This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Marianne Mithun, Gene T. Chavez, Elizabeth Noll, Margaret A. Gallego, Joan Bundy Agurcia, Yolanda N. Padron, Joy W. Trute, San Diego National Preschool Coordination Project, Sharon Ulanoff, and CA. San Diego County Office of Education.
(1993). Teachers' Theoretical Beliefs and Practices: A Case Study of Literacy and Biliteracy in a Bilingual Classroom. A study examined how one sixth-grade teacher's theoretical beliefs about literacy and biliteracy were reflected in her instructional practices. The subject taught in an English-Spanish bilingual classroom in a public school located in a neighborhood of low- to middle-class families in a large, southwestern city. Data included field notes comprising two and a half months of participant observation of reading and writing activities, interviews, and examination of instructional materials and students' written work. Results indicated that: (1) the teacher described herself as a whole language teacher; (2) the teacher made references to the importance of joint decision-making in a whole language classroom and viewed herself as offering choices; (3) however, the choices were limited by her clearly specified guidelines; (4) the teacher believed in the importance of helping her students to become more responsible, but for her, responsibility had more to do with procedure than with content; (5) the teacher's belief that the four stages of second language development (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) are sequential contradicts descriptions of the "intertwined" processes of second language development among her students; and (6) the teacher does not plan to continue taking courses that would provide opportunities for her to reexamine her beliefs and practices. Findings suggest that, while the teacher has a clear understanding and well-grounded practice of whole language, her underlying beliefs and practices actually do not reflect a holistic view of children. language, and learning. (Contains 25 references.) [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Case Studies, Classroom Research, Elementary School Teachers
(1991). Promising Practices in Early Childhood Education. Volume I. This document describes programs that serve migrant preschool children and their families or that would be adaptable to the migrant population. Model programs illustrate trends in the direction of a "whole family" approach to early childhood education, respect for the importance of proficiency in the child's first language with regard to developing skills necessary for later learning, and a concern for the integrity of the family. Program directors emphasized the importance of working cooperatively with other community agencies to optimize the services available to migrant families. Most of the 10 program summaries contain: (1) name and address of contact person; (2) description; (3) environment or location of the program; (4) curriculum or learning plan; (5) materials needed; (6) staff needed; (7) benefits and results; (8) problems; and (9) suggestions. Additional information provided in this guide includes a description and directory of the Migrant Education Even Start Program, which integrates early childhood education and adult education, and a description of the National Preschool Coordination Project, which provides interstate coordination in the identification and development of effective educational services for preschool migrant children and their parents. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Early Intervention, English (Second Language), Family Programs
(1991). Connections: A Journal of Adult Literacy. Volume IV. This journal provides a forum for adult educators to express their ideas on adult literacy. The following articles are included: "Teaching Moments: Teaching People, Not Lessons" (Patricia Wild); "Whole Language: Implications for the Adult Learner" (Jeri Gillin); "Gatekeepers or Advocates?" (Rosie Wickert); "Writing with Teen Mothers: I Have Something to Say' (Kim Gerould); "Endings Take Time: Moments in the Writing Process" (Lucia Nunez); "Girl Talk" (Patricia Sandoval); "'Teacher, You Decide': Curriculum Development in Workplace ESL (English as a Second Language)" (Johan Uvin); "Adult Dyslexics Speak Out about Dyslexia" (John Gibbons et al.); "Right Brain, No Pain ESL" (Molly Flannery, Robert Browning); "Teaching Lesson" (Marty Kingsbury); "Adult Education: Self-Determination or Self-Delusion?" (Molly Mead); "Integrating Work and Learning in the SFCC (San Francisco Conservation Corps)" (Robert Burkhardt); "Using Bilingual Tutors and Non-Directive Approaches in ESL: A Follow-up Report" (Anthony D'Annunzio); "Teaching Literacy ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages): Notes from a Program for Displaced Workers" (Jonathan Skaff); "No More Reading Abuse" (Bridget O'Hagin); and "The Rocky Road from Frustration to Fulfillment: The Saga of a Volunteer" (Kimball Jones). [More] Descriptors: Adolescents, Adult Education, Adult Literacy, Advocacy
(1990). Use of ASL To Teach Reading and Writing to Deaf Students: An Interactive Theoretical Perspective. This paper discusses the use of American Sign Language (ASL) in an English-as-a-Second-Language approach to teaching reading and writing skills to deaf students. The paper poses and answers the following theoretical and practical questions: (1) What is the nature of first language reading? (2) What is the nature of second language reading? (3) What is the relationship between reading and writing? (4) Is inner speech (i.e., phonological coding) important for reading comprehension? (5) What role can ASL play in the teaching of literacy skills? (6) Is the use of only ASL sufficient for the development of reading and writing? Three models of the reading process, namely, the text-based, reader-based, and interactive approaches, are described. Interactive social-cognitive theories are then applied to second language reading. The interrelatedness of reading and writing is noted, and evidence of the importance of speech coding for reading comprehension is cited. The paper recommends that ASL be used to teach English literacy skills within the framework of a bilingual minority-language immersion program. ASL's use in teaching cultural components, emerging literacy skills, advanced literacy skills, vocabulary, and comprehension is examined in detail. (48 references) [More] Descriptors: American Sign Language, Bilingual Education, Deafness, Elementary Secondary Education
(1991). Reading and Language Arts Curricula in Elementary and Secondary Education for American Indians and Alaska Natives. Native students rank far below norms in reading, language arts, and language arts related subjects. This paper reviews the literature to address strategic plans for reading and language arts curricula for Native students. An overview is presented of theories of first and second language acquisition and learning, stages of language development, and the influence of the learning environment. Second language instruction framed in current theory includes the comprehension, communicative, holistic or integrated, and natural approaches. Instruction and student evaluation are described for the total physical response method. Content-based instructional approaches and the relationship between academic competency and second language (English) competency are discussed, including: the academic needs of Native students; the importance of the nature of the text, the nature of the reader, and the interaction between text and reader in reading instruction for Native students; major impediments facing Native students as they learn to read in English; and methods of overcoming these impediments. Also discussed are the language experience approach and its effectiveness with Native students, adapting the basal reader, integrating the language arts, and the whole language approach. Specific instructional strategies that have proven effective for Native students are offered: analyzing the language complexity of the learning task; providing contextual cues; peer interaction and cooperative learning experiences; modifying lessons or providing alternative activities for limited English proficient students; incorporating comprehension checks; using preview and review techniques; making the text comprehensible; and adapting content. This paper contains 44 references. [More] Descriptors: Alaska Natives, American Indian Education, American Indians, Bilingual Education
(1984). Increasing Linguistic and Cultural Assimilation through a Language Exchange Approach. The development and implementation of a high school program bringing together 8 limited-English-proficient Hispanic students and 20 students of Spanish as a foreign language is described. The program's objective was to improve relations and decrease linguistic and cultural separation between the two groups. The approach used was multicultural, emphasizing cross-cultural and linguistic studies in Spanish and English. The four steps in program development included: (1) a survey of the class; (2) a test of cultural awareness; (3) merging the two ethnic groups in cross-cultural activities; and (4) evaluating student progress and program success. Results show that students improved linguistically and culturally, and commented favorably on the program. Appended materials include a Latin and American cultural awareness test, pre- and post-test scores on the cultural awareness tests and compositions, samples of cultural assimilators used in the program, and a student questionnaire. Descriptors: Acculturation, Bilingual Education Programs, Cross Cultural Studies, Cultural Awareness
(1991). Improving Collaboration among Primary Teachers To Facilitate Mainstreaming of Limited English Proficient Children. A practicum is reported that was designed to organize collaborative efforts among primary, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), and bilingual teachers at an elementary school with a 1,200-student enrollment. The school had seen a transition from a white, middle-class to a racially mixed and transient community, with large segments from the Caribbean Basin and Latin America. Full-time immersion English programs had been established to meet the needs of the limited English proficient (LEP) students, resulting in isolated instruction with little interaction between mainstream and ESOL/bilingual teachers and causing efforts to mainstream LEP students to be hampered. Planning meetings were held to develop a cohesive 8-month curricular plan to integrate language arts and content area studies, and to coordinate bilingual instruction with ESOL plans reflective of mainstream class instruction. Student progress was determined by assessment instruments and individual student portfolios. Student achievement and teacher attitudes indicate that the practicum objectives were obtained. Contains 26 references. Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Bilingual Education Programs, Cultural Pluralism, Curriculum Development
(1993). Whole Language: How Does It Support Second Language Learners?. Seven false but common assumptions about bilingual learners are examined, and whole language principles offering alternatives to those assumptions are presented. The seven assumptions include the following: (1) learning proceeds from part to whole; (2) classes should be teacher-centered; (3) lessons should serve students' future needs; (4) learning occurs as individuals practice skills and form habits; (5) learning oral language precedes learning to read and write; (6) bilingual learners have limited potential; and (7) learning should take place in English to facilitate assimilation. Particular emphasis is given to the last assumption, and ways of working with English-as-a-Second-Language learners using their native language are suggested. Both research and anecdotal evidence are offered in support of the alternative techniques. [More] Descriptors: Academic Ability, Acculturation, Bilingual Education, Bilingualism
(1991). Language of Instruction in the Early Years. Burning Issues [Series]. This information packet contains four articles supporting the notion that young children must be instructed in their native languages in order to achieve academic, social, and personal success. The document suggests that failure to develop the first language impedes progress in the second and produces a child who is limited in both. It lists financial, policy, and teacher-training impediments to development of early childhood programs in native-language. It also outlines solutions related to advocacy, legislation, interdistrict cooperation, multicultural teacher education, and parent involvement. A case study demonstrates how a migrant child's preschool experience in an English-only program created a subtractive bilingual situation, which led, in turn, to academic failure, disrupted family communication, and dropping out. An attached article by Muriel Saville-Troike discusses the influences of cultural and social factors on language development and examines those factors with regard to three categories of limited English proficient students. Those considered to be most at-risk academically were children who had lost or failed to develop their native language while not becoming proficient in English; such children had been immersed in an English-dominant environment before age 8. The NABE No-Cost Study on Families found that language-minority families whose children attended English-dominant preschool or daycare programs experienced a change or breakdown in communication patterns, loss of parental authority, and child-parent alienation. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Early Childhood Education, Early Experience, Family Communication
(1993). Preservation of North American Indian Languages. A discussion of the crisis in preservation of North American Indian languages looks at a variety of general and specific issues. First, it examines briefly current efforts by international organizations for maintenance of endangered languages worldwide. The discussion then turns to North American Indian languages, and particularly to three issues: (1) how to set priorities about which languages and varieties of languages to document, and the relationship between linguists and the community in this effort; (2) the kinds of cooperative projects that have been successful to date; and (3) the social and professional responsibility of the linguist, as a scientist and as a teacher of future researchers. The urgency of the problem is emphasized. [More] Descriptors: American Indian Languages, Bilingual Education, College Programs, Cooperation
(1991). Redefining School Literacy: Teachers' Evolving Perceptions. Research Series No. 210. For the past year, 12 social studies, English/reading, bilingual, and library teachers at an urban middle school have collaborated with 2 professors and 2 graduate assistants from Michigan State University (MSU) to create the concept of "multiple literacies" in themselves and among their students. The purpose of the work is to extend the concept of multiple literacy beyond its traditional reading/writing and content knowledge boundaries and to help students see the connections between the knowledge and processes that are required to be school literate and those they will need for real life success. Developing multiple literacies thus involves the integration of community literacy (or the appreciation, understanding, and/or use of interpretive and communicative processes needed to adapt socially to school settings, maintain a good sense of self, and gain a conceptual understanding of school subjects) and personal literacy (or ways of knowing and believing about the self, and personal communication norms arising from historical or experiential and gender-specific backgrounds). Drawing upon the literature which supports teachers as change agents, the MSU group used principles embedded in feminist praxis to facilitate an interaction between these literacies. Teachers collaborated by selecting and designing instructional projects intended to support the work. Both problems in establishing the collaboration and successes in creating multiple literacies are described in the paper. Preliminary changes in students' school and personal success are also indicated. [More] Descriptors: Attitude Change, Bilingual Education, College School Cooperation, Collegiality
(1987). Ecobehavioral Variables within a Classroom with Limited English Proficient Students. A study analyzed the effects of classwide peer tutoring on science vocabulary spelling achievement for three language groups in one school's sixth grade. The groups consisted of: (1) Spanish-dominant and limited-English-proficient (LEP) students (n=8); (2) students proficient at grade level in both Spanish and English (n=14); and (3) monolingual English speakers (n=5). For comparison of weekly spelling gains, the second and third groups were combined as one non-LEP group. Experimental stimuli were drawn from the sixth-grade science text. Results of weekly spelling pre- and post-tests demonstrated that the peer tutoring procedures resulted in gain scores for the three language groups. In addition, the Spanish-dominant LEP group made greater gains when compared to the non-LEP group. Implications for the design and implementation of peer tutoring programs for LEP students are discussed. An 11-item bibliography is included. [More] Descriptors: Achievement Gains, Bilingual Education, Bilingualism, Classroom Environment
(1987). Teachers' Perceptions of Errors in Second Language Learning and Acquisition. A study examined prevailing views on the role of errors and on error correction held by teachers and other school-related personnel in contact with second language learners. An error perception inventory was administered to a group of school personnel (69 teachers and 18 other personnel) completing a graduate-level training program. Of these, 35 were bilingual and 52 were monolingual. The 15-item inventory measured, on a Likert-type scale: (1) degree of awareness regarding the pedagogical value of errors in developing second-language competence and performance; and (2) general attitudes toward error correction. Teaching status and classroom type were used as variables for data analysis. Results indicate that teachers in general have a better attitude toward second-language learners than other school personnel. Bilingual teachers did not demonstrate more awareness of the useful role of errors than did English-as-a-Second-Language or traditional classroom teachers. A 27-item bibliography is included and the error perception inventory is appended. Descriptors: Administrator Attitudes, Bilingual Education, Elementary Secondary Education, English (Second Language)
(1993). Is Concurrent-Translation or Preview-Review More Effective in Promoting Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition?. This study investigated the effectiveness of two English second language (ESL) teaching methodologies commonly used in bilingual classrooms: concurrent translation, often criticized but widely practiced, and dual language preview-review, which combines introductory and follow-up exercises in the first language and lesson teaching in the second language. Subjects were 60 native Spanish-speaking third-grade students of mixed Spanish and English reading skills, divided into three groups. One (n=16) was a control group, one (n=21) was taught using concurrent translation, and one (n=23) was taught using the preview-review method. All had the same teacher. Pre- and posttests of vocabulary acquisition were administered and analyzed. Results indicate that the children learned and retained far more vocabulary with the preview-review method. However, students taught with the concurrent translation method who took a delayed posttest performed better than those with a posttest immediately after treatment; this difference was not statistically significant. The findings support the use of preview-review in the bilingual classroom. Further research on the possible negative effects of the concurrent translation method, on long-term treatment effects, and on methods building on student background knowledge is recommended. A 57-item bibliography and the vocabulary test used are appended. [More] Descriptors: Advance Organizers, Bilingual Education, Classroom Techniques, Comparative Analysis
(1990). Bright Beginnings (Ayagnekegtaaraat): Preschool Curriculum Guide. This preschool curriculum was developed by a local task force in Lower Kuskokwim School District, Alaska. The task force based their work on the book "Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8," on input from district parents of young children, and on the recommendations of a curriculum review committee. This document begins with a statement of educational philosophy and goals and an outline of program organization. The cognitive, physical, emotional, and social development of the preschool child are broken down into main components, and desired learning experiences related to each component are described along with sample activities and resources. Also discussed are methods for meeting each child's needs, parent participation, training of teacher aides, and tips for choosing preschool books and being a successful story reader. Instructional materials and resources are provided, including recipes, craft instructions, finger plays, flannel board activities, games, dramatic play, and songs with Alaskan themes. Some instructions are also provided in Yupik. This publication contains 26 references and lists of 18 other curriculum resources and 134 books for preschool children (including 18 in Yupik). Descriptors: Alaska Natives, Bilingual Education, Child Development, Class Activities