This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Juan C. Gonzalez, WA. Seattle School District 1, Linda Zalk, Robert L. Bonn, Halyna Duda, Joan Wink, Richard L. Warren, Merrill Swain, Velma J. Leeding, and Gustavo Gonzalez.
(1981). Ethics Involved in the Evaluation of Bilingual Education. This paper maintains that evaluation of bilingual programs must not only be true, it must also be just. The evaluator's perception of justice will affect how he/she will determine program effectiveness; consequently, it will color findings and recommendations. Bilingual education programs are, in fact, social action programs, as defined by the Elementary Secondary Education Act; therefore, they demand appropriate evaluation methods. The first model discussed, the egalitarian-utilitarian approach, is found inadequate because utilitarian ethics stress the overall needs of individuals in a society with particular emphasis on satisfaction of upper-class needs. These ethics contradict bilingual program goals, which stress the special and individual needs of students. It is suggested that an evaluation system based on intuitionist/pluralist ethics would be more just. Intuitionist/pluralist ethics have a multiplicity of principles for making judgments, with no priority rules for weighing judgments against each other. The case study approach, incorporated into an intuitionist/pluralist ethical model, is described and advocated as a model which will be effective because the findings will have been collected and validated for a particular audience and will include opinions and evaluations of persons who are actively involved in the program. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Case Studies, Educational Objectives, Elementary Secondary Education
(1981). Context-Sensitive Evaluation Technology in Bilingual Education. The Sims Image-Based Organizational Model (SIBOM) with reference to its use in evaluation of bilingual education programs is described. The technique elicits participant perceptions in metaphor-generating sessions. This is one step in a process whereby participants' perceptions can be organized to describe the system of problems and resources they perceive in their environment, as well as areas of agreement and disagreement, and sometimes how the participants' own process strengthens or weakens achievement of their objectives. SIBOM's use of metaphor in the evaluation process takes advantage of the metaphor's projective properties, its synthesizing function, and its generality or remoteness from specific problems. The two levels of analysis, content and process, are described. The content analysis determines the degree of congruence in perceptions of the respondents regarding matters such as age, time in program, sex, ethnic background. Process analysis is done through observation of behavior and interaction in the metaphor-generating group. By way of conclusion, a brief account is provided of the rise and decline of the SIBOM evaluation model. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Elementary Secondary Education, Evaluation Methods, Interaction Process Analysis
(1981). Bilingual Education at Campbell School: A Case Study. This is a report of a case study, in the anthropological tradition, of an elementary school with a bilingual-bicultural program. The research was carried out in 1978. The school is in a community of 45,000 located close to the California-Mexican border. Eighty-seven percent of the pupil population are of Hispanic background, 10 percent are Anglo, 1 percent are Filipino and slightly over 1 percent are black. The school has used a language maintenance bilingual education model since the program was begun in 1969. The study is based on a general view of schools as academic organizations with internally generated social norms, role expectations, and patterned behavior and as instruments of cultural transmission and socialization for the parental constituency and the broader culture/community. The research focused on questions relating to: 1) the interaction of cultural differences, schooling processes, and teacher behavior; 2) the effect of federal and state intervention on the organization of the program and the life of the school; and 3) the role and involvement of parents in the school. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Case Studies, Cultural Differences, Elementary Education
(1979). Project ABLE–Achieving Through Bilingual Education. Final Report. Project ABLE (Achieving Through Bilingual Education) operated in six public and nonpublic schools in Brooklyn, New York, during the 1978-1979 school year. Approximately 250 students from four language groups (Hebrew, Italian, Russian, and Spanish) received ABLE services. The program focused on the maintenance of bilingual resource centers and on working with tax levy bilingual teachers to enhance the quality of their instructional efforts. Special emphases were given to instruction, curriculum and materials, parental involvement, staff development, and impact on student achievement. Program evaluation was accomplished through classroom observation; teacher, administrator, and project director interviews; and pre/posttest student achievement data from the Bilingual Syntax Measure, the New York City Language Assessment Battery, and the Stanford Achievement Test. Findings indicated that: the project was strong in the areas of curriculum and materials, parental involvement, and staff development; instruction took a variety of forms in both the foreign languages and English; and a significant impact was made on student achievement in a number of areas. Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Bilingual Education, Elementary Education, English (Second Language)
(1981). Bilingual Education for Majority and Minority Language Children, Studia Linguistica. The fact that early immersion in a second language has led to bilingualism and academic success among majority language children has been used as an argument against mother tongue instruction for minority language children. However, for minority language children, immersion in a second language has often led to language loss and academic failure. The generalization that first language education can be bypassed is invalid. The sequencing of the languages of instruction is important in the development of bilingual proficiency. Determination of the appropriate sequencing of the languages of instruction in a bilingual education programs depends on several factors external to the school. The Canadian French immersion programs and programs in minority language settings are compared. Based on a theoretical framework of language proficiency, it is concluded that early education in the first language, whether for majority or minority language children, provides a solid basis for academic progress in a second language. However, the second language should be introduced early for majority language children and later for minority children. Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Bilingual Education, Bilingualism, Elementary Education
(1972). Ethnic Group Schooling and the Massachusetts Transitional Bilingual Education Act. Ethnic schools (supplementary schools conducted on Saturday and weekday afternoons and religion-affiliated day schools) in the Boston area were surveyed in order to determine the effect of the Massachusetts Transitional Bilingual Education Act (TBEA) on ethnic schooling and the possibilities of ethnic school involvement with TBEA. The schools studied were Roman Catholic parish schools and two types of ethnic supplementary schools: (1) those serving new immigrants along with American-born ethnics; and (2) those serving ethnic groups which no longer have sizable numbers of new immigrations. Questionnaires were used to collect data from ethnic school teachers and directors. The findings showed that the TBEA is perceived as having: (1) a potential negative impact on the educational efforts of certain ethnic groups, i.e., Chinese and Greek; (2) no impact on the supplemental educational efforts of groups that immigrated primarily before the mid-1950's, i.e., Armenians and Poles; (3) no impact on Roman Catholic parochial schools serving ethnically homogeneous parishes. Methods for involving the ethnic group schools in the implementation of the TBEA are suggested. Concluding the study are recommendations for State recognition and support of ethnic schools because of their valuable role in the process of socialization of immigrant children, as well as the preservation and development of bilingualism in both immigrant and native-born children. A brief history of the TBEA and a copy of the Act and the questionnaire are provided. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Bilingualism, Cultural Background, Educational Legislation
(1973). Issues in Bilingual Education: The Acquisition of the First Language. Bilingual education means that equal emphasis is given to the development of the child's first language and to the learning of English as a second language. The teacher should know exactly where his students are in the development of their first language when they begin to study the second language. This requires a knowledge of the language acquisition process. By using language patterns from the student's own linguistic inventory to present content material in the classroom, the teacher increases the chances of successful communication. Using the child's dialect of the first language is also important if his classroom experiences are to be nontraumatic. When enough information on the acquisition of the first language is gathered, guidelines can be established as to what language structures are developmentally characteristic for children of different age levels, thereby enabling teachers to help students who may be losing fluency in their mother tongue. Knowledge about first language acquisition helps the teacher of English avoid those structures that the student cannot yet grasp in his first language. More research is needed on the varieties of the first language spoken in given geographic areas. A detailed summary of the author's research on the acquisition of Spanish by Mexican-American children in South Texas is included. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Bilingualism, Child Language, Dialects
(1972). Bilingual Education Project, Santa Clara County, California. Final Report, 1972. The Spanish Dame Bilingual Education Project, located in Santa Clara County, California, served 190 children who came from homes where the primary language was Spanish and who resided within the target area schools of the Alum Rock School District. The objectives of the preschool project were (1) to demonstrate a home-teaching procedure designed to improve the concept formation and language development environment of 80 children, ages 3-4; (2) to train 16 women from the community as home tutors; and (3) to give training to the mothers of the project children for improvement of their teaching techniques with their own children. The in-school project, for children in grades K-2, attempted to improve their language skills in Spanish and to provide a basic level of fluency in English. Some topics discussed are the training of paraprofessionals as home tutors; the development of a 1st and 2nd year curriculum in English and Spanish with the activities taught in Spanish; the instructional equipment and materials used; the parent-community involvement; the responsibilities of the project manager, preschool coordinator, in-school coordinator, and community resource assistant; and the implementation of a home intervention program, to include funding, personnel, training center, fringe benefits, substitutes, and evaluation instruments. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Community Involvement, Curriculum Evaluation, Early Childhood Education
(1968). Some Psycholinguistic and Sociolinguistic Aspects of Bilingual Education. Both sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics are relatively recent areas of study and they tend to overlap. One way in which they overlap is in the selection of topics, among them bilingualism and linguistic relativity. Studies of linguistic relativity demonstrate that, although there are clear surface distinctions between the way languages map physical reality, and although these distinctions may influence the ease of memory and description, there is no evidence that these differences are fundamental or that they prevent the formation of concepts. Concerning the question of how bilingualism affects language development, no final statements can be made. One extreme position, the balance theory, holds that each individual has only a certain amount of language learning ability and if it is divided between two languages, the knowledge of each language will be weaker. At present language testing instruments are not precise enough to test this hypothesis. While the evidence now collected seems to favor the balance theory, a great deal more study is needed on this complex question. Therefore, although no one suffers cognitively by learning one language rather than another, there will possibly be some loss in linguistic ability when two languages are learned. Unless this is offset by increased motivation, there will be a loss in other subjects. Bilingual education is closely tied to a society that accepts both languages. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Bilingualism, Cognitive Processes, Linguistic Theory
(1976). The Linguist's Role in a Bilingual Education Programme. This paper outlines an Australian bilingual education program for aboriginal children, and describes the role of linguists in such programs. The program consists of four stages, roughly coinciding with the first four elementary grades. During the first stage, the child becomes literate in the vernacular, is exposed to beginning content material, and learns to speak English through oral lessons. At the second stage, reading skills in the vernacular are developed, and the child begins to read and write English. In the third and fourth stages, the child learns in both languages and is ultimately instructed in English with some classes in the vernacular. The linguist has several roles is such a program. There is a need for a survey to determine how many vernaculars are spoken by the children, which should be taught, and which is the central dialect in an area where several dialects are spoken. Linguistic descriptions of the aboriginal vernaculars are needed as well as an assessment of a child's language competence in the vernacular and English at the outset of the program. Linguists are needed for the accurate preparation of educational materials. The advantages of training aborigines as linguists and literacy workers are also discussed. [More] Descriptors: Australian Aboriginal Languages, Bilingual Education, Descriptive Linguistics, Dialect Studies
(1975). The Role of the Paraprofessional in Bilingual Education. When the paraprofessional in bilingual education is used effectively, individual needs and individual differences of the students are met. An approach to the training of the paraprofessional has been developed at the Merrimack Education Center (MEC). The training program involves active participation of all paraprofessionals. Understanding and synthesizing child growth and development principles as well as knowing the specific duties of the paraprofessional are necessary components of the training program. Over the past five years, MEC, acting in the role of an educational brokerage center, has continuously interacted between professionals and paraprofessionals in order to reassess the needs of communities continuously for the formulation of new immediate and long term behavioral objectives. Based on these objectives a variety of programs has been prepared for workshops of varying sizes and lengths of time, and semester courses to meet the variety of needs. The bulk of this document describes one program designed to meet the specific needs of instructional aides in an urban area. Program instruction is couched within a framework of understanding the process of human behavior and how children learn within a social-psychological environment. Reinforced consistently in the role of instructional aide is the need for the pupils to identify with elements and people within the community. Instructional aides can be adequately trained in ten weeks. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Classroom Observation Techniques, Cultural Education, Curriculum Development
(1975). English-Italian Bilingual Education: Tangipahoa Parish Bilingual Program. This paper describes the English-Italian bilingual education program of the Tangipahoa Parish School System in Tangipahoa, Louisiana. The program reaches approximately seven hundred students from kindergarten through third grade, and the main objectives of the program are (1) refining the native language for children of non-English speaking backgrounds, (2) establishing a standard of English acceptable to the dominant group of the local community, (3) developing in pupils a mastery of the mechanical skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing for effective communication with clarity of meaning and precision of expression. In concurrence with the elementary school program, the Foreign Language Department at Southeastern Louisiana University offers courses in Italian studies to train the classroom teachers involved in the bilingual program, and night courses are offered for adults. It is anticipated that the result of this project will be the establishment of a permanent cultural, ethnic heritage and language studies program in the Tangipahoa Parish schools for students of Italian ancestry and others who may be interested. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Cultural Education, Elementary Education, English
(1978). Industrial Arts Safety Guide. Cambodian. Bilingual Education Resource Series. Designed for use in bilingual education programs, this industrial arts safety guide includes guidelines for developing a student safety program and three sections of shop safety practices in both English and Cambodian. Safety program format, safety committees, safety inspection, and student accident investigation are discussed in the section on developing a student safety program. Set forth in the section on general safety practices are safety instructions for all areas of industrial arts; safety rules for machine tools, hand tools, and portable electric hand tools; housekeeping; back strains and proper lifting; safe lifting; materials handling; personal practices and conduct; and fire control. Safety procedures relating to automotive and power mechanics; compressed gas; drafting room; dusts, fumes, and combustible materials; foundry practices; flammable and combustible liquids; electricity/electronics; graphic arts; soldering; and storage batteries are covered. Specific machines examined in the section on safety procedures for machines include buffers, drill presses, forges, grinders, jointers, lathes, milling machines, presses, saws, sanders, metal shapers, shears, sheet metal machines, planer-surfacers, and welders. (Corresponding bilingual guides containing material in Chinese, Korean, Thai, Japanese, and Ilokano are available separately through ERIC–see note.) [More] Descriptors: Accident Prevention, Accidents, Auto Mechanics, Bilingual Education
(1992). The Emergence of the Framework for Intervention in Bilingual Education. This paper summarizes an ethnographic study of three kindergarten and three first grade bilingual classrooms which investigated the impact on the school community of two conditions: (1) when teachers and staff were trained in cooperative methods for teaching and learning a second language; and (2) when the school initiated and implemented a parent advisory committee for the bilingual education program. Informants were parents, students, teachers, and all staff coming into contact with the children in the six classrooms. Formal staff development and parent training sessions occurred monthly. The report describes the methodology and organization of the original dissertation and outlines its findings and recommendations. It is concluded that in this case and in the course of the study, the school's approach shifted from assimilation to acculturation, ethnocentrism to pluralism, bicultural ambivalence to cultural pride, and melting pot model to cultural mosaic. However, these changes did not occur linearly but through unexpected shifts in direction due to staff/researcher interaction. Two ancillary findings were: that several monolingual staff were found to be particularly effective in the bilingual setting; and that team teaching evolved in this situation. A 28-item bibliography is included. A previously-proposed schematic framework for bilingual intervention and an adaptation suggested by this research are appended. [More] Descriptors: Acculturation, Advisory Committees, Bilingual Education, Cooperative Learning
(1981). Meeting America's Language Needs: Foreign Language Teaching and Bilingual Education. One of 10 studies commissioned to investigate research needs and to stimulate planning activities, this paper claims that we know little about the language needs of all Americans, and argues that our real concern should be one of direction, not one of money. Although the need to communicate with the rest of the world has emerged as the most challenging educational policy issue of our day, educators at all levels still await direction concerning the future language needs of today's youth. It is also argued that, from the standpoint of policy, our approach to language learning has been unorganized and disconnected. It advocates that the National Institute of Education take the lead in exploring the policy implications of making foreign language and bilingual education part of a broader effort to prepare America for internationalization, and in a national experiment in strategic language planning. It is suggested that the following be addressed: (1) developments in business and commerce; (2) shifts in the role of government; (3) the role of educational systems and intermediate systems; (4) reshaping of language programs by other countries; (5) laws, administrative regulations, and practices, and (6) educational organizations in cooperation with public and private organizations. Descriptors: Agency Role, Bilingual Education, Educational Policy, Elementary Secondary Education