Is bilingualism a handicap? The literature on the effects of bilingualism on the intelligence, linguistic proficiency, and mental health of bilingual individuals is vast, complex and contradictory. The perusal of almost any random collection of articles, treatises, and opinions on the topic would lead most lay readers to the conclusion ...

There are a number of children in New Zealand who, during their pre-school years regularly use a language other than English. They use it at home with their parents, and at play with their siblings and with many of their friends. When these children enter school at the age of ...

Founded 47 years ago, the Australian Council for Educational Research has grown from a staff of two in 1930 to about ninety today. Under its first two directors, Dr K.S. Cunningham (1930-1954) and Dr Wm. C. Radford (1955-1976) it has established a reputation as an independent national organisation that offers ...

In recent years it has become a matter of orthodoxy that language programmes are necessary for children from poor homes and children from minority groups. One of the most influential of all programmes for pre-school children has been the one devised by Carl  Bereiter and Siegfriend Engelmann (Bereiter and Engelmann ...

Social-class differences in children's speech and language have attracted a lot of attention in recent years, and a variety of theories have been put forward to explain and describe them. Some have claimed that lower-class, or working-class children possess a language which is deficient or limited by comparison with middle-class ...

There has been considerable concern about the development and adjustment of children of mothers who work away from home, but there is little research evidence to show that maternal employment in itself has a detrimental effect on a child's development, and there are some cases where it can be a ...

Between 1973 and 1975 the Australian Council for Educational Research carried out a two-year study of five Victorian secondary schools, their structures, and relationships with the local community. The research found that in the five communities studied in the  State of Victoria there is only minimal influence exerted upon the ...

The Development of Meaning, by Joan Tough, is an investigation into children's use of language and its implications for their learning at home and at school. The study is essentially an enquiry into educational disadvantage. The basis of Dr Tough's research was a close study of the language used by ...

While the role of mothers is often emphasised in discussions of child development, fathers are usually considered only in the context of the role of parents. Recent research suggests, however, that more recognition could be given to fathers' share in parental responsibility and to its significance to school attainment and ...

Benjamin Bloom claims that, regardless of the differences among students that may be suggested by intelligence tests or assessments of achievement, about 95 percent of all students can master the school curriculum at practically the same level of mastery. Slower learners, he says, can learn as much as fast learners ...