Extensive interviews examined how school processes influenced home language practices of 45 Latino families in Canada. Parents felt that Spanish maintenance fostered family unity, Latino identity, and professional advancement, but assimilative pressures sometimes caused doubts about openly speaking Spanish at home. Strategies parents used to…

This study used an established behavioral observation methodology to examine the parenting practices of first-generation Latino parents of children 4 to 9 years of age. The study had three central aims, to examine: (1) the feasibility of using a behavioral observation methodology with Spanish-speaking immigrant families, (2) the utility of the…

In a demographic shift that is ahead of the state as a whole, but representative of many small towns in the region, Hispanics make up nearly 27 percent of the enrollment in the 800-student Hennessey school district, up from 18.2 percent in the 2000-2001 school year. In response to those changes, the district has adjusted how it teaches…

This study determined the effectiveness of an early literacy program that embeds skills-based instruction into meaningful contexts, documented children's engagement in the instruction, and obtained insights into how language of origin (Spanish or English) influences performance in instruction in two languages. The program, Systematic and Engaging…

This article presents interviews with eminent scholars and community leaders in the education of culturally and linguistically diverse exceptional learners. These "elders" of the education community share their perspectives and prognostications on pertinent issues. The "elders" interviewed for this article are two Latina women who are leaders in…

Despite its multilingual heritage, the USA has a history of linguistic intolerance. Arizona, in the country's desert Southwest, is decidedly anti-bilingual although it has significant non-English-speaking groups, especially Spanish-speaking Mexicans/Mexican-Americans and indigenous groups such as the Navajo, Hopi and Yaqui tribes, among many…

This paper examines the effects of Basque- versus Spanish-language schooling on the language attitudes of secondary school students in San Sebastian, in the Basque Autonomous Community (BAC) of Spain. By mandating the teaching of Basque ("euskera") in schools, and by requiring Basque proficiency of civil servants, the Basque government…

In 1991, the Bilingual Bicultural Education Program (BBEP) was launched in Chihuahua, Mexico, as a way of responding to the educational needs of the indigenous Tarahumara populations and the growing threat to their language and culture. Using a conceptual framework based on the literatures of curriculum inquiry, language shift and maintenance,…

This qualitative study used theories of language and learning to explore the identities of one preservice teacher in a reading specialization program. Data sources included archived online course responses, interviews, journals, and an electronic portfolio. Analysis indicates that the participant used multiple discourses as an immigrant,…

This article describes an email project carried out jointly by the Institute of Modern Languages and the Department of Applied Languages at Antonio de Nebrija University in Madrid and the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) in the US during the first semester of the academic year 2004-2005. Students worked with a partner exchanging…

The article reports on findings from a replication of a study of bilingual children's editing and correction strategies. The earlier study analyzed revisions that 2nd, 4th, and 6th graders made to their own compositions, written in Spanish. The present study applied the same procedure and assessment rubric to the first draft of compositions…

Research in first language and second language (L2) comprehension has demonstrated that both learner and input variables contribute to the ease with which a message is understood. Questions remain, however, as to how these variables affect the way L2 learners process linguistic form during comprehension. This study examines how one learner…

This paper investigates the effects of input and interaction as separate entities and in combination. We further investigate these effects as a function of different language areas. One hundred two learners of L2 Spanish were provided with input on (a) Spanish gender agreement (noun + adjective), (b) "estar" + location, and (c) seven vocabulary…

The purpose of the current investigation was to determine if the experimental analysis of antecedent variables conducted in English and in Spanish would identify effective and ineffective instructions for response accuracy for Spanish-speaking English language learners. An antecedent variable (i.e., directive complexity) arranged in a hierarchical…

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of a two-way immersion elementary school program on academic achievement at the end of the elementary school and the end of the first year of junior high school. Longitudinal high stakes test data in reading, writing, and mathematics were collected on native English speakers and native Spanish…