Who Is Learning Language (s) in Today's Schools? (original) (raw)
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1997
The report summarizes results of an evaluative study of selected state-funded elementary and secondary school programs for less commonly taught languages (LCTLs) in California. Fourteen projects at 19 school sites received a maximum of 4 years of funding to offer instruction in Japanese, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Korean, and Russian. The evaluation design was guided by six instructional and evaluation questions: (1) how proficiency in the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) can be assessed, considering the diversity of the languages; (2) whether students make reasonable progress in acquiring the language within a school year and across levels; (3) how motivation influences students' attainment of proficiency; (4) how parents' attitudes toward language study and their involvement influence proficiency; (5) the role of students' ethnic heritage background in language study and proficiency development; and (6) challenges and difficulties for teachers and administrators in teaching the LCTLs. Evaluation methods and criteria are outlined and results are reported, including findings from a parent and student survey. Results are analyzed by school level (elementary/high school). Appended materials include guidelines for student portfolio use, the questionnaires used, and related documentation. (MSE)
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While the native speaker of English already has a working command of the sound system and the structure of the English language when he enters school, the native speaker of American Spanish enters school with a quite different sound system and structural system. A good educational program for these students should have as its goal to eventually make them bilingual. Upon entering school, the child should be taught through the medium of his own language and should have a special intensive English (as a second language) course as well as a special course in Spanish for native speakers of Spanish. When the student's command of English reaches the point where he can study other courses in English, the shift can begin, usually with math and science, but the sequence of courses in Spanish for native speakers should continue throughout the school years. And in a truly bilingual setting, the English-speaking child should study oral Spanish and later study math or science using Spanish as the medium of instruction. Teachers should be knowledgeable in each language and should be familiar with the contrasts in sound and structure between Spanish and English.
Working Papers in Educational Linguistics, 1999
The United States has at least three historically established patterns of language use: English monolingualism, multilingualism, and bilingualism. The United States could best be described at present as a multilingual nation in which English is the dominant language. English is promoted to varying degrees, but linguistic diversity is tolerated. The purposes of this highly descriptive report are twofold. First, American linguistic diversity and language policy are surveyed to provide some of the important contexts and conditions of language education for language minority students. Second, in the process of examining the policy and processes of bilingual and English-as-a-Second-Language programs, the
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1975
There is wide variability in the type and degree of bilingualism exhibited by persons from the various Spanish-speaking groups in the USA. Within particular .subcultural groups, there is significant variability algorig individuals in the use of language patterns. An empirical)s-eudy inystiga';ed the use of language pattern in specified social contextsiamong,two generations in three distinct Spanish-speaking groups: Ne4York 1?uerto Ricans, Central Texas Mexican-Americans, and Miami CubNI-Americans. A total of 295 families participated in the study. The Central Texas Mexican-Americans showed the greatest degree of displacement of Spanish by English as well as by "Spanglish," and the New York Puerto Ricans the greatest degree of "mother tongue" maintenance. Previous research suggests that language use are positively related. Contextual language use is an important factor which interacts with language learning and with academic achievement. It behooves teachers of persons from Spanish-speaking backgrounds to assess the language proficiency and the contextual use of language patterns of their students and to gear their curriculum accordingly. Contextual language use may be assessed by teachers through interviews and by behavioral observations, and the resulting data may be used to individualize instruction. (Author/CLK)
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