Resources
Online Resources: Digests
July 1999
EDO-FL-99-03
Two-Way Bilingual Education Programs in Practice: A National and Local Perspective
National Center for Research on Cultural Diversity and Second Language Learning
Two-way bilingual education (also known as bilingual immersion, two-way immersion, developmental bilingual, and dual language programs) has taken root in many schools across the United States. In these programs, students develop dual language proficiency by receiving instruction in English and another language in a classroom that is usually comprised of half native speakers of English and half native speakers of the target language. While Spanish is currently the most common target language represented in two-way programs, other programs support learning through Cantonese, Korean, Japanese, Navajo, Russian, Portuguese, and French. Two-way programs provide both sets of students with ample exposure to the two languages, allowing them to progress academically in both languages and gain an appreciation of another culture.
Two-way bilingual programs work toward academic, language, and affective goals. Language minority students benefit from the opportunity to develop and learn through their native language as well as English (Krashen, 1991), and English speakers achieve well academically in an immersion environment (Genesee, 1987; Harley, Allen, Cummins, & Swain, 1990). The additive bilingual environment supports development of both languages and enhances students' self-esteem and cross-cultural understanding (Christian, 1994).
Implementation Issues
The two-way curriculum is content based and focuses on the development of strong academic achievement in both languages. Because students learn content through a language they do not speak natively, techniques that make instruction more comprehensible are preferred. The strategies teachers use most often include experiential or hands-on activities, thematic units, peer interaction, multiple cues that give students additional chances to master concepts (e.g., a graphic representation such as a semantic web followed by discussion or direct experience on a field trip), and whole language approaches.
While the goals of two-way bilingual programs generally remain constant, the methods through which these goals are realized depend largely on local conditions, demographics, and community attitudes. As a result, each program makes a selection from a variety of modes of instruction. For example, a program may allocate the two languages by content (e.g., social studies and math are taught in Spanish, while science, arts, and music are taught in English); by time (e.g., instruction in each language on alternate days); or by person (e.g., one teacher uses only Cantonese and another uses only English). Some programs operate as magnets within their districts; others are strictly neighborhood based.
Two-way programs also follow different language development models. The two most popular are the "50/50" model, in which the students receive instruction for equal amounts of time in the two languages, and the "90/10" model, in which about 90% of the instruction is in the target language with about 10% in English in the early grades, gradually moving toward 50/50 in the upper grades. The way in which students are integrated varies somewhat as well. Many programs never separate the students based on their language background, while others provide specific second language instruction to segregated groups every day. However, as Christian (1994) points out, cross-group interaction helps students realize the full benefits of the two-way approach, since the presence of native speakers of both language groups makes the environment of two-way programs more conducive to second language learning.
Future Directions and Concerns
As noted, choices in program design and instruction must be made as two-way programs are planned, but the effects of various alternatives are not fully known. Another concern is articulation: There are few two-way programs that continue on to the secondary level. Because target language development and maintenance require ongoing support, students' proficiency in the target language may decline after they enter secondary school.
A growing area of interest is the development of two-way bilingual programs in diverse languages. Although Spanish is the most common target language used in these programs at this time, some communities where other languages are predominant may benefit from two-way programs. Interest also prevails in establishing programs at the secondary level to continue target language development and maintenance. Community and parental support are crucial for the creation and prolonged existence of these programs.
Emerging Results of Two-Way Bilingual Programs
Various reports and statistics reveal that the two-way approach is effective not only in the teaching of two languages to both language groups but also in the development of academic excellence. Lindholm and Gavlek (1994) cite examples of schools with two-way programs where student achievement on several standardized tests - including math achievement tests in English and Spanish - demonstrate academic progress as well as fluency in both languages. While the researchers noticed major variations within and across school sites, it was clear that the students were achieving the desired levels of bilingual proficiency. Ongoing research by Collier (1994) in five urban districts shows that language minority (Hispanic) students in two-way programs experience more long-term educational gains than students in other bilingual or English as a second language (ESL) programs.
The Amigos Program: A Local View
"Design of the Program." The Amigos program was established in Cambridge, MA in 1985-1986 and now serves nearly 300 students. It was the result of a collaborative effort of parents, teachers, and administrators of the Cambridge Public Schools who wished to develop a program that would combine the best features of transitional bilingual education for limited-English-proficient (LEP) students and language immersion for native English speakers. Following the "50/50" model, the Amigos Program is comprised of 50% LEP Hispanics and 50% non-Hispanic English speakers. Each class consists of a Spanish-speaking teacher and an English-speaking teacher who maintain separate language environments for the students. Student progress is evaluated through standardized tests and portfolio assessment (Cazabon, Lambert, & Hall, 1992).
"Assessment of the Program." Cazabon, Lambert, and Hall (1992) compared students in the Amigos program with two separate groups of students in the Cambridge Public Schools: the English-Amigos were compared with English controls (native English speakers) from an all-English public school program and the Spanish-Amigos were compared with Spanish controls (native Spanish speakers) in a standard bilingual education program. These control groups were equated with Amigos students on social class background and a non-verbal measure of intelligence (Raven's test). A series of tests were given to the Amigos and to the comparison groups in order to determine the students' achievement in both languages. Because the tests differ in the way they measure students' language skills and academic achievement, the combination of the following results is even more indicative of the program's success.
English-Amigos performed generally better on the California Achievement Test than the English controls; the Spanish-Amigos scored above the norm and higher than the Spanish controls on the same test. Both English-Amigos and Spanish-Amigos scored higher on English-based math tests, showing the Spanish-Amigos' ability to apply English to another subject area. On Spanish language tests, both English-Amigos and Spanish-Amigos demonstrated grade-level progress in reading and math; however, because the Spanish-Amigos' reading skills were somewhat below that of the Spanish controls, the Amigos program intends to focus on improving the Spanish-Amigos' Spanish reading skills in the future.
"Student Responses." In a later study (Lambert & Cazabon, 1994), Spanish-Amigos and English-Amigos were asked to complete a questionnaire about their self-perceptions as developing bilingual speakers and about their perceptions of the program and its effectiveness. The number of students involved was small; therefore, these findings only represent trends. Some of the more significant findings include the following:
Spanish Amigos
• feel equally competent in both languages;
• feel that their writing in Spanish is stronger than their writing in English (particularly in the older grades);
• are confident that they can understand nearly everything presented in Spanish media;
• feel comfortable translating "most things."
English-Amigos
• feel their English is stronger (particularly in the younger grades);
• feel that their reading skills in Spanish are stronger than their listening, speaking, or writing skills;
• can get the main idea of Spanish media but not specific details;
• feel comfortable translating "some things, but not many&;
• feel that they are not at all behind in English but likely ahead.
Both Groups
• feel confident about their ability to teach both English and Spanish to their peers;
• favor speaking English over Spanish in any given social situation (especially the older students);
• reveal no ethnic or linguistic bias in their choice of close friends;
• perceive Hispanic Americans as they would other Americans;
• favor bilingual classes over monolingual classes;
• demonstrate confidence in themselves and the Amigos Program (Spanish-Amigos are even more emphatic on this point).
Conclusion
Overall, the Amigos program has shown positive results: Students achieve academically and socially and are pleased with the program. Parents, too, have indicated their satisfaction and are committed to keeping their children in the two-way approach for an extended period of time.
Lambert and Cazabon's use of student response to evaluate the Amigos program sheds new light on the effectiveness of a two-way bilingual program. Not only is it evident through parental support, clear academic achievement, and promising test scores that the program is successful, but the students themselves are expressing their satisfaction with Amigos as well. While students are in the process of becoming functionally bilingual, they are also forming friendships with students from other ethnic and linguistic backgrounds and learning to appreciate the diversity that is historically characteristic of American society but particularly fragile today.
References
Cazabon, M., Lambert, W., & Hall, G. (1992)."Two-Way Bilingual Education: A Progress Report on the Amigos Program." Santa Cruz, CA and Washington, DC: National Center for Research on Cultural Diversity and Second Language Learning.
Christian, D. (1994). "Two-Way Bilingual Education: Students Learning through Two Languages." Santa Cruz, CA and Washington, DC: National Center for Research on Cultural Diversity and Second Language Learning.
Collier, V. (1994). "Promising Practices in Public Schools." Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Baltimore, MD.
Genesee, F. (1987). "Learning through Two Languages: Studies of Immersion and Bilingual Education." Cambridge, MA: Newbury House.
Harley, B., Allen, P., Cummins, J., & Swain, M. (Eds). (1990)."The Development of Second Language Proficiency." Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Krashen, S. D. (1991). "Bilingual Education: A Focus on Current Research." Washington, DC: National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education.
Lambert, W., & Cazabon, M. (1994). "Students' Views of the Amigos Program" Sanata Cruz, CA and Washington, DC: National Center for Research on Cultural Diversity and Second Language Learning.
Lindholm, K. J., & Gavlek, K. (1994). "California DBE Projects: Project-Wide Evaluation Report, 1992-1993." San Jose, CA: Author.
This Digest is based on three reports published by the National Center for Research on Cultural Diversity and Second Language Learning, Two-Way Bilingual Education: Students Learning Through Two Languages, by Donna Christian, Two-Way Bilingual Education: A Progress Report on the Amigos Program, by Mary Cazabon, Wallace Lambert, and Geoff Hall, and Students' Views of the Amigos Programs, by Wallace Lambert and Mary Cazabon.
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This report was prepared with funding from the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, under contract No. RR93002010. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the positions or policies of OERI or ED.
Languages in Luxembourg
• The linguistic situation in Luxembourg
• Publications on "Lëtzebuergesch"
o About Lëtzebuergesch
o Dictionaries
o Learning Lëtzebuergesch
Books
Courses
• Acknowledgements
• Further information
Luxembourg: A linguistic Puzzle.
The linguistic situation in Luxembourg is characterised by the fact that several languages are spoken and written at the same time in the same place. Names of streets, shops, travel tickets, hotel registries and menus are mostly in French (some street and place names are also added in Lëtzebuergesch). Newspapers printed in the Grand Duchy are mostly in German, but some cultural articles, many advertisements and social announcements are in French. In other countries too, several languages are spoken, but they almost always are limited to specific regions, to the exclusion of other tongues. In Luxembourg, the various languages are superimposed in an almost hierarchical manner. There is, however, a certain logic to the puzzle.
On all levels of society, only one language is used in oral communication: "Lëtzebuergesch". This is the everyday spoken language of the people, and the symbol of the Luxembourgers national identity. Although of Germanic origin (around the 4th Century), 'Lëtzebuergesch' has sufficiently differentiated itself from its parent language, so as no longer to be readily understood by many a German. German native speakers might well recognise this or that word or construction used in Lëtzebuergesch -in the same way that a German from one region can 'understand' a dialect from another German region- but are often caught out by 'non-Germanic' words or turns of phrase.
'Lëtzebuergesch' is taught in schools and in language courses mostly addressed to the resident foreigners. Whilst it is an extremely practical and useful means of everyday conversation, it is a poor culture-bearer. As soon as a conversation reaches out into the higher levels of abstraction or refined sentiment, the limits of the vocabulary and grammatical constructions available are all too apparent and it becomes necessary to borrow from other languages.
This switch-over to foreign languages, namely French and German is a necessity in written communication. A number of attempts have been made to establish Lëtzebuergesch as a written language. The first real orthography for use in schools was set up in 1914 by the Education Minister Nicolas Welter, because this was when Lëtzebuergesch was for the first time taught as a school subject (Education Law of 1912). This system never became official, though a generation of Luxembourg schoolchildren became familiar with it, and the system was used by the Resistance in the second World War for the publication of their leaflets and later the newspaper D'Uni'on, which for about three years after 1945 was published entirely in Lëtzebuergesch. This became unmanageable, and they had to revert to standard German. At the same time as this was going on, the Education Minister Nicolas Margue commissioned Jean Feltes, a phonetician, to invent a new orthography for Lëtzebuergesch. This was, however, so far away from German that no guidance could be got from that language, and the new Lëzebuurjer Ortografi as it was called, even though it was made official under an Arreté ministériel of 5 June 1946, never became popular in schools, in spite of the fact that textbooks were prepared in which it was used, i.e. Lëzebuurjer Gedichter a Proosashteker fiir ons Schoulen. In 1950, a new dictionary of the Luxembourg language was commissioned under Joseph Tockert, Helene Palgen, and Robert Bruch. First they had to invent an orthography that was more transparent than that of Feltes, and closer to the German. Bruch did this, and it was used for all the volumes of the Luxemburger Wörterbuch, in a publication period which lasted from 1950 to 1978. When Bruch died in a road-crash in 1959, the work of the Dictionary publication was taken over by Henri Rinnen, who later became influential in the Actioun Lëtzebuergesch (1972ff). He of course wanted the dictionary spelling to be made official. This was done in 1976, when Feltes' system was officially dropped. From that time, Actioun Lëtzebuergesch actively promoted the new official spelling in its own publication Eis Sprooch, and elsewhere, wherever it could. Since the language law of 1984, this influence has grown, and now all signs, notices, etc appearing in Lëtzebuergesch have to be in this official orthography. If civil servants don't know it, there are courses to teach them. It is no longer possible to write Lëtzebuergesch (for publication at any rate) in any old system invented by yourself. And this is what many Luxembourgers find annoying, that for the first time they can be found guilty of misspelling their own language, a burden other nations have suffered from for centuries.
As the above brief historical overview shows, neither the artificial creation of an official orthography, nor the efforts of the linguists have been able to displace German, which - thanks to its close relationship to the vernacular - is favoured by the popular classes, or French which by virtue of its evident quality and long tradition has been the means of expression of those who see themselves as the intellectual élite. This situation is reflected whenever the use of languages exceeds the requirement of daily conversation. French is used as much as possible; German where it is indispensable, in fact, whenever the less educated public has to be reached. That is certainly not to imply that a German speaker is less well educated, but many of those folk who grew up in Luxembourg during and immediately after the second World War somehow lost out on a French education, as only German was allowed during the War, and afterwards, well, there was a country to rebuild, and perhaps not so much importance was placed on learning foreign languages.
In this way French is the official language of the authorities. Parliamentary documents, proposed bills, procedures in court, administrative and judicial acts, are held and written in French, but the synoptic accounts of parliamentary debates (themselves carried out in Lëtzebuergesch or in French) are printed in German (Analytischer Kammerbericht) because they are distributed to all households in the country. Speeches at political rallies and other public occasions are in Lëtzebuergesch. Certain texts are multilingual, depending on the need to make sure that information is brought to all levels of the population. Thus for example, when a new law relating to rents (the equivalent of the British "Landlord & Tenant Act") was brought into force, the texts of the new law were printed in the newspapers in 5 different languages, a page each. (Lëtzebuergesch, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish). The latter two were included, since many immigrants from these countries live and work in Luxembourg (some 36% of the country's population, and a staggering 48% of the country's workforce hold a foreign passport).
Historic tradition, economic necessity, and above all a genuine desire to counteract any linguistic (or other) imperialism on the part of the powerful neighbours have brought about this peculiar situation. Whilst this places a heavy burden on the educational system, it does however give the students a unique opportunity to learn many languages and thus gives access to many cultures.
From the second year of primary school onwards, French is added as a discipline to the general program of education which, at this stage is still taught in German. Over the years, however, and particularly in secondary education, French gets an ever bigger share until it completely replaces German as the language of instruction, German being limited to the specialised courses in German language and literature. English too, it should be added, is required as a compulsory language throughout most of secondary education, and students choosing language studies also have the option to add Latin and/or ancient Greek. (see also Luxembourg Schools)
It appears therefore that the Luxembourg intellectual is mainly orientated towards French cultural values through his education, the more so since he will most probably attend University either in Belgium or in France (attendance at German Universities is statistically in third place), although a Luxembourg University has recently been created. Tradition, natural sympathy and education all concur to put the Luxembourg élite within the French cultural orbit: French books and publications are widely read, written communication is mostly in French. Most of the Luxembourg periodicals aimed at the intellectual are almost entirely written in French, and so are the literary reviews and student magazines. The knowledge and understanding of German and the root relationship existing between German and the local dialect however, add a dimension of wealth and objectivity which make for a unique situation indeed.
Luxembourg is thus prepared to be widely open to foreign culture, especially because the small size of the country (999 square miles) and its population (399 239 inhabitants) hardly allow for a rich national cultural life of high standard.
An open-minded attitude to foreign culture permits Luxembourg to escape the narrowness of provincial thought and life. In fact, the intensity and diversity of cultural life in Luxembourg is surprising. The theatre season regularly brings to Luxembourg outstanding performances by the best companies of France, Germany and Belgium. The more popular cinemas play throughout the year the whole range of the international film productions in their original language. A favourable geographic location brings into the Luxembourg homes radio and television programs from France, Germany and Belgium in addition to the Luxembourg national ones. Satellite television with its worldwide network is very popular. The ASTRA ground control station is situated in the Grand Duchy.
The possibility to use several languages of high civilisation as cultural instruments is certainly an advantage, but there are also drawbacks. Lacking its own spiritual roots, the Luxembourg writer is almost doomed to a certain creative sterility because he can very seldom manage to really make his own a tongue that he learned at school and has only occasionally spoken. Critical consciousness of a foreign language is thus more common than partaking in its proper and peculiar imagination and sentiment.
It would seem that only the mother tongue, which one thinks and speaks, is really an instrument of original creation. And in fact, within the evident limitations imposed by the relative poverty of the local dialect, Luxembourg writers are creative, especially in lyrical poetry and local theatre which more often are spoken rather than written media. (See also: Edition Phi, the main publisher in Luxembourg for books on Lëtzebuergesch Literature and Theatre). Luxembourg writers in German are dealing with an instrument close to their mother tongue and familiar to all readers. Certainly "Luxembourg" high German seldom achieves the purity and exactness of genuine German, but the "Luxembourgisms" lend their works a local flavour which makes them somehow true and genuine. In that respect, the Luxembourger writing in French is less favoured. He faces the refinements and intricacies of a completely foreign language learned and cultivated in Germanic territory. He seldom reaches the higher realms of creativity, unless he expatriates himself into completely French surroundings. And the public moreover is likely to prefer the Paris literary production to his own. He is at his best as an often brilliant critic, essayist or scientific writer, where he can take full advantage of his unique participation in two cultural worlds of equally high standard.
As with all questions of languages, borders are not so easily drawn. Hence it should come as no surprise that the political boundaries of the Grand Duchy do not sharply delimit the situation depicted above. Indeed, in the surrounding areas of Luxembourg, many people have grown up with a variant of our Luxembourgish lingua: the "Platt" of Lorraine is similarly connected to middle-high German [Rhinefrankish, Moselfrankish and Lëtzebuergesch], yet the area (nowadays) is part of France; many inhabitants of the so-called "Areler Land" just inside Belgium also grew up speaking Lëzebuergesch, yet they are imbued with French all around them; ... Since a lot of these adjacent regions are similarly - though perhaps not to quite the same extent - shaped by both German and French culture, the whole area around Luxembourg can truly be called a Franco-German Cultural Melting Pot.
Publications on "Lëtzebuergesch"
Readers may be interested to hear that there are a number of books available on the language of Luxembourg. Here's a list of some of the more interesting publications available, by sections:
• About Lëtzebuergesch
• Dictionaries
• Learning Lëtzebuergesch
Some of the information below is taken from Jul Christophory's book: "A Short History of Literature in Luxembourgish" (1994 Bibliothèque Nationale - ISBN2-87980-011-0)
About Lëtzebuergesch
o Luxembourg & Lëtzebuergesch, Language and Communication at the Crossroads of Europe
by Dr Gerald Newton, Director of the Centre for Luxembourg Studies at the University of Sheffield
Oxford University Press (21st March 1996) ISBN 0-19-824016-3
The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg sits at the heart of the European Union, yet it forms a very private and close-knit community. This book addresses that apparent paradox, and shows how it is reflected in and sustained by the linguistic practices of the people who live there, both native and foreign. Lëtzebuergesch, the country's national language, is most closely related to the German dialects of the western Rhineland and the Moselle river valley, but the country's historical and cultural links with Belgium, the Netherlands, and France are much closer than with Germany. Since the demise of Latin in the late Middle Ages as the language of administration, that role has been filled at various times by the standard varieties of French and German. Since 1945, French and Lëtzebuergesch have come to predominate and the use of German has once again receded. It is the unwritten social code governing the use of these languages (and latterly also of English) which gives this volume of specially commissioned papers its focus: the purpose is to provide an insider's view of the community, and of its little-known language. The book contains the most detailed linguistic description of Lëtzebuergesch so far available in English."
o Who's afraid of Luxembourgish? Lëtzebuergesch? Qui a peur du Luxembourgeois? Bilingual guide to Luxembourgish conversation
Jul Christophory. Luxembourg. Imprimerie Bourg-Bourger, 1979, 120 p.
About a third of Luxembourg's population consists of foreigners. This Luxembourg phrase-book with English and French translation was compiled for all English- and French-speaking people living in Luxembourg. By presenting them with dialogues and vocabulary for about thirty everyday situations, it sets out to give an insight into Luxembourgish as spoken by the average inhabitant.
[Note: Don't be confused: The book is really trilingual, as one reader -while qualifying it as "a fine book for its genre"- quite correctly remarked.
The book is, however, subtitled: "bilingual guide". ]
o German dialects: Phonology and Morphology with selected texts
R.E.Keller. Manchester, England: Manchester University Press, 1961. 369 p. map. bibliog.
This book affords the student of German a descriptive phonological and grammatical survey of certain dialects. Keller devotes chapters to Schwyzerdütsch, Alsatian, Darmstadt dialect, Upper Austrian, Lëtzebuergesch, Westphalian and North Saxon (lower Elbe). The chapter on Lëtzebuergesch (p.248-99) is subdivided into phonology, morphology, an extract from Michel Rodange's De Renert, notes and glossary. It offers a very proficient and systematic survey of the area, status and general characteristics of Luxembourgish. The whole book constitutes a unique comparative study and stimulating starting-point for further research.
o Luxembourgeois, Qui êtes-vous? Echos et chuchotements by Jul Christophory
(Ed. Guy Binsfeld) An interesting essay to characterize the Lëtzebuerger
Dictionaries
o Luxemburger Wörterbuch (5 Volumes)
Ed. Paul Linden 1950/54; reprint 1978 Joseph Beffort
Members of the original Dictionary commission: J. Tockert, R. Bruch, R. Palgen, I Comes, J. Hess, E. Ludovicy, J. Meyers, J.P. Zanen.
Members of the 1976 Dictionary commission: H. Rinnen, A. Atten, H. Palgen, G. Reuland, T. Schroeder, P.Schumacher, E. Steinmetzer, M. Werdel, P. Jost, H. Klees, E. Leytem, F. Lorang, C. Meder, V. Rasqu, J.Scheer, O. Scholer.
This book has been defined by some as the "ultimate" Luxembourg dictionary. It lists Lëtzebuergesch words and defines them in standard German, along with examples of their use (eg idioms). It was published in instalments, between 1950 and 1978, the last volume (5) being a supplement of what they had forgotten to include. A new Commission for a new Dictionary was set up in 1994, but since the government didn't grant any money towards compiling the dictionary, and they couldn't find anybody willing to do the compiling anyway, the whole thing was abandoned, and a decision taken instead to reprint the 5 volumes unchanged, except for being compressed into 2 volumes. This came out in 1995/96, distributed by Librairie Krauss. It costs about 160 UK pound.
o English-Lëtzebuergesch Dictionary by Jules Christophory
(New edition, 1996) consisting of 35 000 words
ISBN 2-87 953-015-6
Editions Schortgen
Jean-Paul Schortgen
121 rue de l'Alzette
L-4011 Esch-sur-Alzette
Tel: (+352) 54 64 87
Fax: (+352) 53 05 34
o 6000 Wierder
(6000 essential Luxembourgish words are translated from Lëtzebuergesch into French, German, English, Spanish and Portuguese by Jacqui Zimmer)
Editions: Imprimerie St Paul ISBN 2 879 631 777
2 rue Christophe Plantin
Z.I. Luxembourg-Gasperich
L-2988 Luxembourg
Learning Lëtzebuergesch
o "Parler Luxembourgeois / Esou Schwaetze mir / Living Luxembourgish" by Gilbert Sondag, Josiane Kartheiser, Henry Wickens
Editions Le Phare, Esch-sur-Alzette, 1996, pp. 347.
o "L wei Lëtzebuergesch. Lëtzebuergesch fir all Dag"
Book and Cassette made by the "Centre de Langues Luxembourg".
Luxembourg Ministry of Education. Provisional Edition 1993."
o Mir schwätze Lëtzebuergesch. Nous parlons luxembourgeois. Abécédaire luxembourgeois. Guide bilingue de grammaire et de lecture.
(We speak Luxembourgish. Luxembourgish primer. Bilingual guide to grammar and reading.)
Jul Christophory. Luxembourg: Imprimerie Saint-Paul, 1974. 167p.
This textbook was written for the English- and French-speaking communities living in Luxembourg. It is a complement to the phrase-book: Who's afraid of Luxembourgish? Part I provides essential data on Luxembourgish; Part II is a closer study of the main grammatical features; Part III gives a survey of the literary scene and quotes extracts from the most popular authors (with English and French translations).
o Da lass - mir léiere Lëtzebuergesch
Video cassette (240 minutes) + Two books (Vol1: 160 pages / 600 colour illustrations; Vol2: 262 pages / 700 colour illustrations)
Learn the Luxembourg language in 20 interesting lessons, complete with grammatical, phonetic and lexicographic elements, as well as (solved) exercises.
This publication is available from the "Service central des Imprimés de l'Etat" : 22, rue des Bruyères / L-1274 Howald Tel:+352 49 88 11 1; Fax: +352 40 08 81, at a cost of 49.58 Euro for volumes I and II, and 40.01 Euro for volume III. Postage and Packing will be charged additionally (some 12 Euro for despatch to a GB address)
o A most interesting site on learning how to spell Lëtzebuergesch is at: www.al.lu/yuppi. (though you'll have to know the language already as the site works in Lëtzebuergesch).
o An interactive CD "Learn Luxembourgish" has been launched at the end of 2006 by EuroTalk Interactive in their "Talk Now" series covering more than 100 languages.
Subtitled "Essential words and Phrases for absolute beginners", this CD is a fun way of learning the rudiments of Lëtzebuergesch through simple words and common phrases. Interactive quizzes and games help the budding speaker check the acquired material and compare his/her pronounciation to the correct way through speech recordings. More advanced language CDs for Luxembourgish are in the planning, please check the EuroTalk web site.
The CD works on Windows™ 98/2000/ME/XP/Vista as well as Mac OS 9 or X.
It costs £24.99, and is available through the EuroTalk website and in high streets the world over.
See also www.language.lu
o (Free) videos on learning Lëtzebuergesch are on YouTube
o Let'z Learn Video lessons for learning Lëtzebuergesch
o NEW Learn Luxembourgish in London!
Get in on this course while the recruitment is still open. A unique chance to learn Lëtzebuergesch -taught by a Luxembourger- whilst living in London.
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Several organisations in Luxembourg can assist with learning Lëtzebuergesch, in day-time and/or evening Language Courses:
Ministère de l'Education Nationale
Lycée Technique du Centre
106 Avenue Pasteur
L-2309 Luxembourg
Tel: (+352) 2478 5153
Centre de Langues et de Culture
80, Boulevard General Patton
L-2316 Luxembourg
Tel: (+352) - 40 39 41
International Language Centre / Prolingua
140 Rue Adolphe Fischer
L-1521 Luxembourg
Tel: (+352) 40 39 91 / 40 39 92
Luxembourg - Accueil - Information
10 Bisserwé
L-1238 Luxembourg
Tel: (+352) 24 17 17 (9 - 12 a.m.)
Ecole privée GrandJean
7 Rue Adolphe Fischer
L-1521 Luxembourg
Tel: (+352) 49 17 92
CELAC - Centre Européen des Langues et de la Communication
2 Circuit de la Foire Internationale
L-1347 Luxembourg
Tel: (+352) 42 62 30 312
ASTI - a.s.b.l. - Association de Soutien aux Travailleurs Immigrés
10 Rue Auguste Laval
L-1922 Luxembourg
Tel: (+352) 43 83 33
Service International de Formation Langues - inlingua
72 Rue du Cimetière
L-1338 Luxembourg
Tel: (+352) 40 35 47
Fax: (+352) 40 35 48
Languages.lu
Clara Moraru
6, rue Marguerite de Brabant
L- 1254 Luxembourg-Merl
Tel: (+352) 26 47 85 03
Fax: (+352) 26 47 85 04
Language courses, translations, interpretations, and more.
Also offers online courses in Luxembourgish
YES academy
10, rue C.M. Spoo
L-2546 Luxemburg
Tel: (+352) 27 99 21 54
Fax: (+352) 27 99 2154
jp.piazzolla@yesacademy.lu
"YES academy" currently offers language courses in English, French, German, Italian, Luxemburgish, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
Info-Accueil
9 Rue Chimay
Tel: (+352) 47 96 27 51
Fax: (+352) 46 06 35
Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge contributions from Dr Gerald Newton, Director of the Centre for Luxembourg Studies at the University of Sheffield, and participants of the "alt.letzebuerger" usenet newsgroup.
Further information about Lëtzebuergesch
• www.eis-sprooch.lu A stunning site about all things Lëtzebuergesch. Compliments to the makers!
• The Institut Grand-Ducal, Section de Linguistique, de Folklore et de Toponymie, who have contributed to the Luxemburger Wörterbuch, is now available via email. The Secretary is Henri Klees at henri.klees@ci.rech.lu and Ralph Fichtner, who is currently employed to put the archive on computer, is at ralph.fichtner@ci.educ.lu
• At www.igd-leo.lu/igd-leo/onomastics/villages/villages.html is a most useful gazetteer of villages and towns, explaining Luxembourg Place names.
Jean ENSCH (email: jean.ensch@ci.rech.lu), the creator of the above page(s), writes: "Due to its particular situation on the French-German language frontier, Luxembourg place names have the peculiarity of having sometimes 3 differents versions according to the French, German or Luxembourgish languages used. Therefore the alphabetical lists of place names are presented in three different language series, each giving the corresponding version in the two other languages. Moreover, the name of the municipality these villages administratively belong to is also supplied. A clickable map, indicating the municipal boundaries is also availabe at this site."
• An interesting discussion on the economic weight of the Luxembourg language (De l'importance économique du luxembourgeois) followed by an article on the French language use in Luxembourg "Parlez français, s.v.p.!" is at: www.igd-leo.lu/igd-leo/linguistics/baleine/igdbaleine.html
• "La situation linguistique sur le marché du travail" - The linguistic situation on the jobmarket in Luxembourg.
PDF document (in the French language) published by the "Comité de Liaison et d'Action des Etrangers".
• Literary Life in Luxembourg
• Centre National de Littérature
• Languages in Europe (BBC)
• ... eis Sprooch To help keep our language -the symbol of our national identity- alive, this site by the "Lycée Michel Rodange" gives some texts of Luxembourg poems, and also has a number of audio files available for download
• Centre de Langues Luxembourg (CLL) ALTE
• The Lëtzebuerger Online Dictionnaire is a multilingual dictionary of Luxemburgish words with translations into German, French, English and Portuguese. Word usage is illustrated by examples in Luxemburgish. Relevant grammatical information complements semantic and lexical information and possible synonyms. It is also possible to display a conjugation table for each verb and a declension table for each adjective. Entries can be accessed by entering the Luxemburgish the translated word. Thus, depending on the specific needs and language skills of the user, the dictionary can be used both as an aid to understanding a Luxemburgish term and as a translation tool. The spelling of Luxemburgish words respects the rules set out in the Grand Ducal Regulation of 1999 (Règlement grand-ducal). At present words beginning with A-G may be accessed via the search engine.
• About languages in Luxembourg - An indepth article beautifully presented (pdf) and well worth reading indeed.
http://www.luxembourg.co.uk/lingua.html
BILINGUAL SENTENCE PROCESSING, 134
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Edited By
Roberto Heredia, Texas A&M International University
J. Altarriba, Department of Psychology, State University of New York, Albany, NY, USA
Included in series
Advances in Psychology, 134
Description
Bilingual Sentence Processing provides an overview of the literature on bilingual sentence processing from a psycholinguistic and linguistic perspective. The editors have chosen noted researchers in the field of bilingual language processing. Research focuses on both the visual and spoken modalities including specific areas of research interest including an integrated review of methods and the utility of those methods which allows readers to have the appropriate background and context for the chapters that follow. Next, issues surrounding acquisition and pragmatic usage are covered with a focus on code-switching and the actual parsing of sentence material both within and between languages. Third, issues regarding memory, placing language in a broader context, are explored as the connection between language, memory, and perception is reviewed for bilingual speakers. Finally, all of this work has direct implications for educational settings–specifically issues surrounding the assessment of proficiency, the development and nature of dominance, and the acquisition of reading skills and reading comprehension for bilingual speakers.
Audience
For both the novice and the experienced researcher in the fields of cognitive science, artificial intelligence, communication and information processing, psycholinguistics and linguists.
Contents
Acknowledgements. Preface (G.B. Simpson). Introduction and overview (J. Altarriba, R.R. Heredia).
Methods in Bilingual Research.
On-line methods in bilingual spoken language research (R.R. Heredia, M.T. Stewart).
Connectionist Models of Second Language Processing and Bilingualism.
Extending the competition model (B. MacWhinney). A self-organizing connectionist model of bilingual processing (Ping Li, I. Farkas).
Memory Representation in Sentence Processing.
Cross-language facilitation, semantic blindness, and the relation between language and memory: replications of Altarriba and Soltano (1996) and support for a new theory (D.G. MacKay et al.). The use of sentence contexts in reading, memory, and semantic disambiguation (J. Altarriba, J.L. Gianico). Exploring language asymmetries in early Spanish-English bilinguals: the role of lexical and sentential context effects (A.E. Hernández). Text comprehension in bilinguals: integrating perspectives on language representation and text processing (G.E. Raney et al.).
Psycholinguistic Theory and Research.
Relative clause attachment in bilinguals and monolinguals (E.M. Fernández). An on-line look at sentence processing in the second language (C. Frenck-Mestre). Cross-linguistic aspects of anaphor resolution (D. Hillert).
Figurative Language Processing.
Understanding phrasal verbs in monolinguals and bilinguals (T. Matlock, R.R. Heredia). What native and non-native speakers' images for idioms tell us about figurative language (H. Bortfeld).
Language Skill Development in Bilingual Children.
The role of formal definitions in reading comprehension of bilingual students (A.Y. Durgunoğlu et al.). Syntactic structure, grammatical accuracy, and content in second-language writing: an analysis of skill learning and on-line processing (W.S. Francis et al.). Code switching in preschool bilingual children (Z. Peynircioğlu, A.Y. Durgunğlu). Authors' information. Author index. Subject index.
Bibliographic details
Hardbound, 390 pages, publication date: JUL-2002
ISBN-13: 978-0-444-50847-8
ISBN-10: 0-444-50847-3
Imprint: NORTH-HOLLAND
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/bookdescription.cws_home/622603/description#description
One Person, One Language
The OPOL Method for Raising a Bilingual Child
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Feb 21, 2009 Margaret M. Williams
A popular method for teaching young children to speak multiple languages, the One Person, One Language system has both advantages and challenges for the bilingual family.
Jeff grew up speaking both Spanish and English. Caroline, speaks only English. They want their new baby to grow up bilingual, and they have chosen the “One Person, One Language” (OPOL) method of language learning to teach their son.
The OPOL method is one of the most widely used bilingual language learning systems in the world, according to Dr. Barbara Zurer Pearson in her book Raising a Bilingual Child [Living Language/Random House, 2008]. With OPOL, each parent speaks only the language that is native to that parent when communicating with the child. Children quickly learn to associate a particular language with the appropriate parent.
The Advantages of Bilingual Parenting Using the OPOL Language Learning System
The primary advantage to the OPOL method is that children grow up able to communicate with the extended family of the parent who speaks the minority (non-community-based) language as easily as with the family and community of the majority language speaker .
OPOL is a flexible strategy for raising multilingual children. For example, if both parents are equally bilingual themselves, either parent can be assigned as the consistent speaker of the minority language. In a situation in which each parent speaks a different minority language, they can each speak that language with their child and let the community be the teacher of the majority language. In this way their children will grow up trilingual.
If the family is mobile, such that the majority language of the community is likely to change from time to time, the core languages spoken in the home can remain constant.
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The Disadvantages of the OPOL Method of Language Learning for Bilingual Families
As in any bilingual learning situation, the kids may, on occasion, mix the languages, even inventing words based on early confusions. However, according to Dr. Pearson, over time the languages will sort themselves out.
Drs. Kendall King and Alison Mackey, in their book The Bilingual Edge [HarperCollins Publishers, 2007], caution that if the minority language speaking parent is also one who, for various reasons, spends less time with the children, the majority, or community, language could become overly dominant. Unless the parent of the minority language has an absolute expectation that their children will be truly bilingual, they might very well become “passive” bilinguals rather than “active” ones, listening to the minority language parent in one language but answering in the other.
On the other hand, if the parent who speaks the minority language is the primary caretaker of the child, it may be difficult to maintain the minority language when out of the home and in the community. For some it may feel awkward to speak to the child in the target language when others are speaking to him or her in the language of the community. It will take resolve and determination to continue to communicate in the desired second language in a variety of contexts.
With only one source of language model, it is possible that the minority language will not develop as strongly or as accurately as the majority language. However, this can be corrected with additional educational experiences. In the same vein, if there is no formal schooling available in the minority language, the child might learn to speak well enough, but might not have adequate exposure to reading and writing that language – another correctable situation.
Tips for Facilitating the OPOL Language Instruction Approach to Raising Bilingual Children
Avoid the temptation to explicitly correct mistakes in grammar, particularly in the minority language. Dr. Zurer’s experience with early language development indicates that such interruptions in the flow of conversation can be more frustrating than helpful to the young language learner.
Consider finding multiple sources of exposure to the minority language. Being able to speak with a variety of people in a variety of settings will give the child opportunities to expand vocabulary and improve language skills.
Have patience and be determined. Families who are resolved and committed to teaching their children using the OPOL method report very good results.
There are many methods for raising a child to be bilingual. The One Person, One Language method is the most popular world-wide. Children learn to associate a specific language with a specific parent, and very little confusion is reported. However, parents will face challenges with this method depending on the amount of time each parent spends with the child and how strong the pull of the community language is. However, with a belief in the importance of raising a child to speak two languages, a strong determination to succeed, and an absolute expectation that the child can and will speak both languages, the OPOL strategy has proven to be very successful.
Read more at Suite101: One Person, One Language: The OPOL Method for Raising a Bilingual Child http://languagestudy.suite101.com/article.cfm/one_person_one_language#ixzz0p6LR0G3D
http://languagestudy.suite101.com/article.cfm/one_person_one_language
