Joseph H. Matluck

Language characteristics of mexican-american children: Implications for assessment

Abstract We have described the language features that characterize the speech of the Mexican-American child and have examined them with respect to their deviations from acceptable standards in both Spanish and English—acceptability in terms of how well he functions in each of the two language settings in which he lives. We have pointed out the magnitude of the most critical of his problems, the loss of lexical and grammatical signals through underdeveloped perception of English phonology and have demonstrated how this faulty perception vitally affects, not only his lexical and grammatical failings, but also his ability to learn as fast or as efficiently as the monolingual English-speaking child in every area of learning. We have then suggested assessment considerations which might more accurately evaluate his actual language abilities and which might provide more specific bases for planning improved educational programs for these children. We recognize, at the same time, the existence of additional considerations, such as socioeconomic environment, educational level of the parents, child rearing practices, test-orientedness, etc., which may also influence the scores they receive, and that these factors should also be considered in interpreting test statistics and in planning and designing school programs.

Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics 1978: International Dimensions of Bilingual Education

Reports of the success of bilingual education models in one area have often led educators in other areas to adopt these same models. Before importing a bilingual education model from another area it would seem wise to find out the extent to which both areas are comparable linguistically, ethnically, socially, economically, and in some cases, politically. It seems also important to understand the history and development of the model in the area in which it was developed. This im^ plies a knowledge of the. population for whom the model was intended, and not only of what people did with the model but why they did it, not only of the fact that the model was successful, but why it was successful, or why it failed. In order to obtain this information educators must have access to case studies of bilingual education. Because of the number and complexity of variables it would seem that the case-study approach to the training of educators in bilingual education would be the wisest. The theoretical framework in which the cases are studied with a view to selecting the right model for a given community might indeed be an ecological one. This Georgetown University Round Table is part of a long tradition of meetings on bilingual education which have been taking place with increasing frequency since the turn of the century (Mackey and Andersson:Introduction). Indeed, the tradition goes back for more than a century and has included hundreds of meetings—national, international, and regional in all parts of the globe (Mackey 1978c). The literature on language contact, which totals well over the 20,000 titles listed in the two volumes of the international bibliography, shows a proportionately larger and larger number of studies devoted to the social and educational aspects of bilingualism as opposed to the linguistic and