The article reports the results of a 1979-80 survey of the kind and number of French language programs in Canadian elementary schools. It notes the development of both traditional and immersion French language programs and the increasing enrollment in French programs, especially in Eastern Canada. (SB)

Compares programs for teaching Welsh to children in Wales with those teaching French in Canada. Describes Welsh medium schools, Welsh as a second language programs and the recent Schools Council Bilingual Project, in which Welsh is used as medium of instruction for part of the school day. (Author/BK)

Presents an investigation of a longitudinal study of the development of past tense and plural inflections in elementary school children enrolled in either a French immersion or a traditional English curriculum. The type of program did not influence the rate of acquisition. (Author/BK)

Three case studies of children with specific learning disabilities who were switched out of French immersion programs are presented to provide background for the development of hypotheses for future study regarding the advisability of switching. (JMF)

Provides an abbreviated update of a Spanish language program, initiated in Kansas City, Missouri in 1987-88, that was begun in response to a 1986 federal court order mandating the creation of magnet schools for ending segregative practices and beginning elementary school language immersion programs for French, German, and Spanish. (GLR)

Examines the history of language issues and educational policies in the Marshall Islands. Discussion focuses on the administrative, financial, curricular, and staffing features of current language and educational programs, and an immersion model of bilingual Marshallese-English education is proposed to counteract some of the negative outcomes of…

Many ideas attributed to the whole-language approach are not new. Whole language demands that literacy instruction be indirect, unsystematic, and nonintensive and that scope-and-sequence charts be abandoned. Experimental research has judged the major tenets of whole language to be erroneous--a point accepted even by whole-language leaders favoring…

Suggests that reading is a powerful source in acquiring language competence. The author argues that children do not enjoy grammar instruction, but love to hear stories and read books that they select on their own. Given the lack of clear evidence for focusing on form, it is concluded that free reading should be an option for immersion children.…

Describes the experience of 11 Michigan bilingual teachers attending an immersion program in Mexico involving 15 days of intensive seminars dealing with Mexican history, geography, mythology, folklore, politics, and education. (CB)

Examines fundamental assumptions about desegregation. Briefly discusses Milwaukee's African-American immersion schools as a feasible strategy for educating African-American students. In predominantly African-American schools, African-American students' achievement levels surpass those of their peers in integrated schools. Given the limitations of…

The delivery of French immersion programs in Canada is discussed in terms of whether an immersion program in lower, middle, or upper grades is the most effective. (three references) (Author/LB)

A study investigated the communication strategies used by successful and less successful early French immersion learners by analysis of the use of 10 specific communication strategies. Results show effective communicators used virtually all strategies, with more achievement than reduction strategies; less effective communicators used fewer…

Reports on the Homelessness Immersion Project, a program developed at Molloy College to educate students about poverty that not only provides theoretical information about economic and social issues but also helps students develop personal insight into the experience of living in poverty. Describes how the program brings together community-service…

Looks at early immersion in Irish among children from diverse language backgrounds. Examines the children's frequency of target language use and the effect of the group's linguistic mix on that use. Results show relatively low levels of target language use even by native speakers. (Author/VWL)

Evaluated the effect on French language proficiency of an integrated formal, analytic and functional, communicative approach to second language teaching in the immersion classroom. Impetus for the study arises from previous research indicating that immersion children show persistent weaknesses in their grammatical skills despite the fluent,…