California State Dept. of Education, Sacramento. Bureau of Intergroup Relations. (1977). Multicultural Education: The Interdisciplinary Approach. A Summary of Conference Proceedings. April 1-3, 1976, San Diego; April 29-May 1, 1976, Oakland. The document summarizes proceedings from two conferences which addressed multicultural realities in American life. Intended as a means of expanding multicultural understandings of elementary and secondary teachers, the conferences encouraged exchange of ideas between parents, community members, curriculum specialists, administrators, educators, and policy planners. The narrative presentation is organized into four sections. Section I challenges widespread assumptions about ethnic studies, including the conceptualization that it refers only to non-white groups and should only be included in the curriculum of students who are members of that group. Section II stresses the need for conscious decisions about content and process in multicultural education to avoid fragmented programs which do little more than glorify ethnic heroes. Section III presents interdisciplinary suggestions for improvement of teacher education with a multicultural emphasis, evaluation of curriculum, and development of new models. Case studies of successful multicultural programs are presented. Section IV predicts that the future of multicultural education depends upon the commitment of the educational system to make multicultural learnings a valid, integral part of the education of every student.   [More]  Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Conference Reports, Cultural Awareness, Cultural Differences

Joyce, Bruce R.; And Others (1977). Preservice Teacher Education. This is a report on a survey of the heads of education units, faculty, and students in United States higher education institutions that prepare teachers. Questionnaires were sent to administrative officials of teacher education institutions, faculty of these institutions, and students. The size of the selected schools ranged from small colleges to large universities. The body of the report deals specifically with the characteristics of institutions, programs, and students and presents speculation on potential future directions in teacher education. The design seqment of the study commenced with a needs survey, during which more than one-hundred policy makers in education were interviewed to determine what they believed to be the major data needs and issues in preservice teacher education. In addition, a series of position papers on major dimensions of preservice education was created. These include: (1) the structure and content of teacher preparation programs, which deals with the issues surrounding the curricula at schools, colleges, and/or departments of education; (2) the characteristics of faculty and students in teacher preparation programs, which outlines the descriptive as well as value and attitudinal information important to the survey; (3) governance and decision-making processes in institutions that prepare teachers, which describes the major decisions made within teacher preparation programs and the institutional forces that impact on these decisions; (4) cost and financing, which explores the current sources of revenue and expenditures, and the implication of these for the financial viability of programs. Questionnaires and responses are appended. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Curriculum Design, Decision Making, Educational Assessment

Jacquette, Barbara, Ed. (1979). Reading: More Than Minimum Skills. Volume 2. The ten articles in this yearbook were drawn from Arizona State University's Annual Reading Conference. The first two articles present different perspectives on current research in the teaching of reading comprehension, the third offers a systematic plan for teaching comprehension to remedial readers, and a fourth looks at reading as a tool for dealing with technological challenges from the mechanical arts to mathematics and the theoretical sciences. A fifth article offers suggestions for practical classroom activities for building and reinforcing comprehension skills in readers at all stages, the sixth defuses the controversy between the proponents of phonics-based versus meaning-based reading instruction, while the seventh discusses the effect of parents on children's early reading. The eighth article provides evidence of the effect of reading on ideas and life views and the ninth contains a history of speed reading in the United States. The final article describes a skills-based reporting system for migrant children–the Migrant Record Transfer System–which permits reachers to transmit skill information in the areas of mathematics, early childhood education, oral language development, and reading. Descriptors: Beginning Reading, Bilingual Education, Early Childhood Education, Elementary Secondary Education

Quintanilla, Guadalupe C.; Silman, James B. (1977). El Espiritu Siempre Eterno Del Mexico Americano (The Always Eternal Spirit of the Mexican American). Twenty stories and essays suitable for intermediate and secondary grades illustrate the enduring spirit of Mexican American life, legend, custom, and culture. The Spanish language book describes the ceremonies of baptism, engagement, marriage, and the "quinceanera" (a girl's 15th birthday). Folklore (magic spells, superstitions, "cuentos" or tales, the legend of the Virgin of Guadalupe) and customs (Christmas "posadas", religious promises or "mandas", and the elaborate rodeos known as "charreadas") are explained as are such aspects of Mexican American culture as music, dancing, and machismo. Several chapters are devoted to current issues including the women's movement, energy sources, and political participation. Each story or essay is followed by a series of questions and a written exercise. A Spanish-English vocabulary list completes the book. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Books, Cross Cultural Studies, Cultural Activities

Doyle, Vincent (1976). A Critique of the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory's Review of the Mat-Sea-Cal Oral Proficiency Tests. This paper presents a critique of the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory's (N.W.R.E.L.) review of the Mat-Sea-Cal Oral Proficiency Tests in their publication, Oral Language Tests for Bilingual Students. That publication was released in July, 1976 as a guide to administrators and program coordinators in the selection of instruments for assessing students' language dominance and oral proficiency (-ies). In rating each instrument, four criteria were explored: measurement validity, examinee appropriateness, technical excellence, and administrative usability. Several questions within each criteria were examined in determining the overall criteria rating. A descriptive review of the Mat-Sea-Cal is presented and the reviewer's rating is summarized in a chart. This critique scrutinizes the evaluations rendered to the Mat-Sea-Cal by the reviewers in each of the four criteria. Discussion is offered on several points. Differences in perception between the author and the N.W.R.E.L. reviewers on the evaluation of the Mat-Sea-Cal are enumerated.   [More]  Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Bilingual Students, Bilingualism, Evaluation

Oller, John W., Jr., Ed.; Richards, Jack C., Ed. (1973). Focus on the Learner: Pragmatic Perspectives for the Language Teacher. This book of readings includes: "Language Didactics and Applied Linguistics" (William Mackey); "Psycholinguistics and Second Language Teaching" (H. H. Stern); "Linguistic Theory" (Noam Chomsky); "Some Psycholinguistic Controversies" (John Oller, Jr.); "The Cognitive Strategies of Language Learning" (John Macnamara); "Conditions for Language Learning" (Graeme Kennedy); "Types of Interference" (B.D.W. Hocking); "A Noncontrastive Approach to Error Analysis" (Jack Richards); "Error Analysis and Second Language Strategies" (Jack Richards); "Language Acquisition in a Second Language Environment" (Roar Ravem); "Two Practical Experiments with Teachers-in-Training, and Some Conclusions" (H. V. George); "What Does It Mean to Know a Language, or How Do You Get Someone to Perform His Competence?" (Bernard Spolsky); "Productive Communication Testing: Progress Report" (John Upshur); "Discrete-Point Tests Versus Tests of Integrative Skills" (John Oller, Jr.); "Context for Language Testing" (John Upshur); "Cross-Cultural Biases in Language Testing" (Eugene Briere); "Attitudes and Motivation: Their Role in Second Language Acquisition" (R. C. Gardner); "Sociocultural Aspects of Language Study" (G.R. Tucker and W.E. Lambert); "Social Factors and Second Language Policies" (E.F. O'Doherty); "The Limits of Language Education" (Bernard Spolsky); "Bilingual Schooling and Second Language Teaching: A Review of Recent North American Experience" (H.H. Stern); "The Language Skills Program of the English Project" (Gerald Dykstra and Shiho Nunes); and "Are TESOL Classes the Only Answer?" (Thomas Hale and Eva Budar). Descriptors: Applied Linguistics, Bilingual Education, Cognitive Processes, English (Second Language)

Alston, Herbert L. (1977). Student Data Requirements of Lau Remedies and Texas Senate Bill 121. Title IV-C Pilot Program: An Educational Needs Projection Model. Project Report. The general purpose of the Title IV-C Pilot Program (An Educational Needs Projection Model) is to develop procedures for forecasting the personnel needed by the Houston Independent School District (HISD) for a five-year period in response to current and expected legislation and changing student population. The present report reviews: (1) the apparent student data requirements of Lau vs. Nichols guidelines and Texas Senate Bill 121, (2) current HISD data collection procedures concerning limited-English-speaking-ability (LESA) students, and (3) recommendations for a district policy to meet the apparent data collection requirements for LESA students. Descriptors: Administrative Policy, Bilingual Education, Bilingual Students, Data Collection

Amodeo, Luiza B. (1977). One Perspective on Multicultural Education. An Opinion Paper. An examination of the linguistic behavior of monolingual and bilingual Spanish-speaking children in an environment where there is opportunity to develop proficiency in two languages is examined. A review of the literature concerned with the relationship of learning processes to psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic contexts precedes an examination of the influence that language conflict may exert on minority students' academic achievement levels. Several intervention programs designed to equalize the social and language skills of minority children with those of a larger society are discussed. Criticisms and suggestions regarding the effectiveness of such programs are presented. A reference list of 43 sources is appended. Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Bilingual Education, Children, Cultural Pluralism

Yawkey, Thomas Daniels; Villarreal, Beatrice (1979). Language Learning Through Pretend Play in Young Bilingual-Bicultural Children. Child care programs are ideal places to begin the mastery of both English and a native language. Language growth can be promoted through the use of pretend play. Pretend situations include storytelling, oral drills and poems, riddles and songs. In storytelling activities, it is essential that the adult model language for the children. The children listen very intently to pronunciation, intonation, pitch, stress, rhythm, and tone. Using oral substitution drills with pretend play, the teacher can select nouns, verbs, or adjectives from the native language which can be substituted for English equivalents. Youngsters enjoy going through these drills especially if the teacher varies them. In pretend play, children can assume roles of characters or objects from stories, poems or riddles which they have heard. Oral language techniques such as (a) selective visual attention or questioning, (b) attention to nonvisual stimuli, (c) recall, (d) directed dialogue, and (e) self-monitoring can be used in pretend play. These techniques can all be used in different classroom activities such as storytelling, oral drills and poems, riddles and songs. It is the teacher's responsibility to provide opportunities for children to hear, experience and use their language(s). Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Bilingualism, Early Childhood Education, Language Enrichment

Gibson, Margaret A.; Arvizu, Steven F. (1978). Demystifying the Concept of Culture: Methodological Tools and Techniques, Monograph II. Bilinqual Education Training Series. This monograph describes techniques and methods which may be used by parents, teachers, and other educators who are working to make schools more responsive to students from different language and cultural backgrounds. Emphasis is placed on the techniques and methods used by anthropological fieldworkers to study culture and their usefulness in solving culturally based educational problems. A review of the basic techniques includes a discussion of: (1) their purposes and strengths; (2) the steps involved in using them; (3) the limitations of various techniques and some cautions about their use; and (4) suggested learning projects which can be used by educators to practice the techniques. The basic techniques covered include participation, observation, recording, interviewing, event analysis, life history, and written essays. Major phases in a research project and ethical issues which should be considered in such a project are also discussed. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Cross Cultural Training, Cultural Differences, Educational Anthropology

Rodriguez-Brown, Flora V.; And Others (1976). Language Interaction in a Bilingual Classroom: An Observational Study. Designed by the Ilinois Bilingual Evaluation Center as a pilot project, the purpose of this study was to explore the process or nature of events in a bilingual classroom and to investigate the feasibility of using observational techniques to examine this process in an evaluation context. The subjects for the study were three children of Spanish speaking background enrolled in a grade one half-day bilingual program. Each child was videotaped for a full school day, three times throughout the year. The data reported in this paper are taken from the first set of videotapes. Two preliminary analyses are presented. The first is an ethnographic analysis of the language interaction patterns of the target children and their bilingual teacher. The amount of time each language (Spanish and English) is spoken and a functional analysis of language use is discussed. The second analysis is an ecological comparison of the bilingual and regular classrooms as behavior settings. Social and psychological aspects of language use as they vary across settings are discussed.   [More]  Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Bilingual Students, Bilingual Teachers, Case Studies

Horter, Patricia B. (1977). Bilingual Vocational Technical Training Program. Final Evaluation Report. This report of an evaluation to determine the efficacy of the bilingual vocational and technical training program for the Yukon-Kuskokwin delta contains (1) a review of three on-site visits, including descriptions of program objectives, activities, results and benefits, and problem areas, and a written report on villages not visited; (2) a status report on program objectives (to enlarge the natives' comprehension of technical and conversational English, and to enhance their capacity to employ modern technology on a job or in their traditional subsistence activities and life style); and (3) a review of the effects of the program in terms of increased employment, income, and/or increased competence in repairing equipment for use in subsistence pursuits. Conclusions reported are that despite many obstacles objectives were implemented on schedule and there is general broad acceptance of the program. Recommendations are presented and include suggestions for additional bilingual personnel, an instructor's training program, increasing enrollment, and obtaining materials. Sample report forms used in the program are appended. Descriptors: Adult Education, Adult Programs, Bilingual Education, Community Education

Reyes, Richard H. (1979). Project Salud. Final Report. A bilingual vocational training program was instituted to provide fifty-six Spanish- and Chinese-speaking students with a chance to acquire English language skills and training as medical clerks simultaneously. Community benefits expected and evident need in the area for bilingual medical-clerical employees led to the choice of this field. The twelve-month, four-quarter program had courses concentrated in skill development (office skills and medical office procedures) and English proficiency (language training and medical terminology). On-the-job experience came from work in local offices and clinics, the time ratio of classwork to fieldwork being 3:1. Sixteen courses were developed along with support services that included bilingual counseling and a learning center with bilingual instructors. The bilingual staff availed themselves of an extensive and individualized development program consisting of workshops and inservice training. The program was judged successful based on (1) overall positive student and staff response; (2) on-the-job training completion by 70% of students; (3) very high student achievement since twenty-two of the thirty-eight program completers received full-time employment (resulting in 183% increase in median income), while ten students decided to continue studying; and (4) staff gains in skills and experience resulting from program participation and inservice training. (Course descriptions, exercises, and a student questionnaire are appended.) Descriptors: Allied Health Occupations Education, Asian Americans, Bilingual Education, English (Second Language)

Giordano, Gerard (1977). Neurological Research on Language and the Implications for Teaching Bilingual Children to Read. Occasional Papers on Linguistics, No. 1. Neurological data indicate that the universal aptitude for functional language is biologically based, species specific, and developmental. The universality of functional oral speech is indisputable. Everyone, however, does not exhibit similar expertise in processing oral and visual language. Many people can speak two languages functionally but read functionally in neither. Is visual language a generically distinct and substantively more difficult type of processing than oral language or are children taught to read in a way that does not optimally conform to the essential nature and organization of the brain? Children are taught a set of nonlinguistic skills which do not equal reading. The appropriateness of the skills is decided on the basis of whether they result in communicative processing of visually initiated language, which is reading. Is a nonlinguistic approach to reading the optimal instructional approach? The neuropsychological literature predicts that language aptitude cannot be reliably accessed by nonlinguistic channels. Bilingual children should be taught through their primary language, but the instruction must be linguistic in nature. A reading curriculum should increase the probabilty that students will be able to transfer their oral language ability to the problem of reading. The optimal method should be based on basic communicative strategies which introduce vocabulary, syntax, and subject matter compatible with the major channel of language processing. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Bilingual Students, Bilingualism, Cognitive Processes

McIlhenny, Anne (1979). The Role of Paraprofessional in the ESL/Bilingual Program. This study examines the changing role of the paraprofessional as viewed from the vantage point of the English as a Second Language (ESL) Bilingual classroom. The difficulty in encountering material on the role of the paraprofessional has led to some confusion in the minds of teachers as to how these assistants in the classroom are to be utilized. Some teachers under-employ them, while others give them too much responsibility. Some use them for routine work in the classroom, such as washing boards, giving out books, cleaning cupboards; others feel uncomfortable with another adult in the classroom, and convey that discomfort to the paraprofessional. It would seem that more consultation, discussion, sharing of experiences by teachers and paraprofessionals might lead to a set of guidelines. This could give an indication of how a teacher and a paraprofessional together, through sharing, planning and frank discussion, can accomplish much to aid each other and to accomplish the goal of all education — the child's learning. Such a set of guidelines is suggested in this paper. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Bilingual Students, Bilingual Teacher Aides, Bilingual Teachers