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one volunteer a word in English to me or to anyone else. In the
classroom they were usually quiet. In physical education they were
usually on the sidelines dressed in regular clothing. Even when they
occasionally dressed out, they usually did not participate. All four
girls were well-developed and very attractive. All used obvious amounts
of makeup.
When they spoke to someone who did not speak Spanish, they usually
put their hands over their mouths as if to prevent others from under
standing them. Moreno Fraginals' (1982) statement, "There is a terrible
fear of speaking English which many of us have," seemed to be true of
these girls. They frequently sat together, talked together, ate
together, and avoided all who were not from their group.
Around me, these girls were very shy for several weeks. After I
had been at the school a month, they began talking more openly. They
brought magazines and other reading material to demonstrate their
current interests. One article in a movie star type magazine perplexed
them. This article told of a condominium where everyone was required
to go nude.

While the girls appeared nonverbal and dependent on others for
English communication, an analysis of written measures indicates they
were learning more English than they expressed. On written tests,
three of the five low English achievers were found to rank in the
middle range in English achievement. Two were in the low range. In
Spanish, two ranked in the middle group, while two ranked in the high
range. For all practical purposes, the English communicative skills
of these females were limited.