Based on extensive fieldwork in the Afro-Bolivian communities, this book provides a detailed description of this unique and fascinating Afro-Bolivian dialect.

La Clase Mágica: Imagining Optimal Possibilities in a Bilingual Community of Learners vividly captures the social and intellectual developments and the promises of an ongoing after-school project called La Clase Mágica. It is a blow-by-blow description of the early transformations of a project that began as an educational activity and slowly but deliberately turned into a social action project whose aim was to serve those with low economic and political means and little access to educational resources. This multivocal account details research in action for effectively serving Spanish-English bilingual speakers from a Mexican origin community, as well as--on a broader level--the diverse populations that increasingly characterize American society today. The focus is on the early foundational work of the project between 1989-1996, though attention is also given to the national and international recognition the project has subsequently received, the college-going patterns of its long-term participants, and the transplantation of the project to other cultural communities. The book speaks out from the "zones of contact" between the university and a language minority community about new ways to extend and intersect theory and practice in many areas of the educational enterprise. Contact is defined not only in the physical sense of face-to-face interaction but also as symbolic interaction between languages, cultures, histories, and epistemologies. Thus, Vásquez speaks of optimal possibilities situated in the middle grounds, or more technically speaking, in the borders between Spanish and English, Mexican and mainstream culture, minority and majority designations, and between school and community contexts where contact is made and new arrangements are imagined. This account uses the reflections of participants at times to take readers from the scientific to the everyday, to make real and concrete the theoretical conceptualizations that box in human behavior. In this way, it defines the theories, methods, and philosophies for linking multiple disciplines, institutions, and participant groups into a concerted effort with potential to reframe the educational opportunities of under-served populations. A close look is provided into the intricacies and the fundamental principles for building and sustaining effective learning environments and institutional relations necessary for enhancing the potential of learners of all ages. In the process, the book also suggests ways in which community members and institutional agents can play an active and integral role in creating learning opportunities that serve both constituencies. Educators and policymakers will find the systems approach for pursuing parent and community involvement in the educational enterprise useful. In sum, the book offers researchers, practitioners, and policymakers much needed guidance, insight, and perhaps inspiration for rethinking educational goals and objectives.

Disseminating knowledge of the state language to the non-Magyar half of the citizenry was a policy priority of the government of the Hungarian Kingdom between the 1870s and the First World War. Drawing on a wide array of sources, The Politics of Early Language Teaching provides an in-depth look at how Hungarian was taught to ethnic Romanian and German children in the south-eastern tracts of the Habsburg Empire. The monograph covers the ever-harshening legislation from the period, reconsidering the role of state supervision and exploring the contemporary methodological debates as well as taking a closer look at classroom practices. Not only does the book throw much light in comparative mode on one of Europe s great early experiments in linguistic engineering; but it provides many new insights into Dualist Hungary s competing national ideologies and the limits of their efficacy on the ground.

A comprehensive, encyclopedic guide to the authors, works, and topics crucial to the literature of Central and South America and the Caribbean, the Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature includes over 400 entries written by experts in the field of Latin American studies. Most entries are of 1500 words but the encyclopedia also includes survey articles of up to 10,000 words on the literature of individual countries, of the colonial period, and of ethnic minorities, including the Hispanic communities in the United States. Besides presenting and illuminating the traditional canon, the encyclopedia also stresses the contribution made by women authors and by contemporary writers. Outstanding Reference Source Outstanding Reference Book

This is a critical survey of a broad range of fictional representations of the Holocaust over the last twenty years. It brings a new slant to the key debates and issues relevant to those looking at representation and the Holocaust.

Children Learn by Observing and Contributing to Family and Community Endeavors, the latest in the Advances in Child Development and Behavior Series provides a major step forward in highlighting patterns and variability in the normative development of the everyday lives of children, expanding beyond the usual research populations that have extensive Western schooling in common. The book documents the organization of children's learning and social lives, especially among children whose families have historical roots in the Americas (North, Central, and South), where children traditionally are included and contribute to the activities of their families and communities, and where Western schooling is a recent foreign influence. The findings and theoretical arguments highlight a coherent picture of the importance of the development of children's participation in ongoing activity as presented by authors with extensive experience living and working in such communities.

Traversing landscapes and expediting travel, railroads have allowed us to conquer once elusive frontiers to improve both transportation and commerce. Railroad design has changed remarkably little in the years since the invention of the steam engine, yet trains remain a prevalent form of transport and the railways. The bridges that have been developed to support them continue to be a vital part of infrastructures in countries around the world. This engaging volume examines the evolution of railways, railcars, and bridges, as well as the lives of pioneers and tycoons in the railroad business.