The paper explores issues in educating young children from minority language backgrounds who exhibit a special need. An overview of language development and use reviews the need for four types of skills and knowledge: grammatical or linguistic command of a language, sociolinguistic competence, discourse competence, and strategic competence.…

For students without a command of English, the use of English to teach mathematics skills and concepts is a barrier to learning. While research on the subject is not conclusive, it is an appropriate assumption that for a student to master the concepts, he must master the language of the concepts. Based on this premise, the Second Language Approach…

The number of limited-English proficient (LEP) students in U.S. schools has increased dramatically in recent years. One type of instructional approach that offers promise in helping LEP students develop academic competence while also developing English proficiency is sheltered English. Students in these classes are "sheltered" in that…

This profile of the English language teaching situation in Zambia examines the role of English in society and in the educational system. The situation of English as the medium of instruction established by law is noted as well as its status as lingua franca along with the seven official Zambian vernaculars. English in the educational system is…

The purpose of the study was to assess the relative mathematics achievement of English-speaking pupils enrolled in grades 3, 6, and 9 in regular English or French immersion programs during the 1981-82 and 1982-83 school years. The data were obtained as part of a 2-year evaluation of a system-based mathematics program developed by an Ontario school…

A case study in action research which forms part of the Junior Secondary Education Improvement Project, was designed to enable dissemination and permeation of approaches to comprehension of English to all levels of educational personnel in Botswana (Africa). The work supports the national goal of expanding and improving Junior-Secondary education…

A decade of research on immersion programs in Ontario is synthesized. The immersion programs studied over this period include three major alternatives: early total French immersion, early partial French immersion, and late partial French immersion. The programs all serve an English speaking students population, devote at least one half of each…

The political and educational rationales for bilingual education in the United States and the implications of transitional and maintenance programs are examined. Following a period of adherence to English-only instruction which resulted in academic failure for minority children, support grew for the concept of bilingual education. The provisions…

It is the purpose of the present report to alert community organizers, school officials, and scholars to their mutual interest in securing community involvement in the planning and execution of bilingual programs. Strategies are proposed for bilingual communities to follow when confronted with mandated bilingual education. The proposed process is…

Humans, not things, are of primary importance when talking of development. All over the world, two separate, contradictory types of development may be seen: the first, centered on man, the second, on wealth. One of the ways in which man can gain control over his own future is through the school. It is essential to find out which type of…

Results of a 1975 sociolinguistic survey of all the ethnic groups of the South American Black population are presented. The sample of 3,653 people between the ages of 15 and 54 was from the urban and rural areas of all the provinces and homelands of the Republic of South Africa. Findings indicate that proficiency in English is relatively strongly…

This summary of the federal government's review of the official languages policy is based almost entirely on textual excerpts from the original document. The purpose of the paper is to review some of the roots of the Canadian experience responsible for the origins of the official languages policy, and to review the Canadian experience with this…

Seventeen Spanish-speaking children received mathematics instruction in either Spanish or English. Numeric concepts were chosen as the content area so that the results could be understood non-verbally at the outset, the teachers ranked the children's abilities in English and math, and no significant difference between groups was found. However,…

The field of ESL in recent years has drawn much criticism from bilingual educators. This criticism is related to three areas: the former use of ESL in Americanization programs, the role of ESL in legislation providing for transitional bilingual programs, and the failure of the ESL component in certain bilingual programs, due either to the teacher,…

This report from the Comptroller General to Congress is designed to assess the effectiveness of the Bilingual Education Program and to suggest ways to improve its administration. The program as originally conceived is described, and funding, participation, and recent legislative developments affecting bilingual education are discussed. It is…