The discourse of Mexican-American preschoolers during sociodramatic play was investigated to learn what the children knew about the social world and how this knowledge was organized in their speech. The theoretical framework for the study was derived from two sources: the psychological construct of the script and the sociolinguistic view of play…

The Iowa guide to foreign language curriculum development, the result of a 1985 state mandate, is designed to help local teachers and administrators build on and improve current curriculum and instructional methods. An opening section outlines the rationale, philosophy, and goals of the guide, and subsequent sections focus on curriculum design and…

A study of repair in conversations between students of English as a second language (ESL) focused on: (1) strategies of negotiation for meaning used by students with a common language background (Spanish) when speaking English; and (2) the dynamics of repair during pair work, a frequently used technique for eliciting conversation. Verbal…

A study of the process of bilingualization of second-generation immigrants to Catalonia, a region of Spain, is described and summarized. The study looks at the interrelationships between (1) linguistic context, all sources of messages in natural speech; (2) linguistic behavior, the real communicative use the individual makes of his expressive…

Proyecto Nuevos Horizontes, a 3-year Title VII-funded bilingual education program, serves 287 Spanish speaking students at James Monroe High School (Bronx, New York). This report evaluates the project's first year of operation, 1985-86. The report contains an introduction describing the school and project goals; information on student…

The elicitation procedures currently used by E. Sulzby in studies of emergent storybook reading were developed by addressing (1) how the wording of the elicitation request given sets up expectations on the child's part regarding language and behavior, (2) how the role that the investigator takes during the session affects the child/investigator…

A college second language program compared the effectiveness of traditional second language instruction and a communicative approach in second year French, German, and Spanish courses. The communicative classes used only authentic materials, thematically organized and prepared for classroom use by the instructors. Similar topics were addressed in…

To be responsible, educational administrator training programs must take the context of practice into account in program design and execution. Adaptation in content, instructional processes, and support systems are required. The University of New Mexico's Spanish Language Master's Program, which has graduated 127 students, provides a model for…

Materials for use by the parents of native Spanish-speaking high school students in a vocationally-oriented bilingual secondary program include a series of home lessons, provided simultaneously in English and Spanish and designed to be done with the high school student. The lessons concern back-to-school night, understanding American schools, the…

The University of Toledo's Spanish and Legal Assisting program provides two degree tracks, a twenty-five course program in the Community and Technical College and a coordinated bachelor's program in the College of Arts and Sciences. The shorter legal assisting program provides training allowing individuals to work under an attorney's supervision,…

One teacher's experience in developing and teaching a college-level business Spanish course is described. The discussion contains information about the choice of content, level, cultural content, and objectives, and includes examples of instructional activities and class projects. The course was designed to focus on business correspondence and…

A commercial Spanish course offered at Marywood College (Scranton, Pennsylvania) serves both Spanish majors and majors in international business. In addition to language proficiency activities common to most commercial language courses, students have identified two projects as most functional and challenging: (1) a "carpeta" or file into…

In 1986-87, the Austin Independent School District (AISD) served 4,143 students with limited English proficiency (LEP) through two programs: transitional bilingual education (TBE) programs and English as a second language (ESL) programs. TBE is available to Spanish speakers in grades pre-kindergarten through 8 and to Vietnamese speakers in grades…

A program was conducted at Florida International University, first, to provide immediate assistance to experienced and prospective vocational instructors and other personnel who are serving limited-English-speaking out-of-school youth and adult vocational students and, second, to develop a model for preparing bilingual vocational instructors and…

A study of the kinds of requests for foreign language information made by adult students of Spanish, and a comparison of the kinds of inquiries made by students aged 19 to 23 and those over 55 years, are reported. The objective was to learn more about what language learning processes are contributing to the difference in success of the two groups.…