This summary paper examines factors in achieving full adult literacy in the United States, particularly among the growing population of limited-English-proficient (LEP) immigrants. The first section offers a demographic profile of LEP adults in this country, drawing largely on data from the National Adult Literacy Survey and on a study of poverty…

The Upper Arlington, Ohio school reorganization, in 1983, to include a middle school resulted in the development of a seventh-grade foreign language exploration course. The course provides nine weeks each of French, German, and Spanish, and relates the languages to content areas using an interdisciplinary approach. The fourth nine weeks would be…

High School and Beyond is a national longitudinal study of the cohorts of 1980 high school seniors and sophomores in the United States, intended to provide information through the early adulthood of these students. The machine-readable data file (MRDF) Language File contains data on each student who responded that he or she had experience in a…

A study was conducted of the entry-level basic skills performance of all credit students enrolled at Miami-Dade Community College (M-DCC) in fall 1989. The study examined demographic data and scores on the Comparative Guidance and Placement (CGP) Program Test, American College Testing (ACT) program exam, Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), Florida…

Six American universities were studied to assess the predictive validity of Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores and other admissions data and of student language background relative to college grades for Hispanic students. Sample sizes at the universities ranged from 76 to 686 for Hispanic subjects and from 924 to 4,919 for White students. The…

The mechanisms and issues in literacy are identified and analyzed as they relate to bilingualism. A wide range of current theory and research is synthesized, and concrete suggestions are made concerning the development of literacy skills in bilingual classrooms. The book is divided into nine chapters. The first chapter discusses varying…

Fort Worth's Language Center programs offer intensive instruction in English and in social studies to limited-English-speaking students from grades 6-12 in five middle schools and four high schools. The program's objective is to bring the students' English language proficiency to a level enabling them to compete academically in a less sheltered…

This study investigated the role of language factors as potential determinants of Hispanics' educational progress. Language background factors included exposure to, use of, and proficiency in both Spanish and English, and the students' perceptions of those factors. They were studied in relation to standardized measures of college aptitude and…

The results of surveys of early- and late-entry French immersion program graduates in Ottawa and Carleton, Ontario are reported and discussed. The majority of respondents were graduates who had transfered from early-entry immersion programs to bilingual programs in grades 7, 8, or 9, graduates of the full late-entry immersion program, and…

While the exclusive use of French in commercial language courses has the advantage of maximizing student exposure to the target language, it also has the disadvantage of eliminating translation from pedagogical activities. However, translation can be a valuable instructional tool both for helping students assimilate the vocabulary and concepts of…

Canadian research relevant to French immersion program development in Ontario is reviewed and summarized. The review includes studies on six program or instructional aspects: (1) attitudes and motivation of immersion students and parents; (2) achievement of immersion students in English language arts and other subjects; (3) French proficiency and…

From 1985-86, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) conducted a special survey of reading and mathematics performance of language minority Asian American, Hispanic American, and Native American children to determine the progress of these children at grades 3, 7, and 11. The study also sought to identify whether the differences in…

The results of a survey of 180 part-time students' opinions on the standard of English in Hong Kong, on governmental efforts to improve the level of English in Hong Kong, and on how returning Hong Kong to China in 1997 will effect the standard of English are reported. The students were enrolled in a 6-year course in Chinese/English/Translation at…

A collection of papers on language testing addresses these topics: language tests seen from a communicative viewpoint; microcomputers and testing; productive second language skills; developing teachers' assessment skills; content validity of holistic tests; statistical regression in group conversation tests; reading comprehension; unique…

There is growing evidence that the need for cultural understanding and foreign language competence in the United States and in Illinois is not being met. This need must be addressed through state educational reform. The deterioration in foreign language capabilities affects national security and is a direct result of declining enrollment in…