The program described is taught 90 percent in the non-English language, and only gradually increasing English instruction over a period of many years. This is great for English-speakers wishing to learn another language but it does a disservice to those children who need English. The ability to communicate in English is not a luxury for language-minority students__it is a necessity. We must promote programs that emphasize acquisition of English as soon as possible. Dual immersion programs are really nothing more than Spanish immersion with Hispanic children used as teaching tools for English-speaking students. Preservation of the native language can be accomplished with minimal native language instruction and does not need to come at the expense of delaying English.

Jorge Amselle
Vice President for Education
Center for Equal Opportunity
Washington, DC.

Indigenous Information
I want to thank you for publishing the article "Walking in Two Worlds: Teaching Native Americans" (ALR, Nov/Dec 1998), which recommended my book Teaching American Indian Students and cited one of my other books: A History of Indian Education. Your readers might be interested in the Teaching Indigenous Languages web site at http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/TIL.html It has over 40 full text articles related to indigenous language policy, promotion, and teaching plus about 40 full text columns on various aspects of American Indian bilingual education. The site has the full text conference proceedings from 1998 titled "Revitalizing Indigenous Languages" and from 1997 titled "Teaching Indigenous Languages" plus a link to the proceedings of the 1994 and 1995 conferences titled "Stabilizing Indigenous Languages." Jon Reyhner, Associate Professor
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, Arizona.