This article discusses the problems with traditional methods of assessing bilingual students and describes curriculum-based measurement (CBM) for use with bilingual Hispanic students. Additional information about the features of CBM is presented along with issues related to the use of CBM with bilingual Hispanic students. (Contains references.)…

Examined how rules for interpreting empty category (EC) subjects of complement clauses vary crosslinguistically across structural and lexical dimensions. Twenty-three Greek-speaking 4- and 5-year-olds and 10 adults, 29 Spanish-speaking 4- and 5-year-olds, 18 6- and 7-year-olds, and 8 adults took part in act-out experiments. Results indicate an…

Examined patterns of school segregation and other ecological characteristics of 89 schools attended by Puerto Rican students who migrated to the mainland United States (New Jersey). Correlations show that the higher the proportion of Hispanics/Latinos, the higher the student body's proportion of students from economically impoverished households…

Argues that mastery of modal particles is important for interpersonal aspects of language development. The article outlines the difficulty of learning and teaching German modal particles with regard to the theoretical explication. The study shows how a teaching program improved initially poor comprehension and production skills in the area of…

Four classes of bilingual children from Grades 3 and 5, speakers of Spanish and Nahuatl, participated in a study of literacy development focused on interlinguistic transfer and the application of narrative schemata as seen in writing samples produced in both languages. Reports on a methodological approach seen to be effective in eliciting…

First-semester Spanish students were encouraged to acquire vocabulary through small- and large-group oral activities plus semantic mapping. A second group participated in similar oral activities but did not perform semantic mapping. A comparison of the two groups suggests a trend toward the effectiveness of semantic mapping as a strategy that…

A study involving 149 Hispanic students aged 5-11 in bilingual programs in Texas developed preliminary data on a measure of phonological processing in Spanish and investigated the extent of cross-linguistic transfer for phonological awareness skills from Spanish to English. Phonological processing in Spanish, as measured by the instrument,…

Finds that (1) children taught in Spanish did not differ from those taught in English on English reading and writing but were significantly stronger on Spanish reading and writing; (2) being taught literacy in Spanish contributed to performance in Spanish reading comprehension; but (3) being taught in English did not have the same positive effect…

This article summarizes the results from the first statewide study of two-way immersion (TWI) programs for English language learners. The survey was conducted electronically with 304 Texas bilingual/English as a Second Language directors in districts that serve English language learners. Data are reported for the following research question: What…

Dual language education programs have become extremely popular. Although these programs share common characteristics, they vary in several respects. Programs use different languages and include students with varying characteristics. For instance, many of these programs include students with fluent English proficiency and those with limited English…

This article reports on a study using Piagetian clinical methodology to examine the early writing development of 56, urban, Spanish-speaking preschoolers in a metropolitan area of the United States. In addition, the article draws upon findings by the Expert Study (Flippo, 1998) to underscore the types of instructional environments that have proven…

Elementary school children, some of whom were nonnative speakers of English, learned to add and subtract integers in a discovery-based multimedia game either with or without verbal guidance in English or optionally in Spanish (Groups G--verbal guidance and No-G--no verbal guidance, respectively). Group G members chose to listen to verbal…

This article explores the ways in which young emergent bilingual children begin to develop literacy in two languages, Spanish and English. Three case studies of four-year-old Mexican-background children and their families living in southern Arizona are presented from a qualitative socio-psycholinguistic perspective. The children's home and…

This article addresses Spanish for native speakers (SNS) instruction from the perspective of critical pedagogy, including the critical examination of dominant educational paradigms as well as the proposal of alternative models. Emphasizing the inherently political nature of education and the role of language in the production of knowledge,…

Group work offers a viable alternative to the teacher-centered, direct instructional model. However, many teachers have been reluctant to incorporate extensive group work into their teaching repertoire, citing concerns about the amount of English used and off-task behavior. This study reports the results of an analysis of five conversations of…