The paper examines some critical issues regarding the Spanish language proficiency of bilingual education teachers, primarily those from the Spanish-language-origin community. Recent longitudinal studies have demonstrated a positive relationship between sustained native language instruction and student achievement. Because this finding is…

A study of silent and filled pauses in second language speech analyzes (1) which types of pause are produced, (2) which are the functions of non-juncture pauses, (3) whether pauses co-occur with other hesitation phenomena, and (4) whether the occurrence of pauses is associated with second language proficiency. Subjects were 15 intermediate and…

This paper describes an experience for professionals based on an intensive 1-week language immersion course that has been offered in Akron, Ohio and Denver, Colorado. The course has been designed for professionals at the intermediate level in French and Spanish. The course requires that participants have acquired the basic grammatical structures…

This paper describes learner response, as indicated by questionnaires, to a package of tape-based listening materials in French, Spanish and Italian. The learners were in "community classes" (2 hours per week) at a wide variety of levels. Their response was, in general, cautiously favorable, and indicates the general acceptability of such…

Evidence is presented that demonstrates the projection in some school settings of nuanced interpretations of the historical events and meanings related to 1492 and to the subsequent Spanish settlement of the Americas. In particular, the Maya language-Spanish language bilingual curriculum (Programa Nacional de Educacion Bilingue, PRONEBI) and Maya…

A study investigated the interaction of cognitive, cultural, and linguistic factors in second-language concept formation in adults. Specifically, it examined how seven college students in a lower-division intensive Spanish class developed new gender concepts when learning a second language. Course instruction focused on concept construction at…

Two experiments investigated the relationship between Spanish phonology and Spanish second-language (L2) learners' spelling success. Specifically, they examined: (1) differences in proportions of initial, middle, and final consonants spelled correctly by L2 learners; (2) differences in proportions of initial, middle, and final vowels spelled…

This paper describes the development and use of a computer aided instruction (CAI) software program for the teaching of Spanish for special purposes at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. The program is designed to: (1) motivate students to use the computer by making it a non-threatening medium through individualization of the learning…

This study explores the belief that if students of Spanish do not write a word correctly, they can not pronounce it correctly. Particular attention focuses on the interrelation between using accent marks in orthography and pronunciation. It is demonstrated that: (1) accent marks may not always be relevant for second-language (L2) speakers,…

In response to the shortage of qualified bilingual special education personnel to work with Limited English Proficient (LEP) special needs students, a program was developed in Vista Unified School District in North San Diego County, California, which involves training bilingual paraprofessionals to serve in special education settings. The…

Because the fast-growing Hispanic population of the United States has little political and economic power (a problem which has been linked to a lack of media attention to this group), a study sought to determine to what extent Miami's Spanish-language newspapers provided Hispanic angles to the l988 presidential primary. Miami's two…

A 5-year followup study was conducted of Spanish/English bilingual children and their families who had participated in a previous study of early bilingual acquisition when the children were 3 to 4 years old. Language use and interaction patterns by parents, children, and siblings were observed at home. School achievement information and interview…

A teacher's manual was developed for an elementary level mathematics course in Spanish as part of an immersion program for English speaking children. The Level A manual is designed for kindergarten and grade 1 pupils. Teaching procedures, conceptual objectives, vocabulary, and structures are included. Activities are designed to teach either…

Based on the assumptions that a universal grammar has a number of functional parameters and that in each language, some are not activated, a study was undertaken to investigate two hypotheses. They are (1) that in a grammatical situation where an adult's first language parameter is not activated in the second language, the learner will "lose" the…

Three issues were examined in a study of children's use of first language knowledge in acquiring a second language: (1) understanding of narratives, (2) the degree to which knowledge available in the child's first language is used in understanding second language input, and (3) the relationship between knowledge utilization in two languages as…