A study investigated initial reading acquisition in English and an ethnic tongue in two New York schools (Holy Martyrs, Armenian and St. Spiridons, Greek) which are representative of an immigration-based biliteracy tradition. The population consisted of students who were mostly (at least 80%) native born, English dominant, and from bilingual speaking and most biliterate homes. Related pedagogical process variables were also analyzed. Findings, based on 164 ethnographic observations in the two schools included: (1) that reading of English and of the ethnic tongue occurred to a similar extent; (2) that reading in both languages occurred more frequently than other language activities; (3) that in many cases, both languages were used; (4) that oral reading strategies predominated; and (5) that basal readers were the prevailing approach in both English and ethnic tongue reading. Exploratory analyses suggested that significant relationships do exist among reading and process variables and identified four independent dimensions of the initial reading acquisition process: English reading, class size, experiential approach, and grade level. (Three figures representing models of bilingual proficiency and 33 tables of data are included: eight appendices containing an inventory of variables, sample protocal, coding categories and related materials, and 188 references are attached.) (MHC)