Conceptual guidelines for the design of new secondary school French second language programs are outlined, in response to the need for an instructional model to accommodate Alberta's increasing anglophone enrollment in French immersion programs. The first section chronicles the evolution of the concept of language and second language instructional…

Presents a theory that all developing and developed bilinguals have a preferred and a second language (L2) and that the bilingual increases L2 competence through fluctuating activity between bilingual preferred L2 medium-oriented communication and monolingual L2 message-oriented communication. Discusses implications of the theory for language…

Although foreign language education has much to offer this nation, few educators or parents support such programs. Possible reasons for this situation are discussed. Immersion programs for foreign language education have achieved success with elementary school children. (DF)

Since the popularization of networked computing that began in 1993, many excited educators have employed networked computers to improve motivation and learning in the classroom. Computers have also become a focal point for the improvement of instruction through the introduction of teaching methods that better support constructivist learning. While…

Evaluated the effect on French language proficiency of an integrated formal, analytic and functional, communicative approach to second language teaching in the immersion classroom. Impetus for the study arises from previous research indicating that immersion children show persistent weaknesses in their grammatical skills despite the fluent,…

Illustrates the pedagogical potential of advertising messages in the French immersion classroom. Students learn to develop a critical analysis of the advertising messages they see and hear. (Author/VWL)

This micro-ethnographic classroom-based case study explores the teaching methodology in a first-grade French-immersion class. This study was carried out in a public elementary immersion school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where English-speaking children throughout the school learn the school curriculum through a second language (French), starting in…

The role of explicit and implicit acquisition of grammatical rules in second language learning was examined by assessing high school students performance after several years of study on the correct use of the Spanish verbs "ser" and "estar". These two verbs are essentially equivalent in use to the English verb "to be," but there is a complex set…

A survey of research on French as a second language (FSL) education in Canada suggests that French immersion (FI) students enjoy significant linguistic, academic, and cognitive benefits. We organize our summary of the advantages of FI around these three themes, comparing students' proficiency in French and English across various FI programs, and…

The promise of dual language education has spurred a movement in the field of bilingual education to shift from remedial programs to enrichment forms of bilingual education. Although research supports the effectiveness of such programs, many programs do not maintain their level of implementation and quickly revert to their original remedial form.…

A colloquium convened at the Deutsches Haus in New York is summarized that brought together experts to discuss (1) the significance foreign languages have for other elementary school subjects, and (2) what function the other subjects serve for early foreign language learning. The following six topics, guided by session leaders, provided the…

This volume of bilingual program curriculum guides enunciates the basic framework of the program, dealing with the rationale, philosophy, and general goals and objectives. Recommendations for implementation, integration, and evaluation are also included. The rationale concentrates on the educational options offered through study of foreign…

A description of an immersion program for 6-year-old anglophone children modeled on "les classes d'accueil" for immigrant children. The program of intensive instruction in oral and written French is outlined. This school district has found this type of immersion superior to the usual kind. (The text is in French.) (AMH)

Modeled after the pioneering French immersion programs developed in Canada in the 1960s, foreign language immersion programs in the United States are designed to enrich the education of native-English-speaking students by teaching them all of their academic subjects in a second language. The goal is for students to become proficient in the second…

Some views on and implications of "the output hypothesis," which proposes that the process of producing written or spoken language results in language acquisition/learning, for immersion pedagogy and second-language learning are discussed. The role of collaborative learning is considered. (Contains 14 references.) (LB)