Discusses a recently developed post-admissions testing battery, for Ontario colleges and universities, that tests students' listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills through integrated texts and tasks that simulate academic language use. The battery yields placement and diagnostic information about students' readiness to undertake academic…

This paper describes Welsh-English bilingualism in compulsory (5-16) and noncompulsory education in Wales, in bilingual (Welsh medium) and ordinary (Welsh as a subject only) schools, and in society and the media. The historical and sociological context is presented, as well as government policies, past and present. (Contains one reference.) (JL)

Addresses the issue of how educators can provide the best understanding of quality education for Inuit people, emphasizing cultural influences, culture conflict, and language of instruction (English versus native languages). The article examines how to develop programs and instructional materials in Inuktitut that will support learning from both…

Home interviews with 30 Puerto Rican families in eastern Pennsylvania revealed that parents of higher-achieving children in grades K-2 preferred that their children have a native-language environment at home and in school to a greater extent than did families of lower-achieving children. Contains 48 references. (TD)

The political reforms taking place in South Africa are reflected in new thoughts on possible future language policies for the country. The background to the present debate is traced, and some of the most important suggestions for a language policy for a postapartheid South Africa are discussed. (78 references) (VWL)

Presents a bibliography of approximately 130 books, journal articles, dissertations, and UNESCO reports (in English and French) about language usage and policies in education in subsaharan Africa. Most items were published in the 1980s. Examines the complexities and politics of language in South Africa, Nigeria, and Tanzania. (SV)

Describes a project where children follow the natural progression of becoming literate in their native language (Spanish) before developing literacy in the language of the school. Demonstrates the manner in which social interaction is part of literacy acquisition at the early stages. (MG)

Part of a larger study that focuses on the interactional practices in a number of primary classrooms in several different sociolinguistic areas of Brunei Darussalam, this study looks at how teachers and learners in two classrooms accomplish lessons through the use of two languages--Malay and English--in order to unpack the meaning of the written…

Presents an overview of current language policy and planning in Macao, as well as the language situation, especially in relation to language in education. The situation of four principal types of language-medium schools is also reviewed, with a view to assessing how efficiently these schools are achieving their proclaimed goals, and what problems…

Teaching foreign-language literature in translation, within the foreign language department, has intellectual and pragmatic justifications. Intellectually, it is a source of joy for language faculty to share target language literature, and it is the thematic components, not language, that offer richest discussion. Practically, students don't have…

Discusses findings on the lexical competence of students who are not native-speakers of English but who have been through an education system in which that language is the medium of instruction. The data indicate the existence of a problem related to use rather than to inadequate knowledge of word-meaning. Traditional criteria for item selection…

Whether Anglophone and Francophone students evaluate the same teachers equally, or whether the language in which instruction is delivered affects the evaluation, was studied with 988 first- and third-year students in Cameroon. Results indicate that students did evaluate teachers using their own language more highly and third-year students were…

Surveys completed by 218 K-8 teachers in two southern California school districts examined teacher opinions about using language minority students' native language for their instruction. Support for practical implementation was less positive than for the theoretical principles. No clear predictors of attitudes toward the issue were found,…

Describes the ESL Program at the Vienna International School (VIS). States that students who come to international schools with poor English skills are those who struggle the most. Advocates separating ESL programs, diversity awareness training for instructors, and mother tongue programs. (NB)

A survey of 100 parents in a California school district bordering Mexico examined relationships between the bilingual program parents chose for their kindergarten and first-grade children and parental demographic factors. Parents placed their children in settings that mirrored home language use. Parents with a higher level of education were more…