This report describes a pilot study of the attitudes and personal estimates of progress of students who have spent 4 or more years in the Amigos two-way bilingual program in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The program currently enrolls about 300 students: 50% native Spanish speakers and 50% native English speakers, approximately half of whom are African…

This theme issue focuses on programs that promote lifelong learning through literacy education, parent empowerment, or parent leadership training. "Adult Literacy Outreach Innovations: Porque Significa Tanto" (Christie L. Goodman) describes a Texas outreach project that focuses on raising public awareness about adult education and…

The language immersion approach of the Intercultural Montessori School (Oak Park, Illinois) for children aged 2-6 years is described and discussed. An introductory section gives background information on early work with immersion by Maria Montessori, a personal experience leading to the school's establishment, and the response of language and…

A study investigated beliefs about language learning held by two groups of students studying Arabic: 41 students in conventional classroom language instruction at the University of Wisconsin in 1992 and 1993, and 27 in an immersion program at the Yemen Language Center (Yemen). The survey instrument consisted of 47 statements in a Likert-type scale…

This brochure, intended for the parents of current and prospective French immersion students, answers commonly-asked questions about immersion education, including who should participate, how good the child's French will be, whether immersion students are likely to lose ground in English or academic subjects, how parents can provide support at…

A study assessed and compared the effectiveness of two distinct approaches of bilingual education used within a single school district in El Paso (Texas). The program designs, one a traditional transitional bilingual and the other a bilingual immersion, were implemented under similar conditions of resources, school year length, class size, and…

A discussion of multilingualism in Switzerland begins with a description of the country's linguistic characteristics. Historical Swiss policy recognizing four official languages, one of which (Romansch) is spoken by very few people, is compared with the current situation in which internal and external migration and multilingualism are common. The…

These materials consist of a series of lessons comprising an interdisciplinary, multicultural instructional unit. They were designed for use in an elementary school Spanish partial immersion program, to address a variety of needs and learning styles of children from diverse backgrounds, and are intended to foster a sense of community and…

A study investigated the elementary school programs in French as a second language in Louisiana, Quebec (Canada), and New Brunswick (Canada). The objective was to learn about the programs' underlying goals and philosophies, examine the teaching materials used at this level, evaluate the teaching situation, and survey teachers for their…

The third year of the partial immersion program in grades one through three at Key Elementary School (Arlington, Virginia), where half the day is taught in English and half in Spanish, is reported. The review includes classroom observations, student and teacher interviews, student assessment, and parent and staff interviews. Student assessments…

The grade 4 social studies curriculum on metropolitan areas for French immersion is outlined. The syllabus, almost entirely in French, consists of seven units. Each contains an instructional objective (in English); a number of specific performance objectives; and for each performance objective, required and optional vocabulary, required and…

An evaluation of Manitoba's French immersion programs at the levels of grades 3, 6, and 9 focused on program effectiveness in teaching listening comprehension and speech skills. The results for grade 9 are presented here. The first section describes the framework of the immersion curriculum and the listening and oral skills targeted in it. The…

The first year of the Japanese Language Magnet Program, an elementary school immersion program providing a total language experience in a multicultural setting, is evaluated. The evaluation study assessed the program in terms of program planning, student population, and parent involvement. Data were gathered through interviews, document analysis,…

The handbook for the Culver City (California) Spanish Immersion Program and the Advocates for Language Learning (ALL) describes the program and organization. ALL is a nonprofit association of parents, teachers, and other individuals interested in promoting and enhancing the study of second languages. The organization's goals and local and national…

The enhanced metalinguistic abilities demonstrated by additive-bilingual children, including superior control of cognitive processing, may promote the development of symbolic reasoning. Children educated in additive-bilingual (immersion) settings may maintain normal native-language development, while acquiring a second language. This study…