Distinctions are made between foreign language (FL) and second language (SL) teaching and learning. It is suggested that several major issues emerging in FL and SL education in the United States must be considered before substantive improvements can be made in the FL or SL competence of both native English speakers and those whose native language…

Describes the response of one Canadian community and its local school board to the challenge of producing functionally bilingual children within the context of the public school curriculum, grades K through 7. (CK)

Social problems such as prejudice, discrimination, and societal unfairness are examined from the perspective of their association with language. Research in the psychology of language is reviewed with regard to these issues and with particular reference to the situation in Quebec. The first question addressed is the role that attitudes play both…

The traditional discipline of foreign language teaching is ineffective and in trouble and should be replaced with a new, broader field. The new discipline should lay emphasis on the following: (1) awareness of cultural and linguistic diversity in the United States and Canada as well as abroad, (2) meeting the needs of students from all areas of…

Similarities among ethnolinguistic groups are greater than differences. It is the belief in the influence of culture and language on basic structures of thought and personality that divides groups, not the structures themselves. However, linguistic differences among ethnic groups are real. The linguistic distinctiveness of a particular ethnic…

A review of the research indicating that bilingual children enjoy a definite advantage in the domain of cognitive flexibility. Further, there is no basis for the belief that becoming bilingual or bicultural necessarily means a loss of identity. Application of the studies to ethnolinguistic minority groups is discussed. (AMH)

Findings are given of a cross-national study that explored the processes of children's development of identity by examining how children learn what their ethnic group is and how their group should act. Adults seem to influence cultural and personality development, with social standing being more important than ethnic background. (DF)

A new approach to language instruction is proposed based on a study of the cultural and linguistic diversity at home and designed for a broad base of students beginning at the earliest grades. It should aim at functional bilinguality with the learning of the language incidental to learning about peoples and ways of life. (JMF)

This report describes a pilot study of the attitudes and personal estimates of progress of students who have spent 4 or more years in the Amigos two-way bilingual program in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The program currently enrolls about 300 students: 50% native Spanish speakers and 50% native English speakers, approximately half of whom are African…

Examines these questions: how do America's ethno-linguistic groups adjust to the bicultural demands made on them? How are speakers of local varieties of French as opposed to other forms viewed by French-Americans? Does participation in a bilingual education program influence children's attitudes? (SCC)

A selection, slightly revised, from Children's Views of Foreign Peoples: A Cross National Study, by Wallace E. Lambert and Otto Klineberg. N.Y., Meredith Publishing Co, 1967.

Four essays are presented on the subject of bilingualism, with the specific purpose of providing information for teachers about the ways in which they can help language minority children sustain their first language while acquiring English. After an introduction by G. Richard Tucker, the following papers are presented: (1) "Bilingualism: Its…

Studies in the past have shown that reinforcements independent of the subjects actions may induce a feeling of helplessness. Most experiments on learned helplessness have led researchers to believe that uncontrollability (non-contingency of feedback upon response) was the determining feature of learned helplessness, although in most studies…

The cognitive processing strategies of two groups of French-English bilinguals were studied by means of an auditory Stroop test designed to evaluate cerebral hemispheric involvement. An "early bilingual" group were bilingual before the age of five, and a "late bilingual" group were bilingual after the age of ten. Stimuli were…

Presented the fifth progress report on a community-based educational experiment that was designed to develop a high level of bilingual competence by having English-speaking children in elementary school study through French as a medium of instruction. (Author/RK)