Terminology
Theories
Programs
Legal Cases
This and That
100
This is often refers to as home, first, native language, or mother tongue
What is L1?
100
Information that is accessible to language learners through incidental, involuntary, subconscious effort that leads to understanding the language.
What is Krashen's comprehensible input?
100
Provides no systematic support for students learning a second language.
What is submersion or sink-or-swim?
100
The Supreme Court ruled in 1974 that school districts must meet the linguistic needs of students in order to really make available instruction to these students.
What is Lau v. Nichols?
100
An effort to remove all programs that provide native language support to English learners.
What is English-only movement?
200
This term refers to bilingual programs that are designed with the goal of transitioning students from their home language to English as quickly as possible.
What is subtractive programs?
200
Skills in different languages inhabit the same part of the brain reinforcing each other at the base while differing at the surface.
What is Cummins underlying proficiency?
200
The most common type of program for language learners in the US. Students typically must exit the program as soon as they are proficient enough in English to function in the regular classroom.
What is TBE program or early-exit bilingual education?
200
A Puerto Rican advocacy group sued NY city on behalf of Hispanic students. In 1974 a court-approved settlement guaranteed bilingual instruction for the city's Spanish dominant children.
What is ASPIRA consent decree?
200
In 1977-78, they released the first large scale evaluation of bilingual education in the US. Findings found no evidence for the overall effectiveness of bilingual approaches.
What is AIR (American Institute for Research)?
300
Children learn a second language after three years of age.
What is consecutive or sequential bilingualism?
300
For the positive effects of bilingualism to be realized, a level of proficiency must be reached in their first language, a certain level of academic language, that is necessary to support academic achievement in the second language.
What is Cummins' Threshold Hypothesis?
300
This instructional technique (not a program) utilizes hands on projects, and discovery learning to present sheltered grade level academic material to students in English. It can be part of a structured immersion program.
What is content-based ESL?
300
In 1981, a federal appeal court required school districts to take appropriate action to overcome language barriers that impede equal participation by students. A three-prong test for school districts was set for meeting their obligations to English learners. This decision was based on the Equal Educational Opportunities Act, 1974.
What is Castaneda v. Pickard?
300
A federal report that was leaked by the Department of Education questioning the effectiveness of TBE.
What is Baker-de Kanter report?
400
A form of instruction designed to make the English language more comprehensible to students learning English while learning in English. Sheltered instruction includes the use of visuals, graphic organizers, pacing of lessons among other techniques.
What is sheltered instruction?
400
A deficit model that argues that some students suffer from verbal deprivation across both languages due to the use of restricted codes (context bound language) and this leads to limited capacity in both languages.
What is semilingualism?
400
A program that provides a sheltered and supportive environment, along with intensive counseling, to ease the transition to life in the US.
What is newcomer programs?
400
In 1998, voters approved a proposition replacing most bilingual programs with all English immersion for LEP.
What is Proposition 227?
400
A 1985 report that conducted a meta-analysis of the Baker-de Kanter data. Findings show a consistent small to moderate difference favoring bilingual education.
What is Willig's meta-analysis?
500
Language of home, community, or ancestors. May be used in a program designed to prevent language loss or in community based programs to support language maintenance.
What is heritage language?
500
Many academic and linguistic skills in a minority language is accessible in a second language if certain conditions are met (i.e. facilitating context of learning, metalinguistics ability, relationship between pairs of languages, and individual ability).
What is transfer?
500
ELL and native-English speakers taught literacy and subjects in both languages; peer tutoring is a component of this program. Instruction in the early grades limits the use of English to no more than 50% of the time. Program goal is to develop biliterate, bicultural and bilingual students.
What is two-way bilingual education (dual immersion, dual language, two-way immersion).
500
A legal case involving a parochial school teacher whose "crime" had been to read a bible story to a 10 year old child. In 1923, the US supreme court found that freedom of speech extends to those who speak other languages and those who were born speaking English. Laws restricting the teaching of foreign languages were struck down.
What is Meyer v. Nebraska?
500
A 1991 report that compared the effectiveness of early-exit bilingual education with all English immersion, and late-exit or developmental bilingual education across 5 states. The report showed that students who scored the highest were enrolled in late-exit programs that featured the most Spanish.
What is the Ramirez report?