children, who are nevertheless very positive that their children should be bilingual by the end of primary school. About half seemed prepared to enroll their children in Gaelic-medium units if provided. (22 references) (Author/LB)…
(1992). Letters to Literacy: Spurring Second Language Development across the Curriculum. Childhood Education, v69 n1 p24-28 Fall. The results of a letter exchange project involving bilingual and English-as-a-Second Language students in grades one through nine are reported. Classroom activities that can be generated from letter writing are described. These activities relate to language arts, social studies, math, science, art, music, cooking, and dramatics. (LB)…
(1993). "We Can't Tell Our Stories in English": Language, Story and Culture in the Primary School. Language, Culture and Curriculum, v6 n2 p129-41. Based on the author's experience teaching in a multicultural classroom in England, this paper suggests that children's home languages are valuable not only in terms of linguistic and cognitive increment but also as part of a broad provision of multicultural and antiracist education. (10 references) (Author/LB)…
(1999). Learning Words from Books: The Effects of Read-Aloud on Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition. Bilingual Research Journal, v23 n4 p409-22 Fall. Sixty third-grade English learners received one of three treatments: listening to a story in English with no intervention or explanation, listening to the story with concurrent Spanish translation, or listening to the story with preview of background and review of important points in Spanish. Vocabulary development scores were highest among the last group. (Contains 29 references.) (Author/SV)…
(2001). The Role of Prefabricated Language in Young Children's Second Language Acquisition. Bilingual Research Journal, v25 n3 p327-56 Sum. A study investigated how young learners of English as a second language become both linguistically creative and capable of socializing in English through the use of prefabricated language (PL) (memorized chunks of sentences). Observations of four Japanese preschool children in two-way immersion programs suggested that PL acts as a scaffold for linguistic creativity. (Contains 65 references.) (Author/TD)…
(2004). Teacher Change in Beliefs and Practices in Science and Literacy Instruction with English Language Learners. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, v41 n1 p65-93 Jan. This study examined patterns of change in beliefs and practices as elementary teachers learned to establish instructional congruence, a process of mediating academic disciplines with linguistic and cultural experiences of diverse student groups. The study focused on six bilingual Hispanic teachers working with fourth-grade, mostly Hispanic students. The results indicated that teacher learning and change occurred in different ways in the areas of science instruction, students' language and culture, English language and literacy instruction, and integration of these areas in establishing instructional congruence. The results also indicated that establishing instructional congruence was a gradual and demanding process requiring teacher reflection and insight, formal training, and extensive support and sharing. Implications for further research in promoting achievement for all students are discussed…. [Direct]
(1993). Healing Multicultural America: Mexican Immigrants Rise to Power in Rural California. This book is an ethnohistorical and ethnographic account of how several generations of Mexican immigrants became an integral part of the city of Woodland, California. These immigrants came to rural northern California as underclass agricultural workers, but, in the last 2 decades, have risen rapidly to political power through participation in the school board and various political, economic, and social institutions. A central tenet of the book is that the adjustment of immigrants depends largely upon their recognition of their own worth and potential contributions to American society. In this context, schools have special responsibilities: transmitting American cultural values that hold society together, and at the same time helping culturally diverse students pursue their own genuine ethnohistories. The success of Mexican Americans in Woodland is viewed as proof that the maintenance of the home language and culture produces strong Americans committed to a common good, the education… [PDF]
(1975). Draft Report of the Work Group on Multicultural Programs. This report investigates the educational philosophy programs related to the multicultural population of Toronto. Two fundamental goals for the Toronto Board of Education are to provide equal educational opportunities to all children, and to do so without loss of the child's personal identity and cultural integrity. The work force provides recommendations on eight issues related to multicultural, multiracial education including (1) English as a second language, (2) educational opportunity differences, (3) maintenance of original cultures and languages; (4) instruction in a third language, (5) multiculturalism and the general curriculum, (6) system sensitivity, (7) community-school relations and the multicultural society, and (8) the responsibilities and role of national government in funding multicultural programs. Included in the appendices are reports and research by the work force that led to the specific recommendations. (Author/DE)… [PDF]