This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Susan C. Levine, Nelson Flores, Julie Nora, Audrey Lucero, Jessica Nina Lester, Rafael Lara-Alecio, Chad R. Lochmiller, Beverly J. Irby, Fuhui Tong, and Stephanie Wing Yan Lo-Philip.
(2016). Challenges for a New Bilingual Program: Implementing the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme in Four Colombian Schools, Journal of Research in International Education. The International Baccalaureate (IB) has expanded in Latin America. Drawing from a larger multi-sited qualitative case study, we examined the challenges associated with the implementation of the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) in a Colombian and bilingual context. Findings highlight (1) the intersecting nature of challenges associated with the PYP and bilingual education, (2) the importance of school-based support for teaching, and (3) the importance of school-based resources for bilingual instruction. The article concludes with a discussion of implications for the IB and other global educational organizations. [More] Descriptors: Program Development, Program Implementation, Foreign Countries, Bilingual Education
(2013). Language as the Lever for Elementary-Level English Language Learners, Voices in Urban Education. Improving the education of a growing sector of the school population–English language learners (ELLs)–is a pressing unmet need in the nation's current public education system (Gándara 1994; Genesee et al. 2006; Hood 2003). Another urgent educational need is to prepare students to live and work in an increasingly globally connected world. Students should be able to engage in cultural exchanges across the earth, but schools in the United States are not keeping pace with this need (Suárez-Orozco & Sattin 2007). Bilingual education can help meet both these needs. In this article, the author will explain why ELLs should be viewed as an asset rather than a burden and describe how this has been accomplished through two-way bilingual education at her elementary school, the International Charter School in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Global Approach, Competition, Native Speakers
(2009). Identity, "Acting Interculturally" and Aims for Bilingual Education: An Example from China, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. In major texts on bilingualism and bilingual education, one often finds such notions as biculturalism, multiculturalism, pluralism or interculturalism that are used interchangeably as concepts–as opposed to monoculturalism or cultural assimilation–to address political and sociocultural dimensions in language learning and teaching. Recently, some scholars have begun to make distinctions between them as processes or outcomes of bilingual education. They compare the terms conceptually and evaluate the implications these concepts might have for bilingual education. The notion of "acting interculturally", for example, is such an attempt that aims to shed light on the conceptual perplexity between being bicultural and being intercultural and to argue for learning outcomes that are attainable and desirable in bilingual education. On the basis of an overview of conceptual discussions on these notions and an analysis of key guiding ideas and research on bilingual education in China, this paper argues that a conceptual distinction between these terms is not only necessary for advancing theories of bilingualism in general but also crucial for addressing multifaceted issues in bilingual education, including sociopolitical concerns, in a country like China whose language education policies and curricula are determined by the government's political agenda for maintaining an unwavering state. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Biculturalism, Foreign Countries, Bilingualism
(2010). Bilingual Education and English Proficiency, Education Finance and Policy. In 2001, California instituted a statewide test measuring English proficiency for English learners, students who are not proficient in English. In 2003 and 2004, nearly 500,000 English learners in grades 1-5 took this test each year. The relationship between bilingual education receipt and English proficiency is estimated using value-added regression models for each section of the test–listening and speaking, reading, and writing. In these regression models, students in bilingual education have substantially lower English proficiency of 0.3 standard deviations or more compared with other English learners in first and second grades. In contrast, the difference between bilingual education and other programs is usually less than 0.1 standard deviations for students in grades 3-5. These results hold for ordinary least squares, school fixed effects, and propensity score models. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Second Language Learning, Least Squares Statistics, Bilingualism
(2010). Buenos Dias! Good Morning! Implementing Dual-Language Programs in Illinois. New Journalism on Latino Children, Institute of Human Development (NJ1). Bilingual education has taken center stage in Illinois with a new education mandate; many public preschools will be required to offer bilingual education to all three- and four-year-olds who do not speak English. Dual-language (DL) classrooms represent one very promising model in bilingual education that is being used to develop these new preschool programs. The interest in bilingual education arises from two, disparate sources. On one hand, more than 1 in 5 schoolchildren in Illinois is Latino, and many are English-language learners. Recent research indicates that a DL approach to bilingual education may be the most effective way to teach these non-native speakers English, as well as nurture their academic skills generally (Collier & Thomas, 2004). Dual-language programs offer children the chance to maintain–and gain literacy in–their home language while they become fluent in English and prepared to succeed in traditional classrooms. [Funding for this paper was provided by McCormick Foundation.] [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Native Speakers, English (Second Language), Bilingualism
(2013). Silencing the Subaltern: Nation-State/Colonial Governmentality and Bilingual Education in the United States, Critical Inquiry in Language Studies. This article introduces the concept of "nation-state/colonial governmentality" as a framework for analyzing the ways current language ideologies marginalize the language practices of subaltern populations. Specifically, the article focuses on the innate limitations of re-appropriating nation-state/colonial governmentality in an attempt to advocate for the subaltern. It offers the case of bilingual education in the United States to demonstrate this point. It argues that although the struggle for bilingual education in the United States re-appropriated nation-state/colonial governmentality in ways that advocated for language-minoritized populations, this re-appropriation was eventually reincorporated into hegemonic language ideologies that continue to reproduce colonial relations of power that erase the fluid language practices of language-minoritized students. The article ends with some recommendations for moving toward a language ideology that allows subaltern voices to be heard outside of colonial relations of power. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Power Structure, Language Minorities, Language Attitudes
(2013). Oral Language Skills of Spanish-Speaking English Language Learners: The Impact of High-Quality Native Language Exposure, Applied Psycholinguistics. This study examined the relation between young English language learners' (ELL) native oral language skills and their language input in transitional bilingual education kindergarten classrooms. Spanish-speaking ELLs' ("n" = 101) Spanish expressive language skills were assessed using the memory for sentences and picture vocabulary subtests of the Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery-Revised. Samples of transitional bilingual education teachers' ("n" = 21) speech were recorded and coded for syntactic complexity and vocabulary usage. Results revealed considerable variation in ELLs' language scores, with overall performance below the normative sample. There was also wide variation in teachers' speech across classrooms. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that gains in ELLs' expressive language skills were positively related to the diversity of teachers' vocabulary and teachers' syntactic complexity. These findings suggest that the quality of teachers' language input, not just the quantity of their input, plays a significant role in the language learning trajectories of ELLs. [More] Descriptors: Spanish Speaking, English Language Learners, Linguistic Input, Oral Language
(2017). Looking beyond the ELT Approach in China's Higher Education from the Perspective of Bilingual Education: Immersion, Content-Based Instruction or Something Else?, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. This article starts with definitions of bilingualism with a focus on the analysis of bilingual competence. Then the aims and types of bilingual education in developing bilingual competence are introduced with focus on analyses of immersion and content-based instruction. Subsequently, the contextual settings of the study are briefly presented. Finally, the study suggests that modifications must be made to integrate some concepts and features of content-based instruction with those of immersion to meet the needs of English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching for non-English majors in China's higher education. The article concludes with the recommendation that a composite EFL teaching approach should be implemented in China's EFL teaching in higher education. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Bilingualism
(2013). Multilingual Policies Put into Practice: Co-Participative Educational Workshops in Mexico, Current Issues in Language Planning. In a national context where the language rights of indigenous people have been recognized constitutionally since 2003, we deal with the following questions: How can bilingual education programmes in Mexico be clearly defined and applied? And what exactly are the final objectives of a bilingual education programme? We shall address the issue of the potential forms and contents of bilingual education from the standpoint of our experience working with schoolteachers, in co-participative educational workshops in two multilingual areas in Central and South-Eastern Mexico, from 2009 to 2012. Indeed, the multidimensional use of native languages and knowledge through workshops held in a number of Mexican languages, in which the participants produce texts and drawings in their own languages, directly raises pedagogical issues on language planning in the classroom. The dominant model for bilingual and intercultural education (BIE) in Mexico today corresponds to that of "incorporation" through "subtractive bilingualism": teaching in the native language, switching then to Spanish in order to teach the official pedagogical contents, and in detriment of language and culture specificities. Our work suggests that BIE could represent a constructive, empowering alternative adaptable to local community contexts. [More] Descriptors: Multilingualism, Foreign Countries, Workshops, Freehand Drawing
(2016). El Renacer de Maestras Bilingues: Actualizing Cultural Efficaciousness, ProQuest LLC. This study focused attention on three constructs as they relate to bilingual education teachers' (BETs) dispositions working with culturally and linguistically diverse students (CLDS). The three constructs are sociocultural consciousness, affirming advocacy, and culturally responsive teaching. The quantitative data was collected via a Likert-based scale called the Culturally Efficacious Educator Scale ([CEES]; Garcia, 2010). The CEES measured teachers' self-reported dispositions in the aforementioned constructs. These dispositions were also communicated during their open-ended responses on the scale and further verified in the two case studies and interviews with the two BETs. The purpose of the mixed-methods dissertation study was to examine practicing bilingual education teachers' dispositions, which work with culturally and linguistically diverse students, in particular bilingual learners (BLs), and to observe the types of pedagogical practices they employ. One goal was to identify if any of these practices have a positive impact as demonstrated by students' academic and linguistic development. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: www.proquest.com/en-US/products/disserta… [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Teacher Characteristics, Student Diversity, Social Influences
(2011). Rethinking Bilingual Education in Postcolonial Contexts. Bilingual Education & Bilingualism, Multilingual Matters. This book calls for critical adaptations when theories of bilingual education, based on practices in the North, are applied to the countries of the global South. For example, it challenges the assumption that transitional models necessarily lead to language shift and cultural assimilation. Taking an ethnographically-based narrative on the purpose and value of bilingual education in Mozambique as a starting point, it shows how, in certain contexts, even a transitional model may strengthen the vitality of local languages and associated cultures, instead of weakening them. The analysis is based on the view that communicative practices in the classroom influence and are influenced by institutional, local and societal processes. Within this framework, the book shows how education in low-status languages can play a role in social and cultural transformation, especially where post-colonial contexts are concerned. The table of contents provides the following: (1) Introduction; (2) Language and Education; (3) Mozambique: Historical, Sociolinguistic and Educational Context; (4) The Research Sites: Communities, Schools and Classrooms; (5) Interaction and Pedagogy in Bilingual Classrooms; (6) Socio-Cultural Impact of Bilingual Education; (7) Bilingual Education and Socio-economic Mobility; and (8) Conclusion. References and an Index are also provided. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Foreign Countries, Bilingualism, Educational Theories
(2011). The Mutual Symbiosis between Inclusive Bi-Lingual Education and Multicultural Education, Multicultural Perspectives. In this article the authors postulate a mutual symbiosis between multicultural and inclusive bi-lingual education. Combining bi-lingual and multicultural education to create a symbiotic relationship can stimulate reform in schools and can promote inclusive educational systems, thereby keeping native languages and cultures alive for minority students and enhancing native English speakers' language and cultural understandings. [More] Descriptors: Multicultural Education, Minority Groups, Bilingual Education, Inclusion
(2015). Imagining Self: Diversity of Bilingual Identity among Students of an Enrichment, Journal of Language, Identity, and Education. In any language education program, there are both commonalities and divergences in the ways in which students negotiate and form their identities. While work on bilingual education has revealed important similarities that students come to share, fewer studies have focused on explaining variation. In this paper, we explore individual differences by considering the unique sets of discourses and everyday lived experiences that surround 3 students at a bilingual Mandarin Chinese-English school. We offer implications for designing a reflective pedagogy that capitalizes on individual students' understandings and interpretations of the bilingual self, language, culture, and race. [More] Descriptors: Self Concept, Mandarin Chinese, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning
(2008). Current Challenges in Bilingual Education in Wales, AILA Review. In Wales, bilingual education in Welsh and English has an increasingly high profile and Wales shares international leadership of bilingual education policies and practices alongside other countries where bilingual education flourishes. Ever since the first designated Welsh-medium primary school was opened in 1939, Welsh-medium and bilingual education has spread across Wales. This poses both an opportunity and a challenge to educators, since classes may well contain a wide linguistic variety of native speakers and learners of Welsh. This also gives rise to variations in teaching methodologies and in the allocation of languages across the curriculum, with growing experimentation in the concurrent use of both languages within the same lesson period. New research seeks to develop a profile of language allocation in bilingual schools in Wales, and to construct a typology of bilingual education that is empirical as well as conceptual. It also seeks to critique current typologies of bilingual education. This paper will commence with a brief overview of the development of the Welsh language and its role within the bilingual education system in Wales (including current statistics), before going on to discuss the research work in progress and present some early emerging issues and challenges. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Bilingual Education, Welsh, English
(2012). Minority Recruitment and Retention for Universities: Bilingual Special Education Faculty, Multicultural Learning and Teaching. Recruitment and retention of minority faculty in bilingual special education is a perilous task. Research has shown that minority faculty/teachers are able to provide emotional support, mentor students, serve as role models, create a positive climate, provide diverse views, increase collaboration among faculty and teachers, and work with minorities. This article presents strategies for recruiting and retaining (particularly in developing resiliency) minority bilingual special education university faculty. Faculty in bilingual special education must adapt, recover, and persevere in order to best serve the interests of students with disabilities who are culturally and linguistically diverse. Strategies for developing resiliency are provided. [More] Descriptors: Minority Group Teachers, Teacher Recruitment, Teacher Persistence, Special Education