The Standards of Learning in this publication represent a major development in public education in Virginia. Adopted in February 2007 by the Virginia Board of Education, these standards emphasize the importance of foreign language instruction in the Commonwealth and, therefore, are an important part of Virginia's efforts to provide challenging…

Research on the development of efficiency in spoken language understanding has focused largely on middle-class children learning English. Here we extend this research to Spanish-learning children (n=49; M=2;0; range=1;3-3;1) living in the USA in Latino families from primarily low socioeconomic backgrounds. Children looked at pictures of familiar…

In response to the underachievement of its Latino children, one district implemented Parent Partnership for Achieving Literacy (PAL), a program to build cultural bridges between home and school. Professional development (PD) that helped mainstream teachers develop cultural competence to work effectively with Latino children and their families was…

The purpose of this working paper is to review current literature on literacy programs for parents of English language learners (ELLs). The paper includes a summary of five literacy programs for ELL parents throughout the United States of America. Four of these were system-wide interventions affecting more than one school or classroom. Each…

This article addresses the learning of second language (L2) writing skills to show how pictures can be used as an effective guided writing tool to facilitate students' writing process and to improve their writing proficiency. A study was conducted with 53 university students who had a prior knowledge of Spanish in secondary school. All students…

This anthology of sociolinguistic/anthropologically-oriented articles on ethnic bilingualism and bilingual education seeks to understand bilingual education outside of the methodological-pedagogical issues involved, that is, from a theory and research, rather than classroom, perspective. Bilingual education is seen as the result of societal…

This digest discusses ways that the school librarian in one high school fostered a positive environment in the school library for English-as-a-Second-Language students and broadened the role of the school library in effecting literacy experiences for these students. The digest addresses how one school librarian made the library a welcoming place…

This paper describes the development and implementation of an after school program designed to introduce the Spanish language to children between the ages of 5 and 9. The program consists of 8 to 10 weekly units, each lasting 50 minutes, that provide students with basic vocabulary and grammar in an interesting and motivating format. Each unit…

The Advertising and Public Relations section of the proceedings contains the following 14 papers: "Toward an Understanding of Cultural Values Manifest in Advertising: A Content Analysis of Chinese Television Commercials from 1990 and 1995" (Hong Cheng); "The Impact of Advertising Distance on International Advertising: An Analysis of…

This report summarizes the results of three studies concerning the Reading Recovery or Descubriendo la Lectura program with first-grade California students. Studies were conducted using state-wide data obtained during 1993-94 programs to determine if the program was an effective intervention for children with difficulty in learning to read. The…

Reading Recovery is an early intervention program designed to reach first-grade students who are having the most trouble learning to read. Students meet daily with specially trained teachers for an average of 12 to 20 weeks. Reading Recovery began in the Austin (Texas) Independent School District in 1992-93. In 1993-94, Reading Recovery served 268…

This packet of materials describes and documents an integrated curriculum of Spanish second language and art instruction offered to freshmen at St. Charles High School (Illinois). The model is the first step in development of other interdisciplinary programs in the school district. The course is designed to improve students' international…

This independent learning packet, which is intended as a guide and tool for teachers, counselors, and tutors who work with members of the Spanish-speaking population, contains basic information about the Spanish language and Hispanic American culture. The packet begins with a brief pretest. Presented next is a discussion of Spanish as a world…

In May 1995 the Corporation for Public Broadcasting commissioned a national study into attitudes and perceptions about public television. The study was conducted by Yankelovich Partners under the Omnibus Survey and included Asian, Black, Hispanic, and White Americans. The results demonstrated that public television is a well-established and…

An institute in oral proficiency and teaching effectiveness for practicing secondary Spanish and French teachers is described. The spoken language classes of the institute took place daily, 4 hours per day for 4 weeks, using a modified Foreign Service Institute (FSI) method of small group instruction. Native speaker tutors were used who were…