(1981). A Longitudinal Study of the Oral Language Development of Texas Bilingual Children (Spanish-English): Findings from the Second Year. The first part of these findings is a report on a study of the characteristics of 120 Spanish-English bilingual children's speech over a two-year period in the classroom, on the playground, and at home. Three types of language measures were used as well as audiotaped speech samples taken in the three communication settings. Preliminary findings suggest that (1) children vary in language usage and preference depending on the setting; (2) discourse in the classroom is predominantly English; (3) acquisition of reading skills and of language is individualistic in nature; (4) codeswitching is more prevalent in some communities than others; and (5) multiple measures of oral language proficiency may be needed for valid assessment. The second part of the report focused on the bilingual discourse of 24 children in kindergarten through grade two, using utterance as the basic unit of speech. The analysis examined: (1) frequency of codeswitching in two different border areas in Texas; (2)… [PDF]
(1977). Memoires d'une famille acadienne de Van Buren, Maine (Memoirs of an Acadian Family of Van Buren, Maine). These memoirs of an Acadian family present aspects of the cultural history of the Acadians in the St. John River Valley in Maine. The six chapters deal with the following topics: (1) a brief history of the land and the people; (2) the chronicles of a large Acadian family from the time of the arrival of their ancestors from France until the present; (3) the liturgical year in the parish of St. Bruno around the year 1900; (4) "la cuisine," a collection of old family recipes; (5) a description of traditional games and amusements; and (6) a "pot pourri" of tales, customs, proverbs, songs and old remedies. The text is largely made up of personal memoirs, excerpts from diaries, original historical, legal, and ecclesiastical documents, family photographs, drawings, poems, and excerpts from Acadian and American folklore. (AMH)…
(1979). Resources: Agencies and Organizations that Serve Special Needs Learners. "It Isn't Easy Being Special." Research & Development Series No. 178. This directory identifies key agencies and organizations that provide guidance and assistance to anyone who works with the special needs learner. The offices and establishments described in the directory represent the numerous organizations and agencies responsive to the academic and vocational requirements of the following special needs populations: (1) American Indians, (2) Asian Americans, (3) Appalachian Whites, (4) bilinguals and those with limited English proficiency, (5) Black Americans, (6) gifted and talented, (7) handicapped, (8) Hispanics, (9) the incarcerated, (10) migrants, and (11) older Americans. Each section is identified by specific population and tells where to locate agencies and organizations. Contacts are listed in alphabetical order within each section. (LRA)… [PDF]
(1980). Writing Level Competencies of Hispanic Students. A pilot study was conducted to identify a viable method for analyzing the distinctive characteristics of the English writing of Hispanic students while retaining the consistency of diagnosis of the holistic method. Forty Hispanic students from the eighth and tenth grades were chosen as subjects. Some were fluent in both languages; others were limited in English with strong Spanish skills. A control group of 48 monolingual English speakers at both grade levels was also included. Subjects were asked to write an essay of one to five paragraphs on a choice of four topics. Analysis of the essays was based on two scoring systems: a holistic system which used a 6-point scale, and an itemized or analytic scoring system that was based on a 12-point scale. The itemized system, developed by the researcher, reflected an emphasis on the structure and organization of the essay with points earned or taken away in such areas as introduction, body, conclusion, syntax, devices, format, and fluency….
(1976). Three Approaches to Teaching French: Evaluation and Overview of Studies Related to the Federally-Funded Extensions of the Second Language Learning (French) Programs in the Carleton and Ottawa School Boards. 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 been tried: (1) "core French," (2) "extended French," and (3) French immersion. For each of these programs, the research assessed: (1) progress in French, (2) native language development, (3) general educational progress, (4) attitude development, and (5) other psychological characteristics that might be influenced by the increase of French in the curriculum. A brief description of the experimental programs is provided, followed by an analysis of the main issues involved, and a discussion of the research designs used in evaluating the programs. The report finds that all three program options have potential for language…
(1976). Dade County Test of Language Development (Receptive). Test–1 Elementary. Aural Comprehension. Test Boooklet. Teacher's Manual. Revised. Four booklets comprise this document. One is the Dade County Test of Langugae Development (Receptive), Test 1–Elementary, a series of pictures used to measure the aural comprehension of elementary school students whose primary language is not English. There are English and Spanish editions of the teacher's manual, which include testing instructions and descriptions of five levels of English competence. The fourth section provides the correlation between test scores and the classification of students of limited English speaking ability. The test items cover pronunciation; plurals; comparisons; pronouns; double negatives; contrast of present progressive; contrast of going to, future, present progressive, and preterit; and contrast of affirmative and negative. (MH)…
(1979). Utility of LESA Criteria for Estimating The Number of LESA Students. Studies conducted concerning numbers of limited-English-speaking-ability (LESA) students and utility of criteria for estimating this population are discussed. A sample of 287 students in kindergarten through grade three, whose parents had responded to a Language Resource Questionnaire, were selected for study. The teacher of each student was administered the Language Resource Questionnaire for Teachers, which concerned the student's ability to use and understand English in the classroom. Each student was administered the Shutt Primary Language Indication Test to assess their proficiency in English and Spanish. The intercorrelations of key items on both questionnaires and subtests of the Shutt test were calculated. Key items on the parent questionnaire included whether the student was born outside the United States and whether the household language was other than English. Key items on the teacher questionnaire included the student's understanding of instruction in English and the…
(1979). A Pan-Pacific Samoan Population/Language Dominance Survey. Population and language dominance data were gathered on Samoans from New Zealand to the West Coast of the United States, in order to assist educational programs in coordinating the development of classroom and teacher training materials and programs for Samoan students. It is hoped that by pinpointing locations where Samoans are most likely to be found in concentrations and by providing some Samoan population and language dominance totals, two objectives will be met: school districts and programs aimed at serving Samoans will be better able to initiate contacts for sharing ideas and materials, thus avoiding unnecessary duplication of efforts; and a more sophisticated approach will be taken by educational planners and materials disseminators towards meeting the educational needs of Samoan students across the Pacific. The geographical areas included are American Samoa, Western Samoa, New Zealand, Oregon, Washington, California, and Hawaii. In each area the totals may seem relatively…
(1972). Violations of Human and Civil Rights: Tests and Use of Tests. Report of the Tenth National Conference on Civil and Human Rights in Education, February 18-20, 1972, Washington, D.C. Major speeches presented at the conference on human and civil rights in education are summarized. Issues discussed at the conference include: the extent to which standardized testing infringes on the rights of students and educators; the existing uses of educational testing in public schools; and ways to eliminate misuses of tests by educators, researchers, and the testing industry. Summaries of small group discussions are represented on test bias, use of tests for educational administration and employment counseling and the impact of inaccurate test data on student self concept. Recommendations of these discussion groups are summarized. Results of a questionnaire on testing are also included. (GDC)… [PDF]
(1977). Dealing With Difference: A Guide for Pluralistic Education. A rationale for pluralistic education is presented in this paper. It discusses the meaning of the cultural, racial, and ethnic aspects of pluralism in American group life. The discussion addresses three issues: the persistence of ethnic groups in American society, the shared heritage of American traditions, and the importance of personal and group identity in the education of every American. Three criteria for pluralistic education or three major underlying assumptions about pluralistic education are delineated. These are: (1) knowledge and understanding of the heritage of other groups that make up the pluralistic culture of Americans, and (3) knowledge and understanding of the relationship between and among people that form and have formed the ethnic groups in the United States. Also presented is the rationale for a coalition of the movements that are represented in pluralistic education, namely, integration, bilingualism, ethnicity, and the women's movement. An annotated… [PDF]
(1974). Effects of the Language of the Instructions on Test Performance: California Achievement Tests. Mini-Study. The study examined whether the California Achievement Test (CAT) results would be affected if the test instructions were administered in the language the children best understood. In a pre-post-test sequence, 77 Mexican American second graders between the ages of 7 and 8 of a low socioeconomic background attending the same elementary school in west San Antonio were administered the CAT Reading Section, Level I, Form A. In the pre-test, the individual classroom teachers gave the instructions only in English. In the posttest, 28 children received the instructions in Spanish, 25 in English, and 21 in the local Spanish dialect. Language dominance of the posttest subjects was informally rated by their teachers. Pre- and posttest scores were subjected to Pearson correlations and to analysis of variance. Findings included: there was a significant difference of .008 in favor of the posttest group receiving instructions in English on the vocabulary subtest; the group receiving instructions…
(1977). Should Jose Be Tested In Spanish?. To prepare for the national norming of El Circo (the Spanish-language equivalent of the Circus Assessment Battery) three research questions were posed. First, will the presentation of test instructions in both English and Spanish significantly increase achievement? Second, what level of language competency is necessary for valid use of the various tests on nonlanguage skills in the El Circo battery? Third, how can this competency be assessed? Three El Circo tests, representing low, intermediate, and high requirements for understanding test instructions and responding appropriately were given to 154 Spanish speaking or Spanish surnamed preschoolers. Results indicated both languages should not be used for test instructions because there was no significant difference in achievement between groups assigned to this treatment and groups receiving instruction in the dominant language alone. The influence of language competency increased with the quantity of verbal instructions for the…
(1977). Awareness of Multicultural Language and Learning Styles Research: An Urging. Designed to help instructors become aware of factors that may interfere with teaching composition to Mexican-American students, this paper surveys research findings about attitudes toward Spanish-speaking persons in the United States and about language patterns and attitudes of Mexican Americans. It then briefly recommends techniques for working with Mexican-American students and suggests possibilities for future research in this area. The paper stresses that composition instructors need to acquire multicultural teaching strategies if members of minority cultures are to be given a reasonable chance of succeeding at the university level. (GW)…
(1973). Current Child Language Research Resumes. Papers and Reports on Child Language Development, No. 5. The research resumes presented here comprise the responses received by the Stanford Child Language Project to a general request for reports on research in progress. These reports include all those distributed at the Child Language Research Forum in April 1973. The resumes cover a wide range of topics and present, in order, the following information: research area, language, subjects/informants, ages, theoretical issues, and abstract. (Author/PMP)… [PDF]
(1969). The Fourth Communication Skill: Writing. Arizona English Bulletin, v12 n1 p30-5 Oct. The teacher of bilingual students can avoid many pitfalls by evaluating the student's ability to understand, speak, and read, as well as his ability to write, and by giving written assignments that are realistic in terms of ultimate writing objectives. The basic goal of learning English–for self-expression–can be achieved only by proceeding through a series of steps. Therefore, teachers of bilingual students must plan a program that develops writing habits through sequential exercises based on material which is familiar to the student and which emphasizes the main structures of the English language. Such a plan would guide students through many exercises from copying and taking dictation through writing answers to oral questions and constructing sentences from cue words to writing resumes and letters, and, finally, constructing compositions that are several paragraphs long. All writing should be corrected by the student under the teacher's direction, and oral discussion should be…