This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Mieke Kotterink, Vesna Mikolic, Josie Cortez, Jill P. Koyama, Pierre Wilbert Orelus, Jennifer Mahon, Sonia Casal, Judith Bekebrede, Charles L. Glenn, and Maria Robledo Montecel.
(2010). How Multilingual African Contexts Are Pushing Educational Research and Practice in New Directions, Language and Education. A strong case can be made for developing more flexible and relevant multilingual strategies for teaching and learning within the field of bilingual education. This paper aims to demonstrate how current linguistic and educational practices in countries like Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and Ethiopia suggest new directions for research and practice. A practical approach is proposed to illuminate the gap between actual language competence on the part of primary students and teachers and the language competence to which their education system aspires. By applying known language and learning principles, policies and practices can be more realistically directed towards reducing this gap in the short, medium and long terms. This involves a reconstruction of multilingual pedagogy to capitalise on the strengths of learners, teachers and linguistic communities. Meanwhile, there is a need for more research on the following: (1) effective ways to assess multiple language competencies on the part of teachers and learners; (2) the relationship between learners' multilingual oral competence and literacy; and (3) methodologies that facilitate transfer of skills and knowledge between languages. The implications are that language-in-education policy should be based on what is possible in each sociolinguistic situation and should be flexible enough to offer equitable opportunities for all. [More] Descriptors: Educational Research, Bilingual Education, Multilingualism, Educational Practices
(1975). Bilingual Education in the United States. Topics discussed include the following: the world-wide prevalence of bilingual education, the need for bilingual education in the U.S., a definition of bilingual education, the official status of bilingual education in the U.S., the target audience of bilingual education in the U.S., definitions of terms commonly used in bilingual education, the aims of bilingual education, the "maintenance" and "transitional" approaches to bilingual education, instructional staff in bilingual education, bilingual instruction in subject matter other than language arts, format and content of lessons, the role of English as a Second Language in bilingual education, an example of a lesson integrating ESL with science in bilingual education, history and culture in bilingual education, instructional personnel in bilingual education, teacher preparation in bilingual education (including language preparation, culture-history preparation, and professional preparation), instructional materials in bilingual education, evaluation in bilingual education, and, misinformation and problems in bilingual education. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Compensatory Education, Educational Needs, Educational Objectives
(1973). Bilingual Education, Deaf American. Draws parallels between problems in deaf and bilingual education. Descriptors: Basic Skills, Bilingual Education, Deafness, Elementary Education
(2002). One Language or Two?, Principal. Compares bilingual education in the United States with language immersion in Europe. Concludes that two-way bilingual education, combining elements of both bilingual and language immersion, may be the best approach for teaching English to immigrant students. Two-way bilingual classes combine English-speaking students with an equal number of non-English-speaking students. Instruction is taught in both languages 50 percent of the time. Descriptors: Elementary Secondary Education, Foreign Countries, Immigrants, Two Way Immersion Programs
(2005). Family and Community Empowerment through Bilingual Education, International Journal of Bilingual Education & Bilingualism. In recent years, numerous educational programmes have been developed that have been aimed at raising the academic achievement and wider participation of Pasifika students in New Zealand society. One example of this, which has to date only been explored at local school level, is bilingual/immersion education. The arguments underlying this paper are that while the development of bilingual/immersion education models are crucially important for the academic success of Pasifika students, they are not, in themselves, enough. A critical empowerment approach and perspective is also required in order to address the wider issues, and power relations, that inevitably frame, and delimit, the development of first language models of education for minority students in Aotearoa/New Zealand, as elsewhere. This paper begins by providing relevant background on Pasifika languages and educational achievement in Aotearoa/New Zealand, and related educational policy towards Pasifika students. The remainder of the paper focuses on a recently completed 10-year project involving the development of Samoan bilingual education at Finlayson Park Primary School, a primary (elementary) school in South Auckland. The project was developed by the authors in partnership with local Samoan families, community and the school, and was specifically underpinned by theoretical research-based models of empowerment. Discussion of this particular school highlights just what can be achieved when a critical empowerment approach to bilingual/immersion education is undertaken, not least when such a programme has been developed within a wider national educational policy environment that neither supports nor resources it. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Minority Groups, Empowerment, Malayo Polynesian Languages
(2010). The Effects of Content and Language Integrated Learning in European Education: Key Findings from the Andalusian Bilingual Sections Evaluation Project, Applied Linguistics. Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) represents an increasingly popular pedagogic approach that has evolved in response to the recognised need for plurilingual competence in Europe. In this article, we present key findings from one of the first large-scale, multidimensional CLIL evaluation projects. We begin by outlining the emergence of European CLIL and by comparing it with other, non-European bilingual education initiatives and then we narrow the scope to Southern Spain, where the research was conducted. We outline the Andalusian Bilingual Sections programme, one of the cornerstones of the government's "Plurilingualism Promotion Plan" (2005), within which the research was conducted. In presenting results, we focus on specific areas that we believe make significant contributions to some of the key concerns in contemporary CLIL research including the linguistic competence of CLIL learners, the question of starting age, the distribution and functionalities of L2 use in CLIL classrooms, and the ways in which CLIL appears to be impacting on the educational system in general. [More] Descriptors: Linguistic Competence, Bilingual Education, Foreign Countries, Communicative Competence (Languages)
(2016). "School within a School": Examining Implementation Barriers in a Spanish/English Transitional Bilingual Education Program, Bilingual Research Journal. This article explores the ways that general education and bilingual teachers make sense of a Spanish/English transitional bilingual program housed at one elementary school in a Midwestern school district. An in-depth examination of perceptions and attitudes unmasks key factors regarding the implementation and interpretation of bilingual programs and how these factors impact school climate and the overall functioning of the program. Primary themes indicated that the use of specific terms, such as "school within a school," exacerbated the sense of division between the general education and bilingual programs, adding to the challenges of achieving opportunities for bringing students together across programs. [More] Descriptors: Barriers, Bilingual Education Programs, Transitional Programs, Program Implementation
(2010). Rethinking Literacy Development of Bilingual Students with Special Needs: Challenges, Struggles and Growth, International Journal of Special Education. Literacy development of special education students is a topic that has been at the center of debates revolved around school reforms. Drawing on socio-cultural theoretical framework, this case study examines the literacy development of a special education bilingual student, Angel. A qualitative method is used to analyze texts Angel produced over the course of one academic year in order to examine in what way and to what degree he grew academically. Findings suggest that the teaching practices of Angel's teachers, his self-motivation, and support received from his family contributed to his literacy development. The authors point out the limitations of this case study and propose that the literacy development of Angel be contextually situated and analyzed to avoid possible generalization about the literacy development of all special education bilingual students. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Students, Literacy, Special Needs Students, Special Education
(2014). Bilingual Education for All: Latino Dual Language Learners with Language Disabilities, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. There has been a growing concern about how best to address the needs of dual language learners with language impairments. Most dual language programmes have been evaluated with children with typical language development (TLD) and as a result, very little is known about the effect of these programmes on children with language disabilities. The Vocabulary, Oral Language and Academic Readiness (VOLAR) programme was designed specifically for preschool dual language learners with language impairment. In the last five years, we have completed several federally funded projects aimed at evaluating the feasibility and efficacy of VOLAR testing more than 300 children over time. In the current study, we examined the effect of VOLAR when implemented by teachers within the preschool curriculum. Participants were 40 children receiving the programme and 34 children receiving the "business as usual" preschool curriculum (control group). The comparisons were based on spontaneous language measures obtained at baseline and at two follow-up time points after the programme ended over a period of one year. The results replicated previous research, showing that the VOLAR programme induced significantly more gains than the control curriculum. The children with language impairment also showed greater improvement compared to their peers in the control group. The positive and promising effects on the language skills of children with language impairment support the use of a dual language intervention model with these students. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Language Impairments, Oral Language, Preschool Children
(2010). Navigating Tensions in the Process of Change: An English Educator's Dilemma Management in the Revision and Implementation of a Diversity-Infused Methods Course, Research in the Teaching of English. In response to growing concerns among faculty regarding the lack of attention to the bilingual student population in our pre-service teacher education program, the authors engaged in a shared self-study of the process of revising and implementing a secondary English methods course with explicit attention to the special needs of bilingual/bicultural learners. The paper describes how the second author, an English educator, with support from the first author, a mentor/colleague in bilingual education, identified and negotiated tensions and dilemmas that arose in a process of curricular transformation toward culturally and linguistically responsive teacher education practice. The study highlights several points of disjuncture, or critical turning points, experienced by the English educator and the ways in which she navigated the contradictions that resulted at these points of disjuncture through conversation with her mentor. Our documentation and articulation of this process may assist content area teacher educators in negotiating new knowledge and creating strategies for managing the dilemmas in practice that arise in the design and implementation of revised course curricula aimed at supporting culturally and linguistically diverse learners. [More] Descriptors: Preservice Teacher Education, Bilingual Students, Methods Courses, Teacher Education Curriculum
(2011). Bilingual Education Policy as Political Spectacle: Educating Latino Immigrant Youth in New York City, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. To examine the ways in which high schools in New York City attend to second language acquisition is to consider everyday actions in schools, government dealings, localized policy responses, and disparate discourses on bilingualism. It is to position the circumstances of learning and teaching English in an American high school within the problems encountered and produced when multiple educational policies collide in local settings, such as individual schools. It is also to consider, and then interrogate, the "political spectacle" in which educational actors associated with schools–teachers, counselors, parents, students, community members, activists, and administrators–become dramaturgically cast into political-policy roles as they enact federal, state, and district policies with regard not only to issues of language acquisition and bilingualism but also to increased accountability, mandated high-stakes testing, and other sanctions-driven approaches. Drawing on qualitative research conducted between September 2003 and May 2008, this article situates Gregorio Luperon High School, a successful bilingual school for Latino newcomers, within a web of politics and policies, grounded in the history of bilingual education in New York City. It reveals how this school, caught within a political-policy matrix of centralized federal authority under No Child Left Behind and decentralized accountability under the City's Children First reforms, continues to emphasize second language acquisition as the ongoing work of building a bilingual speech community, even in the face of educational policies that increasingly narrow assessment of language acquisition and intensify the overall evaluation of academic achievement. [More] Descriptors: Qualitative Research, Sanctions, Federal Legislation, Bilingual Schools
(2010). Acquiring Reading and Vocabulary in Dutch and English: The Effect of Concurrent Instruction, Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal. To investigate the effect of concurrent instruction in Dutch and English on reading acquisition in both languages, 23 pupils were selected from a school with bilingual education, and 23 from a school with education in Dutch only. The pupils had a Dutch majority language background and were comparable with regard to social-economic status (SES). Reading and vocabulary were measured twice within an interval of 1 year in Grade 2 and 3. The bilingual group performed better on most English and some of the Dutch tests. Controlling for general variables and related skills, instruction in English contributed significantly to the prediction of L2 vocabulary and orthographic awareness at the second measurement. As expected, word reading fluency was easier to acquire in Dutch with its relatively transparent orthography in comparison to English with its deep orthography, but the skills intercorrelated highly. With regard to cross-linguistic transfer, orthographic knowledge and reading comprehension in Dutch were positively influenced by bilingual instruction, but there was no indication of generalization to orthographic awareness or knowledge of a language in which no instruction had been given (German). The results of the present study support the assumption that concurrent instruction in Dutch and English has positive effects on the acquisition of L2 English and L1 Dutch. [More] Descriptors: Indo European Languages, English (Second Language), Bilingualism, Reading Instruction
(2006). Under the Invisibility Cloak? Teacher Understanding of Cultural Difference, Intercultural Education. While research does exist on how teachers feel about multicultural education or bilingual education, very little data exists on how teachers cognitively construct a core concept of these educational approaches–cultural difference. This article describes the investigation of this understanding among 155 teachers in midwestern USA from rural, urban and suburban schools across grade levels. Utilizing data from the Intercultural Development Inventory, one important finding reveals the degree to which teachers minimize cultural differences. Implications for teacher education are discussed. [More] Descriptors: Suburban Schools, Urban Schools, Rural Schools, Bilingual Education
(2004). Successful Bilingual Education Programs, Intercultural Development Research Association. This article describes a research project carried out by the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA). IDRA's primary research question for this study was, "What contributed to the success of a bilingual education classroom as evidenced by LEP student academic achievement?" In addition to the student data, qualitative and contextual research questions for other indicators emerged from an extensive review of the research. [This document originally appeared in the "IDRA Newsletter", however some accompanying charts and graphs may not be provided here.] [More] Descriptors: Bilingualism, Bilingual Education Programs, Academic Achievement, Limited English Speaking
(2010). The Relationship between Communicative Competence and Language Use in a Multicultural Environment: The Case of Slovene Istria, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. The paper focuses on bilingualism among the Slovene majority in Slovene Istria approximately 50 years after the Italian community living there were granted official minority status. This empirical research shows a high level of Slovene-Italian bilingualism in the observed population. It reveals that a high level of communicative competence in one language entails a high level of communicative competence in the other language. Another significant finding is that the younger age groups of the observed population are characterised by a higher level of communicative competence in both Slovene and Italian in comparison to the older age groups. The key factors of influence are the opportunities for bilingual education in the school system and the fact that the younger generations are more influenced by Italian media. Age, however, does not influence language use; the younger age groups use Italian very rarely and no more often than the other age groups. Therefore, it can be concluded that language use is not so much affected by the level of communicative competence, but rather primarily by the number of opportunities to use a language. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Infants, Slavic Languages, Communicative Competence (Languages)