This study examined the characteristics of 14 English Language Learners classified as having learning disabilities (LD) who were also identified as having speech and language impairments (SI) prior to, at, or after initial identification as LD. Data were collected under the auspices of a longitudinal study, Bilingual Exceptional Students: Effective Practices for Oral Language and Reading Instruction, conducted by multicultural special education faculty at the University of Texas at Austin between 1999 and 2002. Participants were served in bilingual education and bilingual special education programs in a large, central Texas school District. Archival data from students’ cumulative, bilingual and special education records were analyzed to profile student characteristics at the point of their initial LD and SI eligibility determinations. A clinical judgment panel comprised of bilingual special education experts analyzed student data and made independent eligibility recommendations for each participant. These recommendations were compared to the multidisciplinary teams (MDTs’) eligibility decisions. Findings revealed that MDTs based eligibility primary on the presence of an IQ-achievement discrepancy and did not adequately consider factors, other than the presence of LD that could explain student difficulties. When data other than the IQ-achievement discrepancy were considered, the clinical judgment panel classified 4 participants as LD and 9 as having disabilities other than LD; the panel felt that data for one student were insufficient to make an eligibility recommendation. Findings related to identification of SI for this population were limited because students were assessed using a Spanish translation of an English speech and language assessment developed by the district. Test results corroborated parents’ and teachers’ concerns that these students had significant communication problems. Implications for improving practices related to early intervention, referral, assessment, and eligibility determinations for ELLs are presented and suggestions for future research are delineated. / text

This mixed-method study investigated how and to what extent direct instruction in Spanish-English translation and interpretation affects the acquisition of academic language proficiency in both English and Spanish by Heritage Language Learners of Spanish (HLLS). The subjects of the quantitative part of the study were 24 participants who were from six high schools with a large number of minority students. These high schools were located in Tucson and Nogales, Arizona. The participants in the qualitative part of the study were six case study students, chosen from the whole group. The participants were enrolled in the 2006 annual 3-week Professional Language Development Program (PLDP), held in July at the University of Arizona. The PLDP's additive teaching translation and interpretation model engaged the participants in learning by not only the novelty of practicing real-life, challenging exercises in class, using their unique cultural and linguistic skills, but also by the dynamic collaborative learning environment. The improvement in the participants' academic language proficiency was assessed through individual interviews of six case study participants, their high school teachers, and the two PLDP instructors.The use of translation and interpretation to improve the HLLS's academic English (and Spanish) stands in stark contrast to the subtractive teaching English-as-a-Second-Language model that promotes English fluency at the expense of the heritage language. The study, therefore, expands research on minority HLL's cultural capital that is not utilized in American education, where limiting the use of bilingual education for English language learners is the norm. The success of the program was demonstrated by the students' newfound appreciation for their heritage language and culture, academic learning, motivation for higher education, and statistically significant gains in Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP; Cummins, 2000).

Bilingual education is a subject of debate in education. Some claim that bilingual education programs are detrimental to students, but decades of research supports the benefits of bilingualism and bilingual education for both English Language Learners and monolingual English speakers. The U.S. does not have bilingual education programs in proportion to the needs that these programs could meet for students in public schools. If bilingualism is beneficial, then why do we not have more bilingual education programs? Research extensively covers the internal components of bilingual education programs but only touches on the effect of the external conditions necessary for program success. In order to study one piece of this large question, this thesis considered the external conditions. In order to determine which conditions and which programs/cities/states to research, I compared the case studies of bilingual education programs to determine patterns in the conditions surrounding them. The case studies were selected because they addressed success factors of these programs. Demographics, university relationships, and legislation were three conditions that the research addressed. Minneapolis-St. Paul; San Francisco; Westminster, CA; New York City; and Detroit are the cities considered because they have large ELL populations but are different in their demographic composition and in how they approach bilingual education. I compared the state and number of bilingual programs to the demographics, university relationships, and legislation in each community and drew conclusions from the resulting patterns. The data showed that the existence of bilingual programs correlated positively to the demographics, university relationships, and legislation in each city, although not always to the degree expected. By analyzing the effects of the conditions on the chosen communities, I concluded that one, states and education leaders need to recognize student needs based on student demographics, two, universities need to conduct research for and advocate for local bilingual programs, and finally, legislation needs to support bilingual programs. The most important condition was individuals from universities advocating for bilingual programs by conducting research that provides a source of reliable information about bilingual education for the lawmakers who create educational policy.

Este trabajo propone un análisis de los programas de Educación Intercultural Bilingüe (EIB) en Chile para la comunidad mapuche. A través de la historia de Chile, las relaciones entre las comunidades originarias y el Estado han sido desiguales—sesgando instituciones, sistemas de poder y estructuras sociales a favor de la cultura dominante. Al responder a estas injusticias, durante de los 1990s hasta hoy en día, la cuestión de lo indígena se ha convertido en un tema importante dentro el contexto sociopolítico de Chile, especialmente en torno al sistema escolar. Esta tesis discute el valor de la EIB para los pueblos indígenas y la sociedad dominante, proponiendo su poder en romper sistemas de opresión, los cuales todavía enfrentan las comunidades originarias del país. El trabajo lleva a cabo un análisis de los éxitos y fracasos de estos programas actuales establecidos bajo la Ley Indígena (1993), ofreciendo percepciones y explicaciones de su fracaso y recomendaciones para su mejora.

The rapid increase of the English Language Learner (ELL) student population in the United States and their continued lack of achievement means that research must focus on examining differences between the types of second language programs that are available in the U.S. to assist ELLs to learn a second language. The lack of research about teachers’ knowledge and perceptions along with professional development practices in second language programs indicates the need to improve teacher training. This dissertation includes two research studies that followed a mixed-methods approach. Study 1 was conducted with 225 Bilingual and English as Second Language (ESL) teachers in a large suburban school district. Study 2 included 335 Dual Language and ESL teachers from forty school districts in Texas. Study 1 examined Bilingual and ESL teachers’ knowledge of research on bilingual programs, instructional issues for ELLs, general instructional strategies, and second language development amongst bilingual/ESL teachers who work in different language programs. Also, the study considered the professional development opportunities provided to teachers of ELLs. In addition, it examined teachers’ perceptions about administrators, program implementation, program features, school and community, and adequate training along with the degree of program satisfaction. Study 2 investigated whether the program of instruction, grade level, years of experience, types of route to certification, and feelings of pre-service teacher preparation made a difference on Dual Language and ESL teachers’ knowledge and perceptions of second language programs. It also focused on the type of professional development that teachers receive and program strengths and challenges. Findings from both studies indicated significant differences in regards to teachers’ knowledge and perceptions based on a number of variables examined. There were similarities and differences in regards to professional development experiences, program strengths and challenges. Findings indicated that a large number of teachers of ELLs are not receiving adequate training and that bilingual and Dual Language teachers know more than ESL teachers about research on bilingual programs and second language development. These findings have policy implications because they provide information about the type of knowledge and training that teachers are receiving and most importantly the deficits.

Thesis (M.I.T.)--The Evergreen State College, 2009. / Title from title screen (viewed 7/30/2009). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 149-156).

Zugl.: Hamburg, Univ., Habil.-Schr.

Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 190-192).

Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 190-192). Also available in print.

The present thesis on bilingual education, with its foci on linguistic heterogeneity and language policy 'from below', covers the first 15 years in the officially multilingual new South Africa. The post-apartheid era has seen South Africa's pro-multilingual Constitution and the language-in-education policy for schools being sidelined in favour of an English-oriented mindset. The subversion of the policy's additive bi/multilingual intent in favour of a replacive 'English-as-target-language' approach indexes a collusion between the political class and the African-language speaking majority, and has been accompanied by systemic underachievement. While the linguistic market beyond school is not necessarily unified in its monolingual habitus, choices for the poor are constrained by a lack of alternatives. Within the implementational spaces afforded by the policy environment, groups such as Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa (PRAESA) have attempted to demonstrate an alternative approach that valorised mother-tongue-based bilingual education. These alternative education initiatives (1995-2009) form the substance of the five published pieces in the present portfolio, capped by the summative thesis. They were written while the author was still a member of PRAESA, and collectively address topics such as language policy initiatives 'from below', the role of surveys in gauging language behaviour and creating language awareness, a multilingual training of trainers programme for southern Africa, a bilingual teacher in-service programme foregrounding different teacher identities in relation to policy realisation, and a classification system for schools by language medium that factors in mother tongues while making allowance for linguistic heterogeneity. The thesis reflects critically on the prevailing monoglossic language ideology informing these studies, and suggests the need for a heteroglossic approach oriented to language as a resource.