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The primary purpose of this study was to determine the longitudinal impact of a maintenance bilingual education (MBE) program on the development of English (L2) for four groups of native Spanish-speaking students with varying degrees of Spanish oral proficiency who were all limited English proficient (LEP). Program participants were Mexican-American children in grades K-2. These subjects were divided into two major study groups, those considered fluent Spanish proficient (FSP; n = 111) and those who were limited Spanish proficient (LSP; n = 187). Two subgroups selected from the major groups (FSP program participants who were most fluent in Spanish, n = 45, and LSP participants who were most limited, n = 120) were also analyzed. Changes in L2 proficiency for the two major groups and the two subgroups were examined over the same 3-year span (1984-1987). Overall results from this MBE study demonstrated acquisition of statistically significant levels of English for all subjects. The most significant development was found for those subjects who were most limited in Spanish proficiency at the kindergarten level.

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the long-term effect of transitional (TBE) and maintenance (MBE) bilingual instructional programs on the development of native (LI) and English (L2) oral-language proficiency. The sample populations included TBE-instructed Vietnamese (n = 125) and MBE-instructed Hispanic (n = 298) children enrolled in kindergarten through second grade during 1984 through 1987. The study also examined change in LI and L2 oral-language proficiency across grades K-2 for TBE and MBE programs and the subsequent bilingualism of participants. These variables were analyzed for three linguistically homogeneous groups of TBE and MBE subjects who were classified in kindergarten as (a) the most limited English proficient (LEP), (b) fluent in their LI, or (c) nearly fluent in their LI. The most significant overall findings emerging from the study related to positive (additive) and negative (subtractive) effects of TBE and MBE programs on their respective participants' oral L1, L2, and subsequent bilingualism.

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