This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Phyllis A. Clemens Noda, Ron Oostdam, Charlotte J. Enns, Rosalind Herman, Susan Blake, Richard J. Sawyer, Maria Koutsoubou, Erik van Schooten, Carol Goodenow, and Nancy Zelasko.
(2004). An Experiential Study of Elementary Teachers with the Storytelling Process: Interdisciplinary Benefits Associated with Teacher Training and Classroom Integration, Reading Improvement. The purpose of this manuscript is to describe how elementary teachers used their experiences in a storytelling inservice training to teach lessons in language arts, science, social studies, and bilingual education. Qualitative research methods were used in simultaneously collecting and analyzing data. Storytelling was found to be a valuable tool for motivating students to listen and engage in content area lessons, improve reading skills in the content areas, and as a springboard for beginning units and skill development. Teachers' understandings and implementation of classroom storytelling were heightened as a result of their participation in the inservice training and subsequent qualitative study. The teachers described in this manuscript were involved in a one-day storytelling inservice and participated in a subsequent qualitative study of their experiences with the storytelling training session and the implementation of storytelling in their classrooms. Storytelling was found to be effective in creating interest and improving reading skills in activities associated with social studies, science, language arts, and bilingual education. Descriptors: Inservice Teacher Education, Story Telling, Elementary School Teachers, Reading Improvement
(1998). The Benefits of Bilingualism, American Language Review. This paper presents the academic benefits of bilingual education gained by language-minority students, highlighting school districts that have had great success with bilingual education and discussing the negative consequences of the proposed English for Children initiative, which would end bilingual education and instead provide intensive sheltered English followed by placement in regular classrooms. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Bilingualism, Elementary Secondary Education, English (Second Language)
(1999). Accommodating English Language Learners with Language and Learning Disabilities in Bilingual Education Classrooms, Learning Disabilities Research and Practice. This study examined how two novice bilingual-education teachers, previously nominated as being effective teachers, integrated third-grade students with language and learning disabilities during language arts. Accommodations in these bilingual-education settings were similar to general education settings, in that teachers most frequently used whole-group, undifferentiated instruction. Descriptors: Academic Accommodations (Disabilities), Bilingual Education Programs, Elementary Education, Grade 3
(2004). Training and Resource Needs of Teachers Who Provide HIV Education to Special Population Students, Journal of HIV/AIDS Prevention in Children & Youth. This study identified substantial training and resource needs for special education (SPED), transitional bilingual education/ English as a Second Language (TBE/ESL), and general education (GENED) HIV education teachers relative to providing appropriate, effective HIV education to students with disabilities (SWD) and language minority/Limited English Proficient (LEP) students. Samples of school district administrators of special education (n = 287), bilingual education directors (n = 51), and high school HIV education teachers (n = 174) in Massachusetts reported substantial gaps in the training and preparation of teachers to provide instruction on key HIV education topics, lack of availability of instructional materials and inadequacy of available materials, and need for more adaptations of instructional materials to meet students' unique learning needs. Study findings provided HIV prevention program staff with data to improve staff development efforts and classroom-based instruction. Implications include conducting additional research to assess training needs from the perspective of SPED and TBE/ESL teachers and to developing interventions, curricula and materials for special population students. [More] Descriptors: Educational Needs, Prevention, Bilingual Education, Disabilities
(2011). Does Foreign Language Writing Benefit from Increased Lexical Fluency? Evidence from a Classroom Experiment, Language Learning. We report a classroom experiment directed at increasing lexical fluency in writing. Participants were 107 Dutch students in bilingual (EFL) education (Grades 10 and 11). According to current theories of writing such fluency allows writers to devote more attention to higher order aspects of text production, such as idea generation, selection and organization, and revision of content. Two contrasting assumptions are studied: the inhibition assumption that effortful word production prevents writers from attending to higher order aspects and the compensation assumption that writers compensate for effortful word production processes by sequential processing strategies. Results show that a group trained in writing and fluency in the deployment of useful words for writing in specific tasks outperformed a group receiving the same writing lessons but "without" fluency training both in fluency of trained words and in frequency of use of the target words in writing. However, the lexical fluency group did not produce foreign language texts of better quality than the group that received no fluency training. Both groups, however, outperformed a baseline control group that had not received writing lessons. The results are interpreted as support for the compensation assumption. [More] Descriptors: Writing (Composition), Control Groups, Second Language Learning, English (Second Language)
(1999). Research-Informed Teaching in Bilingual Education: Does It Happen? How Does It Help?, Bilingual Research Journal. Thirteen California K-12 teachers of bilingual education and English as a second language participated in a 3-year program to create new teaching strategies based on the Natural Approach theory. Their involvement in research-informed teaching enhanced their bilingual education practices and renewed their confidence and enthusiasm in their teaching abilities. (Contains 18 references.) Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Educational Practices, Educational Research, Educational Strategies
(2011). Adapting the "Assessing British Sign Language Development: Receptive Skills Test" into American Sign Language, Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education. Signed languages continue to be a key element of deaf education programs that incorporate a bilingual approach to teaching and learning. In order to monitor the success of bilingual deaf education programs, and in particular to monitor the progress of children acquiring signed language, it is essential to develop an assessment tool of signed language skills. Although researchers have developed some checklists and experimental tests related to American Sign Language (ASL) assessment, at this time a standardized measure of ASL does not exist. There have been tests developed in other signed languages, for example, British Sign Language, that can serve as models in this area. The purpose of this study was to adapt the "Assessing British Sign Language Development: Receptive Skills Test" for use in ASL in order to begin the process of developing a standardized measure of ASL skills. The results suggest that collaboration between researchers in different signed languages can provide a valuable contribution toward filling the gap in the area of signed language assessment. [More] Descriptors: Deafness, Language Skills, Researchers, Language Acquisition
(2004). EFL and Native Spanish in Elite Bilingual Schools in Colombia: A First Look at Bilingual Adolescent Frog Stories, International Journal of Bilingual Education & Bilingualism. In Spanish-monolingual Colombia, social pressures push for access to early 50 = 50% Spanish-English medium instruction from the age of five. Parents and school administrators consider this the best way to achieve bilingualism. This article takes a first general look at the effects of this type of bilingual education on the Spanish and English oral narrative proficiency of 15-year-old adolescents. Data consist of 72 frog stories told following a picture-book (Mayer, 1969): 18 Spanish and 18 English stories from 15-year-olds with 10 years of bilingual education in a Colombian bilingual school constitute the main sample. The other 36 stories, 18 from 15-year-olds in Colombian monolingual schools and 18 from comparable English-monolingual adolescents from a high school in the Boston area, were used to compare the bilingual stories to monolingual productions. The range and variability of the stories in the bilingual group are discussed, as they are compared to the monolingual stories. General similarities and differences between Spanish and English monolingual and bilingual narratives are analysed. Bilingual stories in both languages show evidence of underdevelopment in relation to monolingual stories, as they are sparse in several linguistic variables that show narrative proficiency (i.e. description of events, evaluative language, logical connections). Qualitative discourse analysis is used to describe exemplary productions. [More] Descriptors: Adolescents, Monolingualism, Bilingual Education, Bilingualism
(2002). Bilingual Education: A Dream Unfulfilled. Editor's Introduction, Bilingual Research Journal. In the United States today, other languages and bilingualism receive no more respect than in 1954 when Mexican American children had to spend years in "pre-primer" classes before entering first grade. The rush to dismantle bilingual education programs has proceeded without any evidence of program failure. Without true equity and respect for diverse languages and cultures, education becomes of questionable value. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Educational Discrimination, Educational Policy, Elementary Education
(1998). Bilingual Education for Puerto Ricans in New York City: From Hope to Compromise, Harvard Educational Review. Although policymakers, courts, and advocacy groups have raised awareness of bilingual education, there is a gap between the remedial model and grassroots community views of bilingual education as enrichment. Support for bilingual education must be recontextualized as a strategy for education reform with leadership from language-minority persons. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Civil Rights, Community Involvement, Court Litigation
(2004). Professional Development Implications of Teachers' Beliefs and Attitudes toward English Language Learners, Bilingual Research Journal. Research-based professional development is essential for districts and teachers across the nation that face the challenge of providing a quality education for increasingly diverse student populations. In this study, the researchers surveyed 729 teachers in one midwestern suburban district recently impacted by high numbers of immigrant and refugee English language learners (ELLs) about the teachers' beliefs, attitudes, practices, and needs related to ELLs. Results focused on: (a) overall trends and typical responses and (b) differences between teachers with more positive attitudes versus those with less positive attitudes toward having ELLs in their classes. In general, teachers held positive attitudes toward ELLs, bilingual education, and bilingualism; however, there was considerable variability, with sizeable proportions of teachers holding less supportive beliefs, attitudes, and practices. Teachers more accepting of ELLs in their classes were more likely to believe that an ELL's first language proficiency promotes school performance and does not impede learning a second language; bilingualism and bilingual education are beneficial; ELLs should be tested in their first language; lack of fluency in the second language does not imply lack of comprehension; and ELLs do not consume additional teacher time or district resources. Results also showed that teachers with more favorable attitudes toward ELLs tended to take a mastery versus a performance (or competitive) approach to instruction, and had a higher self-efficacy for teaching ELLs. Based on the results of this study, the authors discuss implications for professional development. [More] Descriptors: Second Language Learning, Teaching Methods, Self Efficacy, Professional Development
(1998). Title VIIESEA: The Ambivalence of Language Policy in the United States, Bilingual Research Journal. Reflects on the public debates over bilingual education since passage of the Bilingual Education Act 30 years ago. Focuses on ambivalence toward bilingual education and bilingualism, demonstrated by the failure of colleges and universities to train adequate numbers of qualified bilingual teachers and by those who value learning a "foreign" language but not maintaining a non-English mother tongue. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Bilingualism, Educational Attitudes, Educational Legislation
(2004). Second-Language Issues in Early Literacy and Instruction. Publication Series No. 1, Mid Atlantic Lab for Student Success. Demographic trends indicate that in the 21st century, second-language issues in early literacy development will remain a pressing concern. According to the 1990 U.S. census, over 6.3 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 spoke a language other than English at home (Crawford, 2001). This number has grown to over 9.7 million as estimated from data reported in the 2000 U.S. Census (Crawford, 2001; U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). In terms of school enrollment data reported by the National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education (NCBE), in the decade 1990-2000, the number of limited-English-proficient (LEP) students is projected to have grown 104.3% compared to the projected growth of 13.6% in overall K-12 student enrollment (NCBE, 1999). The importance of learning English and of being literate in English is not the issue. What is at stake is how we educate students who do not speak English natively beyond the submersion approach that has characterized much of the educational experience of language minorities in this country. The combination of changing demographics and limited funding for bilingual education and ESL (English as a Second Language) programs means that mainstream teachers need to be informed about second-language (L2) issues in reading development. This publication seeks to assess the state of current research on L2 reading instruction and teacher preparation, and to determine the implications for instruction, teacher education, and future research. [More] Descriptors: Emergent Literacy, Teacher Education, Reading Instruction, Teaching Methods
(1998). Learning to Survive on the Political Playground, American Language Review. Describes the experiences of one California elementary school teacher who, after being involved in bilingual education, helped author a referendum to eliminate bilingual education as practiced in California, replacing it with sheltered English immersion and regular English classes. He notes failures in bilingual education and discusses successes he has seen with children who are immersed in English. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Elementary Education, English (Second Language), Hispanic Americans
(2007). Does Language Input Matter in Bilingual Writing? Translation versus Direct Composition in Deaf School Students' Written Stories, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. This paper presents the findings of an experiment in which 20 Greek Deaf students produced written texts under two different conditions of language input: (1) a translation from a videotaped story in Greek sign language, and (2) a direct composition produced from a picture story–a neutral non-linguistic input. Placing Deaf writing within a bilingual frame, the effect of language input on the quality of written texts was explored, i.e. whether or not the use of sign language facilitates the teaching of written language. In this paper, similarities and differences between Deaf writers and hearing bilingual writers are explored in terms of current theoretical perspectives on bilingual learners: Deaf writing, similar to bilingual writing, is the result of an interaction between two languages, although in the case of Deaf writing, the languages are an unrelated sign language and written language; the role of first language in teaching; and whether sign language qualifies as L1 for Deaf students. This discussion is complemented by the quantitative results in the study, which showed that the use of a language (in the form of translation) in second language writing may facilitate certain features, such as the organisation of text, but not others, such as the grammar of text. The implications of the findings for bilingual education and Deaf education are discussed. [More] Descriptors: Writing (Composition), Written Language, Linguistic Input, Translation