Compared with other countries in Asia, Japan is far behind in terms of introducing and delivering bilingual education, let alone effective immersion programmes. In order to make its citizens more bilingual, Japan has been introducing innovative measures including the implementation of the teaching of English in elementary education and a new…

Research has demonstrated that second language immersion is an effective means of facilitating primary school students' second language acquisition without undermining their competence in their first language. Despite the rapid growth of Chinese-English bilingual programmes in China, limited empirical research has been conducted thus far by which…

Summarizes an evaluation of an early French immersion program at grades 6 and 8. In English language skills, immersion students performed as well as, or better than, English-only program groups; in mathematics and sciences, immersion students did as well as their comparison group. Other findings are discussed. (PJM)

Discusses and compares the relative effects of a French immersion program in two different settings: a French-speaking setting in Quebec and an English setting in British Columbia. No clear-cut differences in favor of either setting were found, although students in the French setting reacted more favorably to their program. (PJM)