Criticizes the Unz/Tuchman "English for Children" initiative (R. Unz) a proposal that would place limited-English-speaking children in California together, regardless of age or academic abilities, for one year of intensive English instruction and no instruction in academic subjects before returning them to regular classes. Discusses the…

Investigates the effects of problem re-wording, language format, students' grade level, and academic achievement on understanding and solving word problems among Filipino-English bilingual students. Reveals that better understanding and solution performance occurred when problems were (1) re-worded, (2) in the students' first language, and (3) for…

The task of planning, negotiating, and implementing an international training project differs according to setting. This article provides a checklist for international project facilitators that suggests thoroughly assessing in advance: objectives, sponsors, skill levels, evaluation methods, equipment needs, software language, copying services,…

Examines the national language question in Morocco and the Moroccan government's development of an elaborate multisector language policy, which has particular significance for the education system. The policy aims at promoting Arabic as the language of literacy and wider communication. The background and implications of this policy are discussed.…

Describes Mozambique's recent experiment in bilingual education that utilized two Bantu languages in transitional programs for lower primary schooling. The program offered an alternative to exclusive Portuguese, a foreign language for 98% of Mozambicans. Evaluations suggest students benefited greatly from use of the mother tongue in terms of…

Examines the linguistic situation in Kenya and the teaching of Kiswahili in Kenyan schools. While there is widespread support for the school program, there are major problems to be overcome, particularly in the areas of language attitudes, teacher training, and course materials. (Author/VWL)

Focuses on the use of various graphic structures in the teaching of both English and other content vocational subjects in Hong Kong. Concludes that many of the knowledge structures are common to the two situations, and makes suggestions for maximizing learning in these situations. (Author/VWL)

Mi'kmaq is a First Nations language spoken in Atlantic Canada and the north-eastern United States--and like most surviving indigenous languages in North America, it is at risk. The small community of Wagmatcook, Cape Breton, determined to see Mi'kmaq return from the brink of extinction, has implemented 2 initiatives that are changing the fate of…

This article calls attention to the practices, policies, and procedures at the University of Hawai'i that infringe on the rights of Native Hawaiians to utilize the Hawaiian language in learning and teaching, and in the conduct and dissemination of research. Addressing these infringements, however, appears more easily said than done. The author's…

The use of students' second language as the medium of instruction in schools is quite common in former colonies of Western countries. Schools in Hong Kong have had this kind of experience for more than 150 years. In this study, three factors, namely economic, political, and educational, are found to affect the choice of medium of instruction in…

The paper reports the results of a survey of parents (n=12), teachers (n=8) and pupils (n=20) in primary schools in rural Kenya. The sample was divided equally between multilingual and monolingual schools, the former using English or Kiswahili only, right through primary school, the latter using the mother tongue (in this case, Kalenjin) Kalenjin…

Following the results of the Ife Six-Year Primary Project designed to use an indigenous Nigerian language as a medium of instruction in primary schools, some suggestions have been made to introduce it in all Nigerian primary schools. This study investigates the attitudes of student teachers towards mother-tongue instruction. Data for the study…

The Northern Territory's bilingual education programmes, in which local Australian Aboriginal languages and English were used side by side in a minority of Aboriginal primary schools in remote northern Australia, came into being in 1973 under the broader federal government policy imprimatur of "self-determination" for Indigenous…

During the first half of the twentieth century in British Columbia, French language was considered a school subject to be taught as any other using formal classical approaches. Generally, no specific provincial or local policies existed to guide how French was taught and learned. By 1981, however, British Columbia had developed explicit language…

When the East Timorese voted for Independence in 1999 they at least expected to have infrastructure, such as school buildings, available as they started the task of building a new nation. The post-Independence destruction also meant that unexpected priority decisions about what should be built, or rebuilt, first had to be made. In a country…