A project at Indiana University of Pennsylvania to improve the speaking skills of 36 secondary school French and Spanish teachers is described. The project consisted of a total immersion workshop for strengthening oral skills, learning classroom techniques, and developing innovative curricula, and teacher projects to incorporate innovations into…

Presents a comparison of two types of compact disc (CD-ROM) foreign language tutorials: (1) those made by publishers who favor an immersion approach; and (2) those made by publishers who use grammar-based approaches. Both types of CD-ROMs address various age groups, skill levels, and learning styles. (JMV)

Saskatchewan French immersion high school graduates were asked what influence that experience had on career/college choice, maintenance and/or improvement of French skills, self-assessment of French capabilities, assessment of and suggestions for the program, leisure time use of French, and placement of their own children in the program. Results…

A study used classroom observation in a two-way Spanish immersion kindergarten to identify aspects of the classroom environment that permitted and promoted participation by the English-speaking children despite their limited Spanish proficiency. Two participation structures were analyzed: teacher-directed lessons and child-centered activities.…

Urban schools' success depends on their responsiveness to student, parent, and community needs. Responsive programs include alternative high-engagement, remedial, or "last-chance" schools; charter schools; full-service schools providing health and social services; immersion programs for single-gender African-American students;…

Teachers in a Spanish/English dual language elementary school in Tucson (Arizona) promote Spanish literacy using a school-designed program. The schoolwide, nonscripted program has been successful in supporting the transfer of reading skills from Spanish to English and in including special education students in dual language schooling. (Contains 33…

In this special section, various authors (in separate articles) discuss the new face of school segregation; socioeconomic integration--a plan to mix poor and middle-class students; and ways to bridge the minority achievement gap, teach linguistically diverse students, and identify and nurture the gifted poor. (MLH)

Interviews with 32 teachers in 8 California school districts examined how teachers responded to Proposition 227. Three teacher reactions were identified: outward defiance, clarification of pedagogical purpose, and anxiety in the face of change. Key factors in these reactions were teacher ideology and experiences and the course of implementation…

Describes a field experience project where students traveled to the Concordia Language Villages, Moorhead, Minnesota, for a one-day conference. Prior to the conference students researched school systems in other countries and assumed the roles of representatives. They then worked towards a consensus for an ideal school. (MJP)

Summarizes a study on block scheduling for second-language programs among Canadian middle school students. Results show that students studying French on a block schedule (e.g., one-half day instruction over a 10-week period) performed better on standardized tests than did control students who received standard 40-minute per day French instruction.…

A 3-year ethnographic study of middle-school students in a two-way bilingual program found that Mexican-background students learned to value English over Spanish at school. The hidden curriculum, instructional practices, and assessment policy devalued the students' native linguistic cultural capital compelling them to use English in the classroom…

Discusses why the right of access to the socioeconomically dominant symbolic resource, English, is a fundamental language right of Hong Kong children. Discusses why current English curricula design and practices do not provide such access and how they can be changed to provide Hong Kong with access to an English education that is compatible with…

There are many untested, long-held assumptions within the field of study abroad concerning the impact of program elements such as study duration, language of instruction, program models, and student housing choices. One assumption embraced within the field is that direct enrollment (or full immersion) programs are more effective at achieving a…

This paper reports on a questionnaire survey carried out in the first and last classes of a single semester English "conversation" class at a national university in Japan. While the time frame is obviously limited, the project focuses on changes in attitude to using the Learners' Mother Tongue displayed by students with regards to use by…

This report describes a program that was designed to end the isolation typically experienced by language minority students in traditional bilingual education and to provide language majority students the opportunity to acquire proficiency in a second Language. The program served 4 classes of approximately 22 students each (85 students) in…