This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Francis L. Huang, JoEllen M. Simpson, Almeida Jacqueline Toribio, Gabrielle Hogan-Brun, Christina Banfi, Clemens L. Hallman, Tina Isaakidis, Alexandra Muller, Hugo Baetens Beardsmore, and Mohammad Hossein Keshavarz.
(2004). What English-only Really Means: A Study of the Implementation of California Language Policy with Cambodian-American Students, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. This study focuses on an urban school district in Southern California with a large Cambodian-American student population. Ten Cambodian-American former students of the district were interviewed to examine the nature of their educational experience in terms of federal, state and district policies for language minority students. All entered school as recently arrived refugees, with little or no English language skills. The district's failure to fully implement federal and state policies meant that the majority of students were placed in English-only classrooms with teachers who were not certified to provide instruction for ELL students. For the former students in this study, the result has been weaker primary language skills, without the full mastery of English. In addition, the participants described difficulties at home, at work, and in college, and problems with their self-identity as a consequence of English-only education. The findings provide evidence that English-only programmes fail to meet the linguistic and cultural needs of ELL students, and may lead to negative consequences for students in their adult lives. The implications are discussed in light of recent legislation in California, Arizona and Massachusetts that essentially mandates the type of English-only instruction the students in this study received. [More] Descriptors: Minority Groups, Language Skills, Urban Schools, Language Planning
(2004). A Look at Early Childhood Writing in English and Spanish in a Bilingual School in Ecuador, International Journal of Bilingual Education & Bilingualism. The present study examines 20 writing samples in English and Spanish selected from portfolios of first grade children at a bilingual school in Ecuador. Based on earlier findings that paragraphs composed in English and Spanish by children, adolescents and adults are different (Lux & Grabe, 1991; Montano-Harmon, 1991; Reid, 1990; Reppen & Grabe, 1993; Simpson, 2000), an analysis was conducted of 20 written samples from first grade children, focusing on the physical structure and the topical structure of those writings. The physical characteristics of the paragraphs included the number of T-units, words, errors, error types, sentence types and connectors. Results of this quantitative analysis do not reflect findings from earlier studies describing English-Spanish differences, which may be due to the very young age of these writers or the influence of English instruction. The topical structure analysis, an analysis of coherence derived by examining the internal topical structure of each paragraph as reflected by the repetition of key words and phrases, provides insights into the organisational patterns used by these children. The results of the topical structure analysis show that these children use similar amounts of topical repetition in the two languages. Additionally, this analysis reveals developmental stages in narrative strategies. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Grade 1, Error Patterns, Sentence Structure
(2014). The Effect of Feature Complexity in Spanish Spelling in Grades 1-3, Grantee Submission. The current study explored a possible continuum of spelling features that children receiving literacy instruction in Spanish might be expected to master in Grades 1-3. We administered a developmental spelling inventory representing nine distinct Spanish spelling features to 864 students in bilingual and dual language schools across the U.S. Findings revealed a distinct hierarchy of Spanish spelling features that move from reliance solely on sound-symbol correspondences (e.g., open syllables, closed syllables, blends, nasals, diphthongs) to word patterns (e.g., inconsistent consonants and rule-based consonants) and finally to meaning units (e.g., affixes and roots). [More] Descriptors: Spelling, Spanish, Bilingual Education, Phoneme Grapheme Correspondence
(2004). Spanish/English Speech Practices: Bringing Chaos to Order, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. This paper presents a linguistic analysis of Spanish-English bilingual speech for scholars and practitioners of bilingualism. More specifically, the study surveys several outcomes of language contact, among these, inter-lingual transference, codeswitching, and convergence, as evidenced in the speech practices of heritage Spanish speakers in the United States. The emergent assessment is linguistically informed, thereby illuminating our understanding of bilingual speech forms, and encourages perspectives and pedagogies that validate bilingual speech practices. [More] Descriptors: Linguistics, Linguistic Borrowing, Bilingualism, Code Switching (Language)
(2004). The Impact of Bilinguality on the Learning of English Vocabulary as a Foreign Language (L3), International Journal of Bilingual Education & Bilingualism. This study aimed at comparing the performance of two bilingual groups of EFL students with that of a monolingual group on a controlled productive ability vocabulary test. Altogether 30 Turkish-Persian bilinguals, 30 Armenian-Persian bilinguals, and 30 Persian monolinguals participated in the study. The subjects in all three groups were homogeneous in terms of age (17-18 years old), sex (they were all female), nationality (they were all Iranian), and level of instruction (intermediate). The results of the data analyses showed that native speakers of Turkish and Armenian who speak Persian as their second language performed better in the English vocabulary test than the Persian monolingual learners of English. This can be attributed to the positive effect of the subjects' bilinguality on their third language vocabulary achievement. The study also revealed that in the area of vocabulary production and achievement the Armenian-Persian bilinguals who had learned their first and second languages both academically and orally were more successful than the Turkish-Persian bilinguals who had learned their first language only orally. The results are interpreted to have implications for EFL methodologists and syllabus designers. [More] Descriptors: Indo European Languages, Vocabulary Development, Native Speakers, Monolingualism
(2004). Living in Simultaneous Worlds: Difference and Integration in Bilingual Script-Learning, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. This paper proposes that young children who are growing up in a bilingual and biliterate environment may, at a fundamental level, experience their worlds not as separate linguistic and cultural entities but as "simultaneous". The data comes from a study of 6-year-olds in London who were learning to write in Chinese, Arabic or Spanish as well as English. Whilst being able to differentiate between their two writing systems, the children also sought connections between multiple systems of representation. They saw graphic symbols as "signifier material" which could transform in meaning across systems. When making a text, the children had an expanded range of semiotic resources from which they could choose in order to represent and construct their identities as writers. The paper discusses how children's use of graphic representation showed that they were able both to maintain difference and to achieve integration. [More] Descriptors: Bilingualism, Young Children, Semitic Languages, Chinese
(1983). U.S.–American Value Orientations. Cultural Monograph No. 4. Bilingual Multicultural Education Training Project for School Psychologists and Guidance Counselors. This teacher training monograph deals with value orientations of cultures in general and with specific reference to United States Culture. The first two sections discuss the conceptual issues of value orientation and give axiological definitions of the six clusters used to describe cultural orientation: self, the family, society, human nature, nature, and the supernatural. The third section introduces the section on U.S. culture. The fourth and fifth sections demonstrate, with examples, how values have progressed over time from an outward to an inward orientation. Section VI presents value orientations considered to be illustrative of the dominant cultural values in the United States which are commonly associated with white middle-class Americans. Values are presented separately and each is followed by an anecdote or quotation. Reproductions of advertisements reinforcing these values are included. Some of these examples reflect more than one value and these are cross-referenced. There is an extensive appendix on the cultural group called the Florida Cracker with application of the same six cultural value groups. This is followed by a brief bibliography for this group and two other brief appendices on American value structures. [More] Descriptors: Attitude Change, Cultural Background, Cultural Influences, Family (Sociological Unit)
(2004). The Evolution of Bilingual Schools in Argentina, International Journal of Bilingual Education & Bilingualism. This paper sets out to provide a preliminary descriptive account of an important subsector of the Argentine education system: those schools locally known as "bilingual schools" or "colegios bilingues". As the authors will show, the label "bilingual" has, at times, been applied rather loosely to a number of institutions. For current purposes, the authors limit this description to those schools that aim to teach through the medium of two languages. These schools may be characterised both in terms of the shared features that set them apart from other schools in Argentina, and in terms of the distinctions among them, which make this a diversified sub-sector. The authors also argue that these schools have been transformed since they were first founded in the 19th century, evolving from what were originally Heritage Schools to Dual Language Schools and, ultimately, to a new form of Bilingual school that the authors label the "Global Language School". Finally, the paper surveys some recent trends within this sector and suggests avenues for further research. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Bilingualism, Bilingual Schools, Educational Change
(2004). The Power of Perspectives: Building a Cross-Cultural Community of Learners, International Journal of Bilingual Education & Bilingualism. This paper describes a collaborative action-research project initiated by two professors of multilingual = multicultural education at a large US university, whose goal was to update a required first-semester graduate course in a bilingual/second language teacher-education programme and to adapt it to the needs of students and schools faced with a range of bilingual learner needs. Through a dialogic approach, the researchers successfully tapped into their students' own multilingual language acquisition and multicultural experiences for use as a springboard for learning. The study examines the multidimensional second language learning pathway between and among teachers and students from diverse backgrounds that can be applied in the PK-12 classroom. [More] Descriptors: Teaching Methods, Multilingualism, Multicultural Education, Language Acquisition
(2004). Multilingual Interaction in Plurilingual Classes ? European School Practice, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. The paper illustrates how interaction operates in classes where there is no single shared common language between teachers and pupils. Samples from a European School primary class taken from 1669 extracts are given of teacher-pupil, pupil-teacher and pupil-pupil interaction. Goals of the programme investigated are to integrate heterogeneous groups while showing respect for language diversity, to encourage co-operation, to accustom pupils to a multilingual environment and to encourage development of multilingual skills. Communication strategies, both verbal and non-verbal, in a typical classroom sub-culture are shown. Results reveal how the strategies used by all involved enable them to cope with the unexpected, which is typical of a linguistically mixed class. Code-switching plays a significant and legitimate role in the coping strategies. [More] Descriptors: Students, Multilingualism, Interaction, Heterogeneous Grouping
(2004). Changing Levels of Bilingualism across the Baltic, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. Since the cessation of Soviet hegemony the Baltic Republics have endured drastic changes in their political, economic, social and linguistic situation. The official reinstatement of the respective state languages has been a key feature in the establishment of their newly regained national independence. Consequently, large sections of the population need to undergo language instruction in order to be able to function in the changed linguistic environment. For many members of the ethnic communities, this has involved a shift from either monolingualism (predominantly Russian) or bilingualism (e.g. of Belarusian or Ukrainian) with Russian to a bilingualism of their ethnic language, or in some cases of Russian, with Lithuanian, Latvian or Estonian. This contribution will report on language-related developments across the Baltic and on ensuing educational challenges in Lithuania set against a diachronic perspective of local bilingual settings. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Russian, Monolingualism, Language Role
(2004). Developing and Sharing Community Language Resources through Secondary School Programmes, International Journal of Bilingual Education & Bilingualism. This paper reports on research in progress in Melbourne secondary schools in which a community language is taught to students from a range of backgrounds. The programmes are described and contextualised. The project is developing models and strategies to enable schools to cater for the needs of secondary schools of students with and without home backgrounds in the target language and from different degrees of background in a community language which they are learning at school. The paper presents a typology of student background and explores how community resources can be utilised, for the benefit of students with and without a home background in the target language. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Secondary School Students, Classification, Public Policy
(2004). Between Support and Marginalisation: The Development of Academic Language in Linguistic Minority Children, International Journal of Bilingual Education & Bilingualism. Within the last several years, researchers working with linguistic minority children have focused increasingly on the development of the types of language proficiencies that are required to perform successfully in academic contexts. Most practitioners and researchers agree that, in order to succeed in schools, such learners must be given the opportunity to acquire academic, rather than everyday, language. Unfortunately, in spite of the growing interest in the kind of language that will result in school success, we currently lack a single definition or even general agreement about what is meant by academic language. This paper examines the conflicting definitions and conceptualisations of academic language and argues that limited understandings of bilingualism and of the linguistic demands made by academic interactions will lead to the continued segregation of linguistic minority children even after they have reached a level of stable bilingualism. [More] Descriptors: Minority Group Children, Bilingualism, Academic Discourse, Language Minorities
(2004). Correlates of the Implementation of the STAD Cooperative Learning Method in the English as a Foreign Language Classroom, International Journal of Bilingual Education & Bilingualism. This study investigates the connection between teachers' experience, beliefs concerning the acquisition of knowledge, behavioural intentions to implement instructional innovations and their use of the Student Teams Achievement Divisions (STAD) cooperative learning (CL) method in teaching English as a foreign language (EFL). Fifty-five EFL teachers from diverse school backgrounds in Lebanon participated in the study. The participants completed a demographic questionnaire and another Likert-type questionnaire that measured the variables under consideration. The results indicated that teachers' interpretive beliefs, attitudes towards STAD, subjective norms, and perceived degree of behavioural control play a significant role in the use of STAD in EFL teaching. Conversely, the results revealed that teachers' transmissive beliefs and experience did not influence their use of STAD in their teaching. Implications for teacher preparation and suggestions for further research are discussed. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Teacher Education, Teaching Methods, Second Language Instruction
(2004). Bilingual Teachers in Mainstream Secondary School Classrooms: Using Turkish for Curriculum Learning, International Journal of Bilingual Education & Bilingualism. In England an inclusive language and educational policy is implemented which intends to give bilingual/EAL (English as an additional language) students access to a national curriculum studied by all students. Bilingual/EAL children are placed in English mainstream secondary school classrooms where their language and learning needs are to be met by a working partnership between the subject teacher and EAL teacher. The bulk of the language support in English schools is non-bilingual and is delivered in English. However, there is sizeable number of bilingual EAL teachers in England's multilingual schools. The focus of this paper is an ethnographic study of six Turkish/English bilingual EAL teachers from three London secondary schools, using observations, interviews, classroom transcripts and government/school policy documents as data sources. The paper describes how bilingual EAL teachers work within secondary school subject discipline classrooms where the primary focus is curriculum learning. It shows these bilingual EAL teachers resisting the "support" role usually played by EAL teachers for a more traditional subject teacher role of "transmitter" and "explainer" of curriculum content. This decision to work within the dominant pedagogic framework of secondary schooling in effect keeps the bilingual/EAL teacher and children at the centre of classroom life. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Teacher Role, National Curriculum, Multilingualism