The Instituto Fenix, a language learning school in Cuernavaca, Mexico, features oral language learning and a creative teaching technique to help language students to learn Spanish both effectively and quickly. (RK)

This study assessed reading comprehension at different levels of second language learning. Adaptations of Carver's reading tests, a variation of the cloze procedure, were administered to 486 college students enrolled in beginning Spanish courses. Tests were found moderately reliable and were recommended for diagnostic purposes at beginning and…

The idea that familism is an important aspect of Mexican American family life is indirectly evaluated among Mexican American husbands and wives by examining the effects on marital satisfaction of three variables-family size, wife's labor force participation, and conjugal power. (Author)

Focusing on the development among youth of either an integrationist or separatist stance, the responses of junior and senior high school adolescents to a series of attitude items are examined in a factor analysis. Two clear and distinct response tendencies emerged, one an integration-separatist dimension and the other an approach-avoidance…

Describes a pilot project designed by a community college to help employees of a local company solve a language-barrier problem. The bilingual course combined English-speaking and Spanish-speaking employees in the same class so that they could help each other and featured lessons tailor-made to the needs of the company. Sample lessons are…

Various kinds of data are brought to bear upon the problem of selectivity of migration from a town in southern Mexico. It is shown that the wealthier, better educated, Spanish-speaking more cosmopolitan peasants tend to leave Tilantongo more than their poor, illiterate, Indian-speaking counterparts. Within this pattern there are different kinds of…

Reports on the success of Dade County's (Florida) transitional bilingual education program in the public schools and the private ethnic schools run by Cuban educators for the purpose of developing literacy skills in Spanish and English among Hispanic students. This success has resulted in the greater economic power of the Spanish-speaking…

Describes how the use of a simple phonetic system adapted to the local language taught English comprehension through the recognition of keywords, and the rudiments of producing direction-giving and information-giving answers to Spanish-speaking policemen in less than 10 hours. (Author/CB)

Notes that current American basal series have integrated Hispanics into their materials, with eight of nine important aspects of Hispanic ethnicity represented. Concludes that these series offer teachers fine opportunities for enrichment activities. (FL)

Critiques current second language courseware in view of recent trends increasing emphasis on oral proficiency. Suggests changes in the content of instructional computer programs that could be used to improve conversational proficiency. (LMO)

Reports a study of native Spanish speakers' acquisition of the ability to discriminate lexically in English between similar items with different characteristics. The study also examined the role of first-language interference in the process. (MSE)

Discusses fertility of Hispanic adolescents in the United States. Summarizes what is known about sexuality, contraception, pregnancy, and childbearing among male and female Hispanics of various countries of origin. Indicates Hispanic adolescent birthrates fall between those of non-Hispanic Whites and Blacks, but there is considerable within-group…

Describes programs developed at Houston Public Library to meet information needs of the immigrant population. Highlights include serving students, children's and young adult collections of foreign language materials, folklore and cultural materials, developing staff expertise, English-language materials, audiovisual support materials, and foreign…

Examines how six "sway" students, that is, students who have learned how to interact verbally with the teacher in a foreign language, affected the organization of interaction and language development in a high school Spanish class. The effect was that they allowed the teacher to progress effectively through the lesson. (Author/SED)

The study examined the expressive language, receptive language, and articulation skills of 30 Spanish speaking Puerto Rican children (ages 5-12 years) with language disorders (identified by fluent Spanish speaking evaluators). Results indicated both structural and pragmatic difficulties with little impact of English on their language development.…