Two studies of Grade 1 reading interventions for English-language (EL) learners at risk for reading problems were conducted. Two samples of EL students were randomly assigned to a treatment or untreated comparison group on the basis of their language of instruction for core reading (i.e., Spanish or English). In all, 91 students completed the…

The dominant influences that forged curriculum policy in relation to the literacy curriculum in New Zealand during the 1930s can be seen to be enmeshed in the politics of the wider context of what de Castell and Luke have identified as the "literacy ideologies of the British Empire". It was these literacy ideologies and concerns over the…

Language rights embedded in Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Department of Justice, 1982) and implemented in the provincial education system have allowed parents to choose French language schools over their English alternative. But creation established by law does not fully protect the continuation of such a school. The image that it…

This monograph focuses on the development of colonial and post-colonial language policies and practices in Zimbabwe, attributing changes to evolving philosophies and politics in colonial and post-colonial Zimbabwe. In colonial Zimbabwe, we argue that the language policies had as one of their key objectives the development of a bilingual white…

Language loss is a concern for the Cherokee Nation in northeastern Oklahoma. As part of language revitalisation efforts, in 2001 Cherokee Nation opened the Cherokee Immersion Preschool in which teachers use only Cherokee throughout the day with their monolingual English-speaking students. Based on a study of the Immersion Preschool that spanned…

This report provides an update on Ontario's Aboriginal Language Standardization Project at the 2-year mark. The project was designed to ensure the revitalization of Ontario's native aboriginal languages and to meet the needs of aboriginal populations in doing so. An introductory section recounts the project's origins. Subsequent sections address…

A study was undertaken to identify cultural, linguistic, and family factors affecting the academic performance of four Chinese students in the United States. Subjects were eighth-grade students who had come to the United States 3 to 5 years earlier, all native Mandarian speakers and all enrolled in a public school bilingual program where they had…

A study investigated the kinds of English literacy experiences of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students in a an all-English mainstream classroom, the conceptualizations of ESL students and their English language literacy learning held by a monolingual English-speaking teacher, and instructional strategies used to facilitate ESL students'…

The report discusses the first- and second-language development, oral and written, of native English-speakers and native Spanish-speakers in the two-way immersion (TWI) program at Key Elementary School (Arlington, Virginia). Data were drawn from classroom observation from 1994-96, student performance measures, and student work samples. Three…

Rock Point Community School's bilingual program is described. Located in the Navajo Nation in Northeast Arizona, the school began its English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction in 1960 and bilingual education in 1967. In 1982, the first high school seniors were graduated. By 1988, 43 percent of Rock Point students were dominant Navajo speakers…

Five papers address issues in language learning and teaching in multicultural environments. "Namibian Educational Language Planning: English for Liberation or Neo-Colonialism?" (Robert Phillipson, Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, Hugh Africa) examines decisive factors in choice of language for instruction, focusing on the choice of English and the…

A discussion of Nigeria's national language policy looks at the official structure for language instruction, its rationale, and perceived problems and possibilities. The policy requires that the mother tongue or language of the immediate community be the medium of instruction at pre-primary and early primary levels, with English emerging as medium…

Seven false but common assumptions about bilingual learners are examined, and whole language principles offering alternatives to those assumptions are presented. The seven assumptions include the following: (1) learning proceeds from part to whole; (2) classes should be teacher-centered; (3) lessons should serve students' future needs; (4)…

A study investigated factors in Chinese language maintenance among balanced and pseudo-bilinguals who are second-generation Chinese-Americans. Subjects were 12 fifth-grade students in a Chinese-language school; half were balanced bilinguals (proficient in both languages) and half were pseudo-bilinguals (those in whom skills are more developed in…

This report evaluates Zanzibar's Secondary English Language Orientation Project, whose objective is to produce curriculum-based instructional materials in simple English to cover one academic year in preparation for English-medium secondary education. An associated program of teacher training was also examined. The evaluation investigated the…