A TALE OF TWO SCHOOLS: DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE EARLY FOREIGN LANGUAGE PROGRAMS

• Published in: Studies in Second Language Acquisition 2012, Vol.34 (3), p.520-521
• Main Author: Horii, Sachiko Y.
• Format: Review
• Language: English
• Subjects: Classrooms; Curricula; Early second language learning; Japanese language; Language; Language Acquisition; Longitudinal Studies; Parents & parenting; Second Language Programs; Second language teachers; Spanish language; Students; Suburban Schools
• ISSN: 0272-2631; 1470-1545
• DOI: 10.1017/S0272263112000241

(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.) Contrasting stories of two early foreign language programs in the United States--a Japanese program at a laboratory school connected to a large research university and a Spanish program in a suburban school district--are told in this volume. Over the course of more than 15 years, Donato and Tucker examine the contrasting situations of the two programs through (a) a historical account of the two programs (chapter 2); (b) reports on their comprehensive program evaluation that include multiple views from students, parents, and teachers (chapters 3 and 5); and (c) student language development (chapter 4). Research into the Spanish program conducted by the university partners was broadly disseminated, discussed, and applied for further improvement within the program community. [...]as the authors discuss in the final three chapters (chapters 6, 7, and 8), one of the major characteristics of successful and sustainable foreign language programs is the ecological and bottom-up nature of the program implementation in which different stakeholders actively participate in the implementation process.