Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School
of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION OF 1980 CUBAN IMMIGRANT
JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
By
Sandra Homlar Fradd
April 1983
Chairman: Clemens L. Hallman
Cochairman: Allan F. Burns
Major Department: Curriculum and Instruction
This is an ethnographic study of the influences of first language,
school, peers, and home on language acquisition among 1980 Cuban
immigrants in a junior high school.
Participants were seventh- and eighth-grade students who cams to
the U.S. during the 1980 Cuban exodus. These students spoke Spanish
and were in the process of learning English. Forty-one students agreed
to individual language testing; 63 students participated in the group
tests. Tests in English and Spanish were the Language Assessment
Battery III, the Language Assessment Scales II, and Inter-American
Reading Comprehension Test III, in Spanish. Students completed language
use surveys and participated in individual interviews. Thirty-nine
students returned language surveys completed by parents. Four parents
viere interviewed. Bilingual and ESL teachers rated students' language