Does Bilingual Education Interfere with English‐Language Acquisition?*

Objective. In 1975, the Puerto Rican community successfully sued the New York City Department of Education, mandating the city to provide bilingual education to its Spanish‐speaking English learner (EL) students. The settlement, known as the “Aspira Consent Decree,” has been amended over time to include EL students of all language groups and now requires public schools that have at least 15 students of the same language group in two contiguous grades to offer bilingual education. Yet observational studies of bilingual education classrooms in the city document that Spanish‐speaking EL students may be the only language group that receives native‐language instruction, while students from other language groups who are enrolled in bilingual education primarily receive English instruction. Method. I use this difference in treatment dosage to estimate the effect of bilingual education on the time that it takes students to learn English. Results and Conclusions. Students who enroll in bilingual education classrooms learn English less quickly, but the effect of bilingual education is the same for Spanish‐speaking and other students, implying that negative selection mechanisms are at work.     

Family Context and Spanish‐Language Use: A Study of Latino Children in the United States*

Objective. This article seeks to explain why Latino children maintain some knowledge of their native language even though past research has consistently supported the view that non‐English‐language use rarely lasts past the third generation. I argue that family context, in addition to assimilation characteristics, plays an important role in determining their language situation. Method. I use both logistic regression and tobit regression, as well as data from the 1988 National Education Longitudinal Study, to examine the use and proficiency of Spanish among Latino children. Results. The results demonstrate that language and family context strongly influence Spanish usage and proficiency for Latino children, regardless of generational status. Conclusions. These findings reveal a relationship between assimilation, family, and language that can have important implications for the future academic and economic success of Latino children.     

Bilingual Education Programs: A Cross-National Perspective

We examine alternative forms of bilingual education that have significant implications for intergroup relationships and the reduction of prejudice in two different national settings: Canada and the United States. The Canadian programs are intended for English-speaking students from the culturally dominant group, whereas the U.S. programs we discuss are intended for language minority and language majority students. Both aim to promote proficiency in English and another language. These programs provide many of the conditions that are argued to be essential for the reduction of prejudice and discrimination. They also provide students with the communication skills and cultural awareness that facilitates intergroup contact. The history and current structure of these programs along with salient educational practices are reviewed, and research relevant to changes in intergroup behavior and attitudes is discussed.     

The Effects of Oklahoma's Pre‐K Program on Hispanic Children*

Objective. The objective of this work is to determine how much Hispanics benefit from a high‐quality pre‐K program and which Hispanic students benefit the most. Methods. Hispanic students in Tulsa, Oklahoma were tested (in English, Spanish) in August 2006. A regression discontinuity design addressed potential selection bias by comparing pre‐K alumni (treatment group) with pre‐K entrants (control group), controlling for age and other demographic variables. Results. Hispanic students experienced substantial improvements in prereading, prewriting, and premath skills. Hispanic students whose parents speak Spanish at home or whose parents were born in Mexico benefited the most. English‐language test gains were stronger than Spanish‐language test gains, but the latter were sometimes significant. Conclusions. Preschool education has considerable potential to improve educational outcomes for Hispanic children.     

The Influence of Spanish‐Language Media on Latino Public Opinion and Group Consciousness*

Objective. This article determines if the use of Spanish‐language media among Latinos influences public opinion on various policy issues and group consciousness. Methods. Using a 2004 national public opinion survey of U.S. Latinos, a multivariate analysis is run to determine the effect of language media preference on immigration policy, abortion, same‐sex marriage, and three measures of group consciousness. Results. I find more frequent use of Spanish‐language media leads to more liberal attitudes toward immigration, but has no effect on opinions toward abortion and same‐sex marriage. I also find increased use of Spanish‐language media leads to increased levels of group consciousness. Conclusions. The differences in attitudes are due to the diverging goals of Spanish‐language and English‐language media. The effect of using Spanish‐language media serves to promote a sense of group consciousness among Latinos by reinforcing roots in Latin America and the commonalities among Latinos of varying national origin.     

小语种专业大学生信息素养教育研究--广东外语外贸大学西语、东语学院信息素养教育实践

小语种专业大学生的信息素养教育是一个难点,游离于常规信息素养教育之外。本文结合广东外语外贸大学图书馆西语、东语学院信息素养教育实践,探讨了小语种专业大学生信息素养教育的内容和教学模式,包括教学内容的设计原则,教学的主要内容是信息素养通识教育和小语种信息资源,及以专题培训为主要形式的本研分层教学模式等。最后反思了小语种专业大学生信息素养教育的发展。     

Language Choice,Residential Stability,and Voting Among Latino Americans*

Objective. Students of political behavior have often found that the primary use of languages other than English impedes many forms of political participation in the United States. We develop expectations about how language choice operates with social context to influence an individual's decision to vote. Although choosing to speak a language other than English—in this case, Spanish—may affect the amount of political information individuals have at their disposal, this choice also represents their access to social and community resources that enable, rather than impede, political participation. Methods. We examine the voting behavior of Latinos, almost entirely Mexican Americans, living in south Texas counties on the U.S. border and reconsider the consequences of language choice for political behavior. Results. Controlling for past residential tenure, we find that Spanish‐speaking Latinos will be more likely to vote than English‐speaking Latinos. Conclusions. The establishment of ties to an ethnic group in a majority‐minority context over time mitigates the negative relationship between the use of Spanish as a primary language and voting.     

The conversational skills of school-aged children

Differences associated with age and with language background were assessed in performance on a task thin taps conversational skill, a ‘TV talk show’ interview task administered to 98 second through fifth graders, including many nonnative speakers of English. Surprisingly, holistic ratings of the childrenapos;s skills as conversationalists were not related at all to gender, and only moderately to age or status as a native speaker of English. A set of 29 specific interactive and language behaviors were analyzed, to determine which of these were related to holistic ratings of conversational skill. Variables reflected strategies for eliciting information and for maintaining topic, indicators of disfluency, ami indicators of how the adult was contributing to the conversation. Children who had received higher ratings on conversational skill produced more topic continuations, a higher proportion of more sophisticated noncontingent responses, and fewer simple yes/no topic initiations and continuations. Age, gender, and language status related only minimally to the specific interactive or language behaviors associated with success as a conversationalist, although children from homes where English was spoken did tend to receive higher holistic ratings of conversational skill.     

Effects of Individualized Education Programs on Cognitive Outcomes for Children with Disabilities in Head Start Programs

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the impact of Head Start, disability status, and receipt of an Individualized Education Program (IEP) on early language, literacy, and mathematics skills for low-income children with language, cognitive, emotional/behavioral, sensory, and physical disabilities. Secondary analysis of data was performed on a sample of children with disabilities (N = 570) drawn from the Head Start Impact Study, a nationally representative study of approximately 5,000 children randomly assigned to Head Start or non–Head Start programs. Results of ordinary least squares regression analyses indicated that Head Start participation enhanced outcomes for children with multiple disabilities; language, literacy, and mathematics skills at age 5–6 years were higher for these children compared to non–Head Start attendees. Head Start children with disabilities were more likely to have an IEP, though IEP receipt was associated with lower language, literacy, and mathematics scores among all children. There is a need to ensure that Head Start, and programs similar to Head Start, are more widely available to provide comprehensive, quality early childhood programming to children with cumulative risk factors (low income, multiple disabilities). Future research should clarify why IEP receipt was associated with poorer cognitive outcomes.     

Negotiating the American Dream: The Paradox of Aspirations and Achievement among Latino Students and Engagement between their Families and Schools

The lagging achievement of many U.S. Latinos is staggering. Latinos have the highest high school dropout rate. Further, second- and third-generation Latinos in the United States perform less well than do recent immigrants. These statistics belie the hopes and aspirations for upward mobility, a better life, and the deep value for education that are tightly held by many Latino immigrant families. Understanding this paradox between the aspirations of Latino families and their academic outcomes is the focus of this article. The experiences of Latino children in U.S. schools, the incongruence between the cultural worldviews of U.S. schools and Latino families, and the interactions and expectations for partnerships between families and schools are integrated and applied to the question of why Latino students are not reaching their potential, despite goals for achievement and significant parental sacrifice and investment.     

Emotion Understanding in English- and Spanish-speaking Preschoolers Enrolled in Head Start

Research assessing children's emotion understanding has increased over the past several years. Despite the proliferation of research, there have been few studies conducted examining the development of emotion understanding in children from diverse backgrounds. Further, there has been no research conducted examining the psychometric properties of emotion understanding measures when used with children from diverse backgrounds. A total of 597 preschool children from low‐income families enrolled in Head Start (248 Spanish‐speaking and 349 English‐speaking) were given an emotion understanding assessment in their native language at two sessions separated by six months. All children showed significant growth in emotion understanding abilities from time 1 to time 2, with English‐speaking children generally outperforming Spanish‐speaking children. The psychometric performance of the measure was analyzed for both English and Spanish samples and for English‐speaking children at different levels of language ability.     

Bilingual Social Workers in Mental Health Service Provision: Cultural Competence,Language, and Work Experience

Many agencies actively recruit bilingual social workers. This study presents the reactions of 10 Chinese bilingual social workers to the expectations and demands of their agencies. The study employed a qualitative design with a phenomenological approach. The participants’ responses provide insight into how they manage ethnic and cultural mental health issues in Chinese populations. This study aims to improve social service delivery for clients with limited English proficiency by identifying effective, culturally competent services. The findings suggest that when hiring bilingual social workers, it is just as important for them to be culturally competent as it is for them to be an ethnic or language match with the client base. Having all of these qualities will result in staff members who can provide more effective services by making accurate diagnoses and identifying appropriate treatment plans. In addition to employing bilingual social workers, it is important to maintain good supervision as this will allow supervisees to have a unique perspective on what is involved in providing effective delivery of services to clients with limited English proficiency. Implications for research, practice, and policy are discussed.     

语言输入假说对高职英语听说交际能力培养的启示

Krashen的语言输入假说是二语习得理论的一个重要组成部分,此假说的四个基本理论对高职英语听说教学带来了很大启示。教师应提高听说教学输入的质与量,并尽量提供学生"可理解性"输入的机会,从而培养学生良好的听说交际能力和职业能力。     

A measure of English acculturation stress and its relationships with psychological and physical health status in a sample of elderly Russian immigrants

This study aims to evaluate the factor structure and criterion validity of the English Language Acculturation Stress (ELAS) scale in a community-based sample of elderly Russian immigrants. The sample consists of 300 Russian immigrants with an equal number of females and males, from 59 to 93 years of age (Mean = 73.26, SD = 7.271). The majority of the respondents were married (72%) at the time the interviews were conducted. On average, the respondents have lived in the U.S. for about 7 years (SD = 3.00). We performed both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to ascertain the factor structure or conceptual dimensions of the 11-item ELAS scale. The findings revealed that this 11-item scale encompasses three dimensions: Basic English skills, survival English skills, and social involvement English skills. Correlation analyses of the scale with depression, physical health status, and length of residence suggest that the ELAS has good criterion validity and potential as a screening instrument of language acculturation stress for elderly Russian immigrants. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

English‐ and Spanish‐Language Media Coverage of Immigration: A Comparative Analysis*

Objective. We apply economic theories of news to explain differences between English‐ and Spanish‐language newspaper coverage of immigration. Methods. Using content analysis and contextual data, we examine newspaper coverage of immigration as a function of economic incentives of news organizations and the language of the newspaper outlet. Results. The results indicate that Spanish‐language news outlets generate a larger volume of coverage and more positive coverage of immigration when compared to English‐language news outlets. Conclusions. This specific topic is important and politically relevant because of the potential implications variability in media coverage of this issue hold for public opinion on immigration.     

Preschool and School Readiness of Children of Immigrants*

Objective. In this article, we use data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey—Kindergarten Cohort to analyze the links between preschool attendance and the school readiness of children of immigrants. Methods. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey—Kindergarten Cohort, we estimate multivariate regression models for the effects of preschool on school readiness for children of immigrants and children of natives. Results. We find that children whose mothers were born outside the United States are less likely to be enrolled in school or center‐based preschool programs than other children. We find that preschool attendance raises reading and math scores as much for children of immigrants as it does for other children. Attending preschool also raises the English‐language proficiency of children of immigrants. Although not the main focus of our study, we examined the effects of Head Start, and found that this program improves children's English proficiency, with especially large effects for children of immigrants whose mothers have less than a high school education; in this latter group, Head Start also improved math scores. Conclusions. Given that preschool benefits children of immigrants as much as it does children of natives and given that children of immigrants are less likely to be enrolled, our findings strongly suggest that enrolling more children of immigrants in preschool would help reduce inequality in skills at school entry.     

Student achievement against national minimum standards for reading and numeracy in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9: A regression discontinuity analysis

Literacy and numeracy are essential for success in life. In Australia, students’ academic achievement is monitored using the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). One of the aims of NAPLAN is that results will drive student improvement by identifying which students are underperforming against national minimum standards and who require additional learning support. This study investigated the performance trajectories of students who were identified as “below the national minimum standards”, relative to students above the national minimum standards. This study used standardised reading and numeracy test scores for Australian students and regression discontinuity methods to investigate whether students who performed below the national minimum standards showed improved performance in subsequent years compared with similar students above the national minimum standards threshold. On average, achievement gaps between students below the standards and students at or above the standards persisted across year levels. Labelling students below the national minimum standards had no significant effects on later reading or numeracy achievement. The results suggest the NAPLAN national minimum standards labelling is not driving student improvement, highlighting the need for effective early identification and interventions for children who do not meet school year benchmarks for literacy and numeracy.     

Linguistic Support Services for Immigrant Domestic Violence Victims

Intimate partner violence is increasing among immigrant women in the U.S., but because of language barriers, abused immigrant women may be unable to access formal services. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of geographical location (urban/rural) and percentage of non-native English speakers on the availability of linguistic support services in one highly diverse state-Florida. Using a sample of 258 service providers for domestic violence victims, the results show significant differences between rural and urban providers’ perceptions of the need for linguistic support services in law enforcement, legal, and mental health needs. Urban service providers perceived a greater need for these services than rural service providers. The study found that a higher percentage of non-native English speakers predicted greater bilingual linguistic service availability. Lastly, the study found the more frequently providers perceived a victim’s basic needs to be met, the more likely that providers indicated linguistic support services were frequently met in their service area. Findings indicate that immigrants experiencing abuse who reside in rural areas might endure added difficulties in accessing assistance. While it may not be cost-efficient for rural service providers to hire translators or multilingual staff, such services may be cost-shared with other agencies.     

Adaptation and Evaluation of a Group Curriculum for Latino Clients in a Driving Under the Influence Program

The purpose of this study was to describe the process of culturally adapting group curriculum modules for Spanish speaking clients in a Driving Under the Influence Program as well as to test the acceptability of these modules. Using the Group Topics Evaluation Scale (English and Spanish version), 90 clients rated six modules that were presented in 30 different group sessions. Spanish speaking clients were significantly more likely to rate all six modules much higher than their English speaking counterparts, indicating acceptability. This is important as driving-under-the-influence programs may provide access to Latino clients not seen elsewhere. Possible further research is discussed.