This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Jan Mayer, Deborah J. Hasson, David P. Dolson, Christine H. Rossell, Jorgelina Abbate-Vaughn, Margie Probyn, Janet Isserlis, Wayne P. Thomas, Peter Sayer, and Catherine Young.
(2006). Alice's Dream, Montessori Life: A Publication of the American Montessori Society. Over the years, the author has observed the vicious cycle that undermines the effectiveness of and access to good basic education in her own village and family, and in poor rural areas in general. Located in one of the most deprived areas of rural Ghana, there is a huge "reality gap" between school and children's everyday lives. The weak foundation of the early school years places children of poor rural families at a serious disadvantage. Many drop out; a few struggle on in school but without success. Their educational level is too poor to enable them to find jobs, yet they no longer fit in their communities. This further discourages parents from sending their children to school. As one of the few fortunate enough to overcome these obstacles, her life path has presented opportunities to pursue her own education and careers in rural development and early childhood education. Having completed a Master's in Education in 2004, she returned to her people with a desire to give back in a way that would make a significant impact. Born of this desire is a project to provide excellent, culturally appropriate primary education in a nurturing environment for children in northern Ghana. Children learn most effectively when teaching and learning begin with and build on what they already know. Based on Montessori's philosophy and her multisensory approach to learning, PAMBE will employ an additive bilingual method, the goal of which is to develop children who are both bilingual and biliterate in English and in their mother tongue. While they are preparing to enter the wider society where English is required for economic success, they will also, through their native language, acquire mastery and understanding of their rich cultural heritage–the history, stories, customs, music, dance, and arts of their ancestors. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Educational Attainment, Rural Areas, Access to Education
(2006). Bilingual Language Use in Hispanic Young Adults: Did Elementary Bilingual Programs Help?, Bilingual Research Journal. This descriptive study of language use examined the extent to which bilingual Hispanic young adults used their two languages in varying aspects of their lives and analyzed the extent to which they maintained the use of Spanish in these domains. A convenience sample of 202 undergraduate, Hispanic university students completed the Language and Education Survey (Hasson, 2001). Data from the Language Use section of this instrument was the basis for the present study, which compared Hispanic students who were enrolled in bilingual or English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programs in their elementary schooling with students who experienced an all-English curriculum. The results of this study showed that while there was a definite shift toward English in this sample, there were nevertheless significant differences between the Bilingual/ESOL group and the All-English group in the very specific dimension of language use. The findings raised some critical questions regarding how school systems address the particular needs of bilingual students and how this might affect the maintenance of their native language and its use in later life. [More] Descriptors: Language Usage, Language of Instruction, Hispanic American Students, Undergraduate Students
(1992). Longitudinal Study of Three Program Models for Language-Minority Students: A Critical Examination of Reported Findings, Bilingual Research Journal: The Journal of the National Association for Bilingual Education. Reviews the reported findings and implications of the Ramirez et al. study. Examines the validity of the operational definitions of the program types and the degree of implementation of the models. Discusses the seven major findings of the study, and some possibly misleading conclusions. Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Bilingual Education Programs, Elementary Education, English (Second Language)
(2006). Assessing Preservice Teacher Readiness to Teach Urban Students: An Interdisciplinary Endeavor, Online Yearbook of Urban Learning, Teaching, and Research. Novice teachers who begin their careers in urban settings abandon teaching at dismal rates. Although teacher education programs make varying efforts to incorporate awareness about the diverse contexts of urban schooling into the preservice teacher curriculum–from the "one course approach" to whole curriculum imbedded–little is known about the effects of such curricular efforts on teacher retention in urban settings. An interdisciplinary curriculum and assessment model of preservice teacher knowledge, skills, and dispositions to work in urban settings is discussed. [More] [More] Descriptors: Preservice Teacher Education, Preservice Teachers, Urban Schools, Teacher Education Programs
(2000). Trauma and the Adult English Language Learner. ERIC Digest. English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) practitioners are familiar with adult learners' stories of disruption, political trauma, and mental upheaval. Until recently, however, little attention has been paid to personal trauma and domestic abuse. Acknowledgement of the prevalence of violence generally, and of that experienced by those in the adult ESL and literacy community specifically, is critical to the development of instructional approaches that make classrooms safer and learning more possible for adult immigrant learners. This digest describes trauma and abuse in immigrant communities (concerning mainly women and children), discusses the effects of trauma on learning, and suggests ways in which practitioners can modify their practice to facilitate learning among victims of trauma and violence. A long list of implications for practice are discussed, and among the suggestions to teachers are the following: listen to learners and allow their concerns about violence to surface in one form or another; offer content and activities that allow learners to share as much or as little information as they want; allow learners to choose their level of participation in classroom activities; find out about community resources; and avoid the assumption that all immigrant learners are victims of traumas. It is concluded that although strides have been made in raising public awareness about the prevalence of violence in all forms and its effects upon learning, work remains to be done. (Contains 12 references and 4 resources.) (Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse for ESL Literacy Education) [More] Descriptors: Adult Education, Bilingual Education Programs, English (Second Language), Family Violence
(2006). Language and Learning Science in South Africa, Language and Education. South Africa is a multilingual country with 11 official languages. However, English dominates as the language of access and power and although the Language-in-Education Policy (1997) recommends school language policies that will promote additive bilingualism and the use of learners' home languages as languages of learning and teaching, there has been little implementation of these recommendations by schools. This is despite the fact that the majority of learners do not have the necessary English language proficiency to successfully engage with the curriculum and that teachers frequently are obliged to resort to using the learners' home language to mediate understanding. This research investigates the classroom language practices of six Grade 8 science teachers, teaching science through the medium of English where they and their learners share a common home language, Xhosa. Teachers' lessons were videotaped, transcribed and analysed for the opportunities they offered learners for language development and conceptual challenge. The purpose of the research is to better understand the teachers' perceptions and problems and to be able to draw on examples of good practice, to inform teacher training and to develop a coherent bilingual approach for teaching science through the medium of English as an additional language. [More] Descriptors: Science Education, Foreign Countries, English (Second Language), Educational Policy
(2006). Making Meaning Matter: A Look at Instructional Practice in Additive and Subtractive Contexts, Bilingual Research Journal. In this article, I examine the implications of additive and subtractive conceptions for the education of English language learner (ELL) students. To understand how competing theories regarding the education of ELL students materialize into action, I examine select findings from one district's implementation of Proposition 227. Focusing on the cases of two teachers, I examine the connections between teachers' theories about their students and the role in the policy to practice connection. This article provides an opportunity for school leaders to consider the implications of subtractive and additive approaches in the educational achievement of ELL students. [More] Descriptors: English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Educational Policy, Grade 3
(1992). A Synthesis of Studies Examining Long-Term Language Minority Student Data on Academic Achievement, Bilingual Research Journal: The Journal of the National Association for Bilingual Education. Longitudinal studies from the 1980s suggest that the greater the amount of native language instructional support for language-minority students, combined with balanced second language support, the higher they are able to achieve academically in the second language in each succeeding academic year, in comparison to matched groups being schooled monolingually in the second language. Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Bilingual Education, Elementary Secondary Education, English (Second Language)
(1992). Nothing Matters?: A Critique of the Ramirez, et al. Longitudinal Study of Instructional Programs for Language-Minority Children, Bilingual Research Journal: The Journal of the National Association for Bilingual Education. 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. Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Bilingual Education, English (Second Language), Immersion Programs
(2000). Bilingualism in a Canadian Context: The Case of the University of Ottawa, Higher Education in Europe. Describes the University of Ottawa, a French and English bilingual university. Discusses its history, present functioning, bilingual approach, funding, and positive and negative aspects. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Bilingual Education Programs, Bilingual Schools, Foreign Countries
(2006). The Crosslinguistic Role of Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency on Reading Growth in Spanish and English, Bilingual Research Journal. The Office of Civil Rights (2001) and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Antunez, 2003) mandate that language proficiency and academic achievement be measured in order to provide equal educational opportunities to English language learners and have an accountability system for their language and academic growth. The Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) construct is often cited in the literature as a milestone to second-language (L2) development and as having a significant relationship with academic achievement in the L2. Studies have typically explored the relationship between the primary language (L1) and the L2 separately with academic achievement. Language proficiency has often been viewed as a unitary construct without considering the interrelationship between L1 and L2 (Cummins, 2001). This study investigated the cross linguistic relationship between the CALP in L1 and L2, as measured by the Woodcock-Munoz Language Survey (WMLS) and reading growth, as measured by Curriculum Based Measurement Oral Reading Probes, with 77 second-and third grade students in transitional bilingual classes. A significant, but weak relationship was found between Spanish CALP Broad Standard Score and English CALP Broad Standard Score with reading growth in Spanish and in English, respectively. The cross linguistic relationship, as measured by the WMLS, and its relationship to reading growth is further discussed. [More] Descriptors: Language Proficiency, Spanish, English (Second Language), Academic Achievement
(2006). Promoting Literacy in Multilingual Settings, UNESCO Bangkok. This compilation of resource papers and findings is from a regional workshop on mother-tongue/bilingual literacy programmes for ethnic and linguistic minorities in multilingual settings. It was organized by Asia-Pacific Programme of Education for All (APPEAL), United Nations Educational and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Bangkok, 6-10 December 2005 in Chiangmai, Thailand and included nine participating countries–Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam. APPEAL supports pilot projects in these countries which provide mother-tongue or multilingual education to ethno-linguistic minorities. Each chapter summarizes an aspect of multilingual education programme development including issues and positive problem solving experiences. Chapter titles are as follows: (1) Linguistic Diversity, Literacy and Education (resource paper); (2) Education in Ethnic Minority Communities: Questions to Consider and Problems to Solve (resource paper); (3) Multilingual Education Practice in Eight Asian Countries (Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines, Thailand); (4) Developing Low Cost and Effective Materials for Multilingual Education Programmes; (5) Training Effective Community Teachers for Multilingual Education Programmes; and (6) Teaching Methods for Effective Multilingual Education Programmes. (Contains 7 tables, 10 figures, and 21 footnotes.) [This report was published by the UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education.] [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Language of Instruction, Pilot Projects, Linguistics
(1992). An Analysis of the Research Methodology of the Ramirez Study, Bilingual Research Journal: The Journal of the National Association for Bilingual Education. Analyzes the political, educational, and technical factors that strongly influenced the Ramirez study of bilingual programs. Enumerates strengths and weaknesses of the study's research methodology, along with implications for decision making in language-minority education. Summarizes defensible conclusions of the study that have not yet been emphasized and clarifies incorrect interpretations. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Educational Research, Language of Instruction, Limited English Speaking
(2006). Fostering Biliteracy in a Monolingual Milieu: Reflections on Two Counter-Hegemonic English Immersion Classes, Journal of Early Childhood Literacy. This article presents data from two yearlong ethnographic studies of the biliteracy instruction and development of young Latina/o children in two counter-hegemonic English immersion classes in the English-only milieu established by California's Proposition 227. The author first describes the struggle that the teachers engaged in as they sought to resist the propositions monolingual mandate by affirming and extending their students developing bilingualism and biliteracy. Next, utilizing trenchant examples of the instruction, practices, and products of biliteracy in the classrooms, the article creates an impressionistic portrait of the strategies, possibilities, and limitations of pursuing biliteracy in this monolingual milieu. The author concludes by offering several theoretical and practical reflections on young children's biliteracy development in less-than-ideal political and programmatic settings. [More] Descriptors: Monolingualism, Ethnography, Bilingualism, Bilingual Education
(2006). Reading through Linguistic Borderlands: Latino Students' Transactions with Narrative Texts, Journal of Early Childhood Literacy. This study examines the biliteracy development of a group of bilingual Latino third graders in an elementary school in the south-west USA. It focuses on the role of language in children's reading comprehension of narrative texts in Spanish and English in a school context. The authors frame their analysis within the "Continua of Biliteracy" model (Hornberger, 1989, 2003), highlighting how the youngsters drew on their linguistic resources to negotiate the contexts and contents of biliteracy. Data come from the students' 24 retellings of story books, alternating between Spanish and English. The data were analyzed using story grammar and sociolinguistic analysis. The findings of the study show how, for young bilingual and bicultural students, their languages themselves exist on a continuum.That is, in developing their biliteracy, these children navigate linguistic borderlands through their use of Spanglish, reflecting their sociolinguistic and sociocultural realities where there are not necessarily strong distinctions between Spanish and English. [More] Descriptors: Hispanic Americans, Grade 3, Reading Comprehension, Second Language Learning