This report provides an overview of bilingual education in the Basque area of Spain over the last 10 years. Since 1982, a government decree established that public education was to be conducted following 1 of 3 models of bilingual education: 1) instruction is basically in Spanish, with Basque taught as a separate course; 2) content instruction is…

This book, part of a Mexican series of instructional materials, is directed toward people over the age of 15 who are interested in beginning, continuing or finishing their basic education. It explains the pedagogical model developed for adult education in Mexico based on the following features: (1) the content of the textbooks must be useful for…

Two studies investigated whether two conventions in the use of adversative conjunctions in English are acquired by native Spanish-speakers who are highly proficient in English. The two conventions are: (1) selection of "but" to introduce foreground information and (2) use of "although" to introduce background information. Subjects in the first…

In light of growing numbers of Mexican immigrants and other Spanish speakers in the United States, public schools must deal with shortages of certified bilingual teachers. This chapter describes efforts to address such shortages by the Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Language Affairs (OBEMLA) and other agencies of the U.S. Department of…

This collection of papers by the graduate students and faculty in linguistics at the University of Kansas offers summaries of works in progress dealing with general linguistics and studies in Native American languages. General linguistics papers include: "Resetting Bounding Nodes in Acquiring Spanish" (Ramiro Cebreiros); "Syntax of…

The pragmatic expressions of Argentine Spanish (e.g., "bueno, viste, no? mira") are defined as deictic signals. They are deictic because they indicate elements of the communicative situation: transitions between text segments, conversational roles, or the social relationship between participants. They also signal contextual suppositions…

This study explored the teaching and learning of school-related knowledge and skills in the home of a Spanish-dominant Puerto Rican kindergartner. The teachers, in this case, were the child's older siblings. The study was part of a larger exploration of language use in the classroom versus the home during activities defined by adults as lessons.…

This report highlights 11 family support programs that are serving one of the fastest growing groups in the United States--the Latino population. The programs described in this report differ from each other in terms of their structures and the types of families and communities served. They represent a range of geographic areas and vary in terms of…

This study: (1) examined assumptions made about development of second-language writing skills by the teaching profession, as reflected in the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) proficiency guidelines, and (2) investigated the relationship between those assumptions and actual skills development, as reflected in the work…

Recent research in cultural diversity has concentrated on the complexity of ethnic and racial identity. This study measures the bicultural and global-human identities among first- and second-generation, Mexican-American adolescents. The participants, (84 male, 93 female) from Los Angeles high schools, had both parents of Mexican descent (60 of the…

Mental rehearsal is a somewhat ambiguous term in the literature of language acquisition, psychology, and second language learning. However, in second language learning it refers to an important strategic behavior involving silent covert practice of the other language, undertaken in relation to an oral or written, future or past language task. A…

A study investigated patterns and influences in Mexican-American children's Spanish language maintenance and shift toward English dominance or monolingualism. Subjects were 64 Mexican-descent children, ages 8-9, of varying immigration backgrounds (Mexican-born, U.S.-born of Mexican-born parents, U.S.-born of U.S.-born parents), and their families…

Recent writing theory, research, and pedagogy have aided in the development of several models for improving second language writing skills. Attention is focused more on writing as a process, the importance of practice in writing improvement, and the need to learn cognitive structures contributing to writing. Daily journal writing is one method of…

A survey investigated why high school students in one small city school chose Spanish as their foreign language of choice over French or Latin. Respondents were 103 students currently enrolled in Spanish at four levels. The survey was a multiple-choice questionnaire that also included space for an open-ended response. Results indicate that: 89…

This paper reports interim fundings of two studies focusing on student responses to learning strategy instruction in first year Japanese, Russian, and Spanish foreign language classrooms. Data were collected from four groups of students: 15 high school students of Japanese, 13 college students of Japanese, 31 high school students of Russian, and…