Historical, political, and sociolinguistic aspects of the teaching of English as a Second Language (ESL) in Puerto Rico are examined. It is suggested that the apparent failure of ESL instruction is in reality a motivated failure: a society's successful resolution of a conflict between government planning for bilingualism and social pressure for…

Combining qualitative and quantitative approaches, this article examines the language and literacy needs of immigrants to Canada. A Toronto-based case study portrays a group of Latin American adults and their daily uses of English and Spanish. Literacy needs in both languages are noted, as is the contradiction of government commitment to…

A recent report by a national policy studies institute dedicated to Latino affairs proposes that the cycle of educational failure among Latinos can be broken with more active efforts to recruit, prepare, and retain Latino teachers. This is especially so, it is argued, because of growth of the Latino community. (MSE)

Using figures from the 1980 Census, the importance of relative earnings and culture in the choice of immigration destination (Puerto Rico or mainland United States) for immigrants from the Spanish-speaking Caribbean is examined. Not all differences in location decision are attributable to differences in reward structure by location. (SLD)

Analyzed development of past tense verbal morphology in second-language Spanish among 20 college-level native-English speakers. The study was based on the analysis of oral movie narratives collected at two different times, two months apart.(VWL)

Conducted a pilot study with learners of Spanish who had completed a 25-week basic language training at the Defense Language Institute's Foreign Language Center. Compared the listening and reading proficiency of 10 officers with 44 enlisted personnel, using t-tests and analysis of variance (with the Defense Language Proficiency Test as a…

Studied the impact of exposure to authentic video--a Spanish-language telenovela--on the second-language acquisition process of students studying Spanish at the university level. Measured the increase in listening comprehension that exposure to the soap opera would afford and tested the validity of the hypothesis that an increase in the quality…

Examined types of simplifications made in four authentic texts used in the second-language classroom, and investigated if there were differences in recall scores based on whether students read simplified or authentic versions. Findings indicated that a high percentage of modifications made were lexical in nature and that recall scores for…

This article discusses issues related to selection and development of language assessment procedures for children who speak Spanish and English based on spontaneous language samples and shows how available procedures can be applied to research and clinical aims with these children. Sociolinguistic influences in Spanish-speaker language performance…

A yearlong study investigated the effects of whole language-based instruction on the writing development of eight Spanish-speaking and eight English-speaking kindergarten children. The writing skills of the Spanish-speaking children developed similarly to those of the English-speaking children, refuting rationales used to place Spanish-speaking…

Emphasizes the importance of developing literacy skills in the elementary school if communicative competence is the goal of a fully articulated K-12 curriculum for Spanish. The vehicle necessary for developing these skills lies in curricular objectives that emphasize literacy and in teacher education programs that foster the growth of this…

Discusses presentation given by Rigoberta Menchu, 1992 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, at a meeting with Hispanic child caregivers in California. Discusses family life and childrearing among Guatemala's Mayan people, traditional ceremonies and symbols, becoming a leader, and the Mayan experience of resisting oppression. Discusses implications for…

A retrospective of over one hundred years reveals the evolution of different policies, approaches, and methodology for teaching foreign languages to young children and shows pivotal points in events and policies. Three periods are distinguished: 1898 to 1958; the growth period of 1958 to 1978; and development since 1978. Details concerning Spanish…

Examines the field of Spanish linguistics over 100 years, subdividing Spanish linguistics into several subdisciplines: historical grammar, descriptive phonetics, Spanish phonology, contrastive structures, descriptive grammar, Spanish syntax, specific Spanish dialectology, Spanish in Africa and Asia, sociolinguistics of Spanish-speaking societies,…

A study examined beliefs about language acquisition among seven Spanish-speaking Mexican American mothers with young children (24-37 months) receiving early intervention services for language disabilities. Emerging themes included mothers'"alternative" explanations for children's communication difficulties, mothers' efforts to help…