French immersion is seen as a viable alternative to traditional unilingual education. Issues needing to be addressed so that French immersion education can be supported and enhanced as part of a pluralistic approach to language and culture are discussed. (23 references) (Author/MSE)

The patterns of second grade French immersion students' spontaneous reading in English during the first and second year of their immersion program are reported and compared with their French reading performance. (MSE)

Discusses the concept of language immersion programs in the European context, then focuses on the current trend in Finnish schools to "see what these programs are like." The article concludes with a discussion about the inevitable problems and challenges related to immersion programs. (JL)

This paper describes the methodology of a study seeking to determine whether there is evidence that French immersion children with specific reading disability in one language also have the disability in the other language, and learning-disabled readers belong to the same subtype in both languages. (Author/JDD)

Critiques the Ramirez et al. study of bilingual programs for its serious research flaws. Calls into question the findings of no consistent difference in the achievement of language-minority children regardless of how much Spanish or English is used in instruction. Proposes a reanalysis of the Ramirez data. (KS)

An annotated bibliography lists French language tests designed for core French, French immersion, or French native language instruction at the elementary and secondary levels. Citations include basic bibliographic information, intended population, grade or difficulty levels, brief descriptions of test sections or format, and approximate test…

Compares the degree to which pupils in the French immersion and regular English school programs speak French and initiate contact with French people. Attitudes and motivations were significantly more positive, and social tolerance and self-rated competency in French were much higher in the immersion than in English program subjects. (29…

Several Maryland schools are experimenting with Roots and Wings, a collaborative project of Saint Mary's County Schools, the state education department, and Johns Hopkins University. Funded by the New American Schools Development Corporation, the pilot project's goals are to guarantee every child's successful completion of elementary school and to…

Results of a large-scale evaluation of early and middle immersion programs in the Toronto (Ontario) area, involving 4 districts and 26 grade 8 classes, suggest that middle immersion yields less consistent performance levels than early immersion. Overall, findings favor early immersion. (11 references) (Author/MSE)

Compared 719 first-, second-, third-grade students enrolled in partial-immersion (PI) programs in Japanese, Spanish, or French to 3 comparison groups. Outcome measures used were a mathematics test, Metropolitan Achievement Test in Reading, and Student Oral Proficiency Rating. PI students scored at least as well as, and to some extent better than,…

Instructional strategies used by a first-grade French immersion teacher to combine science and language arts instruction are described. They involve developing themes from the science curriculum, integrating content objectives and instructional strategies characteristic of both subject areas, using teacher talk and using discourse incorporation…

Today's fear that English is losing ground to the languages of recent immigrants parallels similar reactions throughout U.S. history. Traces historical moves to establish English as the official language and the development of bilingual education. Concludes that, although legislating of language use is nearly impossible, English as the unofficial…

Reviews American educational policy and indigenous language loss, the importance of language revitalization, and various models of language-immersion studies. A case study reports on Papahana Kaiapuni, the Hawaiian language immersion program established in 1987. This program is an example of a native community's efforts to revitalize its language.…

Using the Communicative Orientation of Language Teaching (COLT) observation theme, this study compares the second-language-learning environments of elementary-level students of French in four submersion and four immersion classrooms in Montreal, Canada. Results indicate clear differences between the two environments. (Author/VWL)

Six Canadian Anglophone high school students were studied for 10 months after they chose to enroll in a French immersion pilot program in Alberta. Although students varied in achievement level, all students and parents referred to "feelings of success" as a factor in remaining in the immersion program. Limitations of the program are…