This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Maria J. Hijlkema, Mary Rudner, Jerker Rönnberg, Lisa M. Dorner, Rouhollah Rahmatian, Maha Elhami, James Collins, Julia Burdick-Will, Christina Gomez, and Sonia Nieto.
(2015). Early EFL Education Is on the Rise in Oman: A Qualitative Inquiry of Parental Beliefs about Early EFL Learning, English Language Teaching. Today's parents are more interested in having their children acquire English language skills as early as possible because they see the demands of the globalizing world context and contemporary trends in society and wish to ensure that their children can live in a future (quite possibly) English-speaking society. These developments, particularly in the Gulf Region in general and in Oman in particular, have led the educational sector to accelerate efforts over the last decade to initiate hundreds of early childhood education programs that offer bilingual education systems. However, no research has been conducted in the Omani context on parents' beliefs about early instruction in English as a Foreign Language (EFL); claims regarding this issue remain speculative. This qualitative research study investigated parental beliefs about early EFL learning in Oman. Participants were 11 parents with children enrolled at a bilingual early childhood program. Interviews and a demographic survey were conducted. Findings revealed that parents are well aware of the benefits, challenges, and solutions of early EFL education. An exhaustive description of parents' beliefs about early EFL learning was extracted. Implications and recommendations for research, policy, and practice are offered. [More] Descriptors: Qualitative Research, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction
(2015). CLIL in Queensland: The Evolution of "Immersion", Babel. Queensland second language immersion programs have been in existence for three decades, and are part of a growing number of additive bilingual education programs in Australia. Most prominently, many new Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) programs have been established particularly in Victoria over the past few years. This focus on intensive language learning programs which integrate mainstream curriculum in subjects such as science or history with language learning is a welcome development for the languages sector in Australia. This paper offers insights into the Queensland context and presents interview data from program directors and teachers who reflected on teaching approaches and program structures. The teacher positions suggest that elements of CLIL have been part of Queensland immersion programs from their inception, and that "immersion" alone might be a misleading description. The findings reveal a sustained focus on integrating "language work" into all aspects of subject delivery, and therefore support the re-conceptualisation of these programs as CLIL/Immersion. [More] Descriptors: Second Language Learning, Language of Instruction, Teaching Methods, Course Content
(2015). Migration, Language Diversity and Education Policy: A Contextualized Analysis of Inequality, Risk and State Effects, Policy Futures in Education. "No Child Left Behind" is federal education legislation consisting of implementation programs intended to reconcile the goals of insuring equality while promoting competition in public education in the United States. Immigrant students whose primary languages are not English are included in the mandate of "NCLB," categorized as English Language Learners (ELLs), a category of at-risk students. Drawing on case studies of immigrant students in upstate New York, as well as surveys of school district compliance with ESL/Bilingual education requirements, this analysis is an exploration of how "NCLB" and its implementation simultaneously obscure economic differences and polarize ethnolinguistic identities at school, state, and federal levels. Drawing from ethnographic as well as sociolinguistic data, the concept of "state effects" is used to examine the articulation and re-articulation of ethnoracial and linguistic diversity along axes of poverty and relative privilege. It is argued that "NCLB" as enacted across diverse scales constructs social subjects in relation to differences that are obscured or emphasized and produces isolated individual subjects as well as new collective identities. [More] Descriptors: Educational Policy, Immigrants, At Risk Students, English Language Learners
(2015). Unlocking the Grid: Language-in-Education Policy Realisation in Post-Apartheid South Africa, Language and Education. This paper reflects on the state of educational language policy two decades into a post-Apartheid South Africa caught between official multilingualism and English. The focus is on the national language-in-education policy (LiEP) that advocates additive bi/multilingualism, and a provincial counterpart, the language transformation plan (LTP). Using Ricento and Hornberger's onion metaphor, the paper seeks to uncover the meanings of policy realisation in education at legislative, institutional, and interpersonal levels. The LiEP's non-realisation at institutional level is indexed by a "gridlock of collusion" (Alexander, personal communication) between political elites and the majority of African-language speakers, who emulatively seek the goods that an English-medium education promises. To illustrate how teachers can become policy advocates, data are presented from a bilingual education in-service programme that supported the LTP. The paper argues that sociolinguistic insights into speakers' heteroglossic practices should be used to counter prevailing monoglossic policy discourses and school language practices, and that all languages should be used as learning resources. Strategic essentialism would recognise the schooling system's need to separately classify language subjects and to identify the languages most productively used for teaching across the curriculum. The paper concludes with a call for the revision of the LiEP. [More] Descriptors: Social Change, Foreign Countries, Educational Policy, Language Planning
(2015). Training Literacy Skills through Sign Language, Deafness and Education International. The literacy skills of deaf children generally lag behind those of their hearing peers. The mechanisms of reading in deaf individuals are only just beginning to be unraveled but it seems that native language skills play an important role. In this study 12 deaf pupils (six in grades 1-2 and six in grades 4-6) at a Swedish state primary school for deaf and hard of hearing children were trained on the connection between Swedish Sign Language and written Swedish using a pilot sign language version of the literacy training software program Omega-is. Literacy skills improved substantially across the 20 days of the study. These literacy gains may have rested upon the specific software-based intervention, upon regular classroom activities, or upon a combination of these factors. Omega-is-d, and similar software utilizing sign language as a component, targets an important mechanism supporting reading development in deaf children and could play an important role in bilingual education refinements. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Literacy Education, Deafness, Elementary School Students
(2015). Print Knowledge in Yucatec Maya-Spanish Bilingual Children: An Initial Inquiry, Grantee Submission. This study serves as an initial inquiry regarding the early print knowledge of emergent bilingual preschool-age children living in an Indigenous community in Mexico. In this research, we examine various dimensions of print knowledge with Yucatec Maya-Spanish bilingual children for whom one of their languages (Yucatec Maya) is seldom seen in print forms in mainstream classrooms and curricula. A total of 84 emergent bilingual children were assessed in their Yucatec Maya and Spanish on measures of alphabet knowledge (i.e. letter names and sounds), name writing, and concepts of print. Results were analyzed and compared between languages, showing that the children demonstrated modest levels of print knowledge on all measures. Whereas the emergent bilingual children in this study performed significantly better in Spanish than Yucatec Maya on all indices of print knowledge, this investigation provides insights into how these children may concurrently develop print-related skills in interrelated ways across languages. Implications of these findings are outlined. [At time of submission to ERIC this article was in press with "International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism."] [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Mayan Languages, Spanish, Bilingualism
(2015). Brooklyn Dreams: My Life in Public Education, Harvard Education Press. In "Brooklyn Dreams," Sonia Nieto–one of the leading authors and teachers in the field of multicultural education–looks back on her formative experiences as a student, activist, and educator, and shows how they reflect and illuminate the themes of her life's work. Nieto offers a poignant account of her childhood and the complexities of navigating the boundaries between the rich culture of her working-class Puerto Rican family and the world of school. "Brooklyn Dreams" also chronicles her experiences as a fledgling teacher at the first bilingual public school in New York City–in the midst of the Ocean Hill-Brownsville strike–and the heady days of activism during the founding of the bilingual education program at Brooklyn College and later in establishing and running an alternative multicultural school in Amherst, Massachusetts. Along the way, Nieto reflects on the ideas and individuals who influenced her work, from Jonathan Kozol to Paulo Freire, and talks frankly about the limits of activism, the failures of school reform, and the joys and challenges of working with preservice and in-service educators to deepen their appreciation of diversity. "Brooklyn Dreams" is an intimate account of an educator's life lived with zest, generosity, and warmth. An index is included. [More] Descriptors: Public Education, Multicultural Education, Bilingual Education, Bilingual Education Programs
(2015). The Use of English as Medium of Instruction at the Upper Basic Level (Primary Four to Junior High School) in Ghana: From Theory to Practice, Journal of Education and Practice. The language of education is crucial to learners' academic success. As a result, nations whose native languages are not the languages of education have promulgated language policies to solve communication problems in their school systems. Most multilingual nations have adopted bilingual education systems that recognize the child's native language and a second language, which in most cases is the official language of the nation. Ghana, because of its multilingual nature, has promulgated a language policy which uses the child's L1 as medium of instruction at the lower basic level (KG1 to Primary 3) and English (L2) used from Primary four onwards. However, this policy has not been rigorously observed and enforced by teachers and educational administrators respectively. This qualitative study, therefore sought to examine the factors that have militated against the use of English as medium of instruction in the upper section of the basic educational system in Ghana (Primary 4 to Junior High School) and examined ways to facilitate the use of English as medium of instruction in this sector of the educational system. [More] Descriptors: Junior High School Students, Language of Instruction, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning
(2016). The Effects of Educational Tools in Reducing Code-Switching in Child Simultaneous Bilingual Education, Journal of Education and Learning. Simultaneous bilingual education of a child is a dynamic process. Construction of linguistic competences undeniably depends on the conditions of the linguistic environment of the child. This education in a monolingual family, requires the practice of parenting tactics to increase the frequency of the language use in minority, during which, code-switching prevents child from keeping the monolingual rhythm in the minority language. This case-study focuses on a 41 month-old girl whose only interactive source for the second language, i.e., French, is her non-native mother, since birth; Persian is the dominant social language. Seeking to promote language acquisition by offering several opportunities for the weaker language, "animation," accessible in every house, is introduced as an audio-visual educational tool. This paper experiments the application of a parental method to see if this passive tool can be used to create interaction and communication, how effective can such a document be on child language development while limiting code-switching and minimal level of expression and thus analyzing language learning of a child being exposed to two languages in a monolingual social environment. This research aims to prove the effectiveness of cartoon as an educational tool in improving the quality of a minority language acquisition by designing age-adapted activities that have been tested earlier to educational goals by the mother-researcher on primary school children. All sessions of this experiment were subjected to an audio recording which allows meticulous observation and data evaluation. [More] Descriptors: Code Switching (Language), Bilingual Education, Indo European Languages, Child Language
(2006). Assimilation versus Multiculturalism: Bilingual Education and the Latino Challenge, Journal of Latinos & Education. This article analyzes the public rhetoric during the November 2002 vote over bilingual education in Colorado and Massachusetts. We argue that the neoassimilationist views displayed in both states represent a new step in the evolution of assimilation theory and ideology–one that has adapted to both the current immigrant environment and to multicultural criticism. In Colorado, where the bill English for the Children failed to pass, the print media reveals a far greater tendency toward assimilation; in Massachusetts, multicultural values are used far more often as a defense for bilingual education programs, even though the bill overwhelmingly passed. [More] Descriptors: Acculturation, Cultural Pluralism, Bilingual Education, Hispanic Americans
(2006). Assimilation versus Multiculturalism: Bilingual Education and the Latino Challenge, Journal of Latinos & Education. This article analyzes the public rhetoric during the November 2002 vote over bilingual education in Colorado and Massachusetts. We argue that the neoassimilationist views displayed in both states represent a new step in the evolution of assimilation theory and ideology–one that has adapted to both the current immigrant environment and to multicultural criticism. In Colorado, where the bill English for the Children failed to pass, the print media reveals a far greater tendency toward assimilation; in Massachusetts, multicultural values are used far more often as a defense for bilingual education programs, even though the bill overwhelmingly passed. [More] Descriptors: Cultural Pluralism, Bilingual Education, Acculturation, Immigrants
(2015). From Global Jobs to Safe Spaces: The Diverse Discourses That Sell Multilingual Schooling in the USA, Current Issues in Language Planning. While much research has demonstrated that English-only rhetoric negatively affects bilingual education for the children of US immigrants, few studies have examined the local negotiations and discourses that shape the development of multilingual programming for English-speaking students. Across the USA, educational leaders and policy-makers today struggle to develop language programs and explain the benefits of multilingualism. To examine these challenges at the local level, this study analyzed data from an 18-month ethnography documenting the development of an elementary (K-5) language immersion school in a predominantly monolingual city. Framed by neo-institutional theory, analyses focused on leaders' and parents' cultural scripts, or the discourses they employed during bottom-up planning processes. Findings demonstrate that the majority of leaders and diverse parents valued multilingualism as a right and resource for all students; however, parents' discourses also stressed the importance of language as a marker of identity, as well as the importance of having quality academics and safe, secure schooling. In other words, cultural scripts beyond those about multilingualism shaped the implementation of–and parents' choices for–language schools. Such results have implications for how school leaders establish, and sell, multilingual programming. [More] Descriptors: Multilingualism, Self Concept, Educational Benefits, Second Language Learning
(2015). Componential Differences and Varying Developmental Patterns Exhibited in Immersion Programmes, Online Submission. In bilingual literature, few studies have examined the processes of concept formation (CF); even fewer studies have discussed their developmental changes. This study explores language-cognition links and CF fractionation processes by comparing total and partial immersion programmes (TIPs and PIPs). Descriptive statistics (DS), correlational analysis (CA) and principal component analysis (PCA) are performed to investigate language-cognition relationships and similarities and differences in developmental aspects between TIPs and PIPs. The DS and CA for PIPs demonstrate varying inter-individual differences depending on the courses and programmes. Moreover, despite the nearly equal ratio in the two languages used for the courses at the PIPs, the PCA results exhibit componential fractionations and time-sequential (developmental) changes similar to those for TIPs, suggesting unique language-cognition links. On one hand, the results for the two PIPs revealed a unique composition depending on the IP, and on the other hand, the extracted components mediated by the two languages demonstrated a similar developmental pattern. The findings for PIPs, since they share common CF characteristics with TIPs, imply that the instructional and developmental significance of the CF process transcends time and educational systems. In particular, the fractionation and diversification processes of components cannot be accounted for within a constrained framework of independent model in existing research on bilingual education. Based on the statistical outcomes, an interactive/developmental model may be a more viable alternative educational model. [More] Descriptors: Immersion Programs, Comparative Analysis, Concept Formation, Individual Development
(2010). Classroom Interaction: Potential or Problem? The Case of Karagwe, International Journal of Educational Development. This paper discusses interactional patterns in classrooms in primary school in rural Tanzania, based on an ethnographic study on literacy practices. The paper argues that the official policy of Swahili-only in primary school, together with the huge gap between high expectations on educational outcome and lack of resources, have resulted in the creation of safety strategies among pupils and teachers. These safety strategies include interactional patterns that also constitute a hindrance for students' learning. However, I claim that these interactional patterns could constitute a potential for educational development, if research findings from bilingual education were taken into account. [More] Descriptors: Educational Development, Safety, Interaction Process Analysis, Bilingual Education
(2015). English as a Medium of Instruction in the Gulf: When Students and Teachers Speak, Language Policy. This study explores the effectiveness of English as a medium of instruction (EMI) in the Arabian/Persian Gulf, with special focus on the situation in the United Arab Emirates. The study, undertaken at six universities located in major cities of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Al Ain, Sharjah, Ajman, and Ras Al Khaimah, examines students' and teachers' perceptions about the use of English to teach subject matter. A total of 500 students and 100 teachers responded via survey questionnaires and structured interviews about the effectiveness of EMI. Results suggest that the current EMI situation leaves much to be desired with students struggling to learn the subject matter due to their low-proficiency in English. This paper suggests implementing a bilingual curriculum in which instruction is delivered in English and Arabic in order to enhance students' linguistic and biliteracy skills. The study has implications for language education policy issues in the Gulf and advocates bilingual education as a means to improving students' mastery of English, while preserving their national identity and indigenous culture. [More] Descriptors: English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Bilingual Education, Semitic Languages