This book is a guide for librarians and media specialists who recognize the value of bilingual-bicultural education and are looking for ideas to develop library services for their Spanish-speaking patrons. Chapter one gives a brief history of Spanish-speaking people in the United States, as well as cultural characteristics, family role,…

"Place-based assistance" is not a new concept. Asking what people want and finding ways to give it to them sounds simplistic, but it can result in "win-win" solutions in which everyone involved benefits. This document is a guide to using networking and surveys of residents to determine community needs. Some case studies show…

This paper outlines the notion of (non)nativeness, central to foreign language (FL) education, in terms of an overarching ideology of standardization. It focuses on French and Spanish, because they are the two most commonly taught languages in North American FL classrooms and they have been seen to represent two seemingly diverse attitudes toward…

A qualitative pilot study, guided by an ecological framework, illustrates the complexities involved in studying the unique linguistic situation in Paraguay between Spanish and the indigenous language of Guarani, and its relationship with education. The pilot study interviewing eight kindergarten children. Seventy five children have been…

This study examined the underlying factor structure of the Motivation Orientation Scale (MOS), determining its degree of consistency across two distinct cultures and identifying variables affecting students' motivation in learning a second language. The study investigated how intention theory with its three motivation orientations, and Gardner's…

This very brief paper is a description of a business course, "Business 350 Managing Diversity," at Elmhurst College in Illinois. The course is taught in an intensive 6-day, 42-hour format. The underlying philosophy of the course is that one becomes more open to the diversity of others by better understanding the diversity within oneself.…

An evaluation was conducted of the third year of a 5-year comprehensive bilingual education grant funded by Title VII of the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994. The grant funds a program of developmental bilingual education at two elementary schools in the Austin Independent School District (Texas). More than 25% of the students at each…

This fact sheet presents basic information on mental retardation for Spanish-speaking educators and others. First, definitions from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR) are presented. The fact sheet then analyzes how the new AAMR definitions differ from earlier ones,…

This booklet prepares a student to take New Jersey's Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment (GEPA), a test that measures the knowledge and skills that will be tested later in the state's High School Proficiency Assessment. The GEPA has three test sections (content areas): Language Arts Literacy, Mathematics, and Science. The booklet tells students…

This digest describes the implementation of a successful district-wide elementary school foreign language (FLES) program that resulted from the superintendent's vision to have all students in the district study a common foreign language throughout their schooling. This vision was based on the superintendent's belief that American secondary school…

Coral Way Elementary School (Florida), the nation's oldest 20th-century public bilingual school, is recognized as a model for bilingual education. Its curriculum promotes enrichment and language development while building on the languages students bring to school. As well as a medium for moving students to English proficiency, it is a vehicle for…

The non-English language background (NELB) population is projected to increase from 28 million persons in 1976 to 30 million in 1980, 34.7 million in 1990, and 39.5 million in the year 2000. The total number of limited English proficient (LEP) children ages 5-14 estimated for 1976 is 2.5 million, with a drop to 2.4 million in 1980 and a gradual…

Seven personality traits are examined as they relate to the speed of English acquisition among 13 children. Contrary to previous conclusions, faster learners did not seek to befriend or identify more with English-speaking children than slow learners, but were more talkative, responsive, and gregarious. Implications are discussed. (MSE)

Informal interviews with educators, administrators, employers, researchers, and civil rights attorneys indicated that three general areas of focus were apparent: conceptual variables (about what language learning and maintenance actually means); social variables (family, socioeconomic status, sex, age, region, politics); and attitudinal variables.…