The fastest-growing sector of the American school population is the limited English proficient (LEP) students, those students whose native language is not English. When mainstreamed they are usually enrolled in physical education, art, and music classes first. The students then enter mathematics classes under the assumption that mathematics is…

An examination of measures currently used to assess degree of bilingualism in individuals looks at the problems inherent in them, ideal measures, and how to use available measures. It is suggested that definition of bilinguality is a central cause for measurement problems, since a bilingual is assumed to be the sum of two monolinguals, without…

This study examined Norwegian seventh graders' English writing, investigating how close their writing in English was to their writing in Norwegian and how levels of performance in second language writing were linked to broader issues (curriculum guidelines, extensive reading, contact time with the target language, and teacher qualifications).…

This report presents an investigation of the immigrant experience in New York City public schools. In particular, it presents a statistical portrait of the resources and characteristics of the public schools attended by immigrant students, their distribution across schools, and the relationship between resources and outcomes, on the one hand, and…

This is an evaluation of the first 3 years of Project REALM (Reading English And Learning Mathematics), a project funded by Title VII. This project provides additional support to improve the quality of elementary education for new refugee students. Project REALM has 5 major objectives, including the following: (1) to increase participants' English…

This study explored the relationship between discourse topics and interlanguage variation, describing the following: relationships between discourse topics and a second language learner's participation in native speaker/non-native speaker (NS-NNS) conversation; relationships between discourse topics and the grammatical complexity, accuracy, and…

School districts are reporting large increases in English language learners in their student populations. In some instances, English language learners are the fastest growing student population. This paper explores the impact of an urban school district English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) program on language minority students for a period of 2…

The information in this guide should help speech and language pathologists and others who are responsible for the assessment of students from the target populations, African Americans and Hmong students in Wisconsin. The guide provides information pertaining to cultural factors influencing learning and language and recommended procedures for…

The School Readiness Language Development Program is one of several programs developed by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) in response to the original court order to integrate LAUSD schools. The program includes oral language opportunities for 4-year-olds, a parent education component, a staff development component, and an…

In response to the growing achievement gap between English Learners (ELs) and non-ELs, standards-based instruction and assessment have been promulgated at the state and federal level. Yet, the consequences of standards-based assessment reforms for ELs have rarely been systematically studied. The work reported here represents the initial study of a…

Experience and research on the appropriateness and reliability of various criteria used in oral language tests are discussed. It is concluded that global marking schemes, which are less detailed, may enable the scorer to better evaluate communicative effectiveness, which includes both linguistic and paralinguistic factors. (MSE)

Details the results of four tests comparing the French and English achievement of francophone, anglophone, and mixed subpopulations of fifth-grade students in Edmonton Catholic School System French immersion programs. Discusses the behavioral, cognitive, and academic correlates of language competence of the three subgroups. (SB)

The responsibility of the admissions office in recruiting and admitting foreign students includes providing adequate and accurate information about program availability, financial aid, costs, and academic requirements; providing special personnel for handling applications; considering providing English language training; and providing adequate…

Identifies four misconceptions about language proficiency which are currently impeding the implementation of effective bilingual education programs. Misconceptions involve: (1) surface structure deviations and academic achievement; (2) surface fluency and "English Proficiency"; (3) bilingual language proficiency and instruction; and (4)…

The attitude of the target-language community toward the foreign language learner has been overlooked in language teaching. The teacher should consider the native speaker's attitude toward the language learner's command of the language, whether the native speaker views the learner's proficiency as an intrusion, and whether situations dictate…