Discusses the declining role of Spanish at every level of the teaching profession. Although Spanish is the most-studied foreign language in the United States, the increasing trend is to use English instead of Spanish, even in upper-level and literature classes and in scholarly writing about Spanish. (CNP)

Comparison of three training conditions for Spanish-vocabulary development with 30 deaf undergraduates found no significant differences for short-term memory. However, long-term-memory scores under the repeated writing condition were significantly higher than scores under the fingerspelling or silent-reading conditions. (Author/DB)

Studied the demographic profiles of entry-level college Spanish teachers and the relationship between demographic factors and hiring practices. Responses of 99 faculty members show that women fare worse than men in terms of salary and tenure-track appointments. Suggests changes to reconcile the pay differential between language and literature…

Examines whether and to what extent differences exist between learners of French, German, and Spanish with respect to range of motivational or motivation-related factors and whether the factor time has any significant effect in this. Concentrates on general or institution-wide language programs in universities. (Author/VWL)

Focus groups of family members of children with disabilities discussed augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) practices within a Mexican American community. Among seven perspectives identified are: (1) children understand nonverbal communication in the home; (2) aided techniques are useful outside of the home; (3) families have great…

This first of two articles on cultural diversity in the library profession includes comments from presidents of three of the American Library Association (ALA) ethnic caucuses: Spanish-Speaking, Asian and Pacific American, and Chinese American. Topics discussed include mentoring, education, networking, leadership, and activities of the Library…

In the Games As Measurement for Early Self-Control (GAMES) study, a battery of self-regulation assessments appropriate for use with ethnically diverse children from low-income families was created. Respondents were 71 English- and/or Spanish-speaking children. Findings indicate that many laboratory and clinical assessments are appropriate for home…

Compares the use of a print and multimedia program to teach Spanish to second through fifth graders from quantitative and qualitative perspectives. Showed that achievement and proficiency of students using print or multimedia materials did not differ at posttest. A small but statistically significant difference in achievement emerged at the…

The Minnesota Child Development Inventory-Spanish Version, a parental report assessment, was completed for 1,043 Hispanic migrant worker children (ages 12-71 months). This assessment is widely used for screening and assessment within migrant early intervention programs. Overall, the assessment was a reliable instrument for children in the 24-…

In this study, Spanish language samples were collected for a young bilingual Puerto Rican Spanish-English speaking child during a 2-year period (ages 4-6). Results suggest a progressive reduction of morphological and syntactical complexity in Spanish. The observed errors tended to affect mainly Spanish inflectional morphology. Implications for…

A study involving 102 toddlers with exposure to Spanish and English found children whose parents said they used only one language with the child did not differ from children whose parents said they used both languages in reported use of word combinations and use of mixed utterances. (Author/CR)

This article presents further analyses of a pilot study that examined the effectiveness of a computerized language screening instrument for 60 multicultural children (ages 7-8). Results suggest that because of its computerization and language learnability features, this innovative instrument may be an effective alternative to current screening…

Provides data on the computer literacy of university-level Spanish students with respect to word processing, CD-ROMs, E-mail, and the World Wide Web. The training method used integrated technical training into activities focuses on learning language and culture and resulted in gains in students' computer literacy for a small investment of class…

This study examined low-income, Spanish-speaking, immigrant Latina mothers' book sharing behaviors in relation to their children's vocabulary. Participants were 47 3-year-old children and their mothers. We addressed two research questions: (a) What interactive behaviors are evident when low-income immigrant Latina mothers and their 3-year-old…

During the last 3 years we have made many visits to two rural Mexican primary schools. As a result of our experiences there, we believe that students' sense of responsibility in a school setting depends on the nature of the commitments they make and the work they do in and for the school. We have also learned that certain educational and social…