This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Cornelia Lupe Chumpi Nantip, Francisco Ramos, Rong Ma, Susan Roberta Katz, Megan Hopkins, Arturo Rodriguez, Robert Phillipson, Eileen Dugan Waldschmidt, Christine Glanz, and Mary Ann Zehr.
(2003). Pre-service Teachers' Attitudes toward Theoretical and Practical Aspects of Native Language Instruction in the Schooling of Language Minority Students, Mosaic: A Journal for Language Teachers. Preservice teachers in Spain showed clear support for the theoretical principles of bilingual education, but less support for its practical implementation. Descriptors: English (Second Language), Foreign Countries, Language Minorities, Native Language Instruction
(2009). Bilingual Intercultural Teacher Education: "Nuevos Maestros Para Bolivia", Bilingual Research Journal. Educational reform efforts in Bolivia have created possibilities for teacher-training institutions to focus on bilingual intercultural education. How teacher trainers and future teachers embark upon this endeavor differs somewhat depending on the sociolinguistic, historical, and institutional contexts of each community. This article reports observed challenges and successes related to bilingualism and biliteracy development within the context of a sample of normal schools in Bolivia specializing in bilingual intercultural education. Through the framework of sociocultural theory and the use of ethnographic methods, Hornberger's (1989) Continua of Biliteracy is employed to examine the complexities of literacy practices observed in these schools. [More] Descriptors: Multicultural Education, Indigenous Populations, Ethnography, Educational Change
(2008). Service Learning with Latino Communities: Effects on Preservice Teachers, Journal of Hispanic Higher Education. Results from a qualitative study on the effects of service learning on preservice teacher development in working with culturally diverse learners, specifically within the context of bilingual education and teachers of English as a second language, are discussed. Data were gathered from course reflection papers and participant interviews of college students who participated in service-learning projects with Latino communities. A discourse ensues on five themes that were discovered from the analysis. [More] Descriptors: Preservice Teachers, Service Learning, Qualitative Research, Preservice Teacher Education
(2011). Normalizing English Language Learner Students: A Foucauldian Analysis of Opposition to Bilingual Education, Race, Ethnicity and Education. This article uses Foucault's (1977/1995) concept of normalization to analyze contemporary opposition to bilingual education in the United States. These contemporary movements have "normalized" English language learner (ELL) students by appropriating the technology of language in order to become "Americanized." This has become urgent and emergent in educational research, in part, because of the growing number of ELL students in United States' public schools. English-language proficiency is an essential element for academic success in the US's current English-only, high-stakes testing environment. This analysis questions the notion of an ideal American as the standard for how educators implement English-only curriculum and pedagogy for ELL students. The article concludes with a critique of the impact and implications of "normalizing" ELL students with an English-only education. [More] Descriptors: Educational Research, Bilingual Education, High Stakes Tests, English (Second Language)
(2010). Illinois May Mandate ELL Rules for Preschool, Education Week. The author reports the proposed regulations in Illinois which would require that districts offer English-learners in preschool the same support as in K-12. Questions are being raised about the proposed regulations. The Illinois board of education is poised to adopt these regulations next month. Should the board do so, it is believed that Illinois would have the most prescriptive regulations in the nation for ELLs in preschool. Accountability provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind Act don't apply to preschoolers. While some early-childhood experts say such regulations would help secure the needed educational help for the nation's fastest-growing group of children–ELLs–others say they are not appropriate at the preschool level. Illinois is one of the few states that require districts to offer transitional bilingual education, in which students are taught academic content in their native languages while learning English. Arizona, California, and Massachusetts have all curtailed the method. By 2014, under the proposed rules, public schools in Illinois also would have to ensure that all their preschool teachers who work with ELLs have an endorsement either in bilingual education or English as a second language. [More] Descriptors: Preschool Education, State Regulation, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning
(2014). The Effect of Dual-Language and Transitional-Bilingual Education Instructional Models on Spanish Proficiency for English Language Learners, Bilingual Research Journal. The effects of "transitional-bilingual" and "dual-language" educational models on proficiency in students' home language (Spanish) were examined in a study of English language learners in the first and second grades in a large urban elementary school. In each grade, students were taught with either a transitional-bilingual model or a dual-language one, with a Spanish proficiency assessment administered on a pre/post basis. ANOVA results showed that both models produced significant increases in multiple dimensions of Spanish proficiency (alphabet/sight words, reading, writing, listening, and verbal expression). However, second-grade students in dual-language classrooms (who had longer exposure to the instructional model relative to first graders) scored significantly higher in verbal expression skills. In light of research linking proficiency in the home language with achievement in English language skills and content learning, dual-language instruction appears to be more effective than transitional-bilingual education, although the advantage is limited to the facilitation of home-language verbal expression associated with the dual-language model. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Language Proficiency, Teaching Methods, Second Language Learning
(2016). Native Speakers in Linguistic Imperialism, Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies. An investigation of Native English Speaking Teachers' performance in schemes in six Asian contexts, commissioned by the British Council, and undertaken by three British academics, is subjected to critical evaluation. Key issues for exploration are the issue of a monolingual approach to English learning and teaching, and the inappropriate qualifications of those sent to education systems when they are unfamiliar with the learners' languages, cultures, and pedagogical traditions. Whether the schemes involved constitute linguistic imperialism is analysed. Whereas the need for multilingual competence is recognised as desirable by some British experts, the native speakers in question seldom have this key qualification. This is even the case when the host country (Brunei) aims at bilingual education. It is unlikely that the host countries are getting value for money. Whether the UK and other "English-speaking" countries have relevant expertise is questionable. There is therefore a definite need for a change of paradigm, one based on principles for effective foreign language teaching. Some but far from all Western "experts" recognize this need, whereas scholars and teachers elsewhere do. Five fallacies that underpin the linguicism of British pedagogical expertise are generally involved in native speaker export businesses. They underpin a hierarchy with underqualified native speakers projected as superior to local teachers who are seen as in need of foreign "aid". In view of the British bodies involved openly declaring the economic and geopolitical agenda behind this English teaching business, there is clear evidence of linguistic imperialism in the functions of this global professional service. These activities serve to strengthen Western interests. [More] Descriptors: Native Speakers, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction
(2011). A Critical Foundation for Bilingual Education, Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies. In this paper we weave lived experiences, those of a bilingual social studies teacher at a middle school in a large city in the Southwestern US, with critical theory/pedagogy and bilingual education. The purpose of this paper is to present an articulation of the practice of critical pedagogy in a bilingual educational context principally under the constraints of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and its counterpart Race to the Top. We seek to share a few approaches that Matt, a bilingual social studies teacher, initiated to mitigate the effects of an oppressive but official curriculum and to encourage and foster the development of critical bi-literacy among his students. [More] Descriptors: Critical Theory, Federal Legislation, Bilingual Education, Urban Areas
(2014). "Recuperando La Dignidad Humana" [Recovering Human Dignity]: Shuar Mothers Speak out on Intercultural Bilingual Education, Intercultural Education. This paper presents findings from interviews conducted in December 2011, with seven Shuar mothers of children in an intercultural bilingual school in the southern Amazon region of Ecuador. This study had two objectives: (1) to foreground the perspectives of Shuar parents towards intercultural bilingual education (IBE) as implemented in the Shuar pedagogical institute, and (2) to collaborate as an intercultural research team (North American-Shuar) to ensure linguistic and cultural authenticity of data collection, and analysis. As a Shuar mother herself, the co-author shares the same language and culture as the participants, which led to a deeper level of trust and openness in the interviews. Current studies claim that IBE is losing ground, partly because parents want their children schooled in Spanish–the language of power–and see the IBE system as inferior. However, these Shuar mothers expressed a different concern: IBE has been too intertwined with Salesian missions and must become decolonized in order to reflect authentic Shuar cultural values and educational practices. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Mothers, Interviews, Multicultural Education
(2010). Forbidden Language: English Learners and Restrictive Language Policies. Multicultural Education Series, Teachers College Press. Pulling together the most up-to-date research on the effects of restrictive language policies, this timely volume focuses on what we know about the actual outcomes for students and teachers in California, Arizona, and Massachusetts–states where these policies have been adopted. Prominent legal experts in bilingual education analyze these policies and specifically consider whether the new data undermine their legal viability. Other prominent contributors examine alternative policies and how these have fared. Finally, Patricia Gandara, Daniel Losen, and Gary Orfield suggest how better policies, that rely on empirical research, might be constructed. This timely volume: (1) Features contributions from well-known educators and scholars in bilingual education; (2) Includes an overview of English learners in the United States and a brief history of the policies that have guided their instruction; and (3) Analyzes the current research on teaching English learners in order to determine the most effective instructional strategies. [Contributors include Diane August, Alfredo J. Artiles, Kenji Hakuta, Janette K. Klingner, Daniel Losen, Gary Orfield, and Robert Rueda.] [More] Descriptors: Expertise, Educational Strategies, Bilingual Education, Second Language Learning
(2009). The Development of Minority Education and the Practice of Bilingual Education in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Frontiers of Education in China. The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is an area of great importance for the ethnic minorities of northwestern China, and the development of local minority education has been a constant concern in both government and academic spheres. By means of analyzing government documents, statistical data and research literature, this article attempts to define the fundamental modes and development processes of minority education in Xinjiang. Furthermore, the article elaborates on discussion of the development and problems relevant to bilingual education in the concentrated Uyghur communities of southern Xinjiang based on the author's field research in the Kashgar Prefecture in 2007. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Foreign Countries, Bilingualism, Minority Groups
(2009). Moving toward Critical Cultural Consciousness in ESOL and Bilingual Teacher Education, Bilingual Research Journal. This study draws on research conducted with participants of a professional development project focusing on serving the needs of English language learners in U.S. public schools. We analyze the reflections of two preservice teachers as an assessment of our ability to meet our goal for social justice in teacher education. Qualitative analysis of the data reveals a view of teaching as a nonlocalized activity, beliefs that teaching is a neutral act, superficial acknowledgment of cultural issues, and contradictory attitudes about ESOL/bilingual education. We identify areas for enhancement in our teacher-education program to move beyond reductionist views of teaching and work toward culturally responsive pedagogy. [More] Descriptors: Social Justice, Preservice Teacher Education, Preservice Teachers, Bilingual Education
(2011). Optimising Learning, Education and Publishing in Africa: The Language Factor–A Review and Analysis of Theory and Practice in Mother-Tongue and Bilingual Education in Sub-Saharan Africa, UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (NJ1). The central concern of this volume is how to provide quality education to African children, adolescents and adults through the best-suited media and curricular content in order to achieve social cohesion, inclusion and sustainable development. For at least five decades, since the 1953 UNESCO Report "The Use of Vernacular Languages in Education," African countries have been struggling to find an effective strategy that allows them to move from an education system inherited from the colonial period to a more transformative and culturally-relevant education system that takes into consideration African values and languages, specific socio-cultural and linguistic backgrounds as well as particular educational needs. Such a relevant and effective education strategy would be characterised, first of all, by the use of an appropriate medium of instruction, the use of adequate teaching techniques, the use of culturally adequate curriculum content and sufficient financial and material resources. Currently there are two competing views with respect to the central issue of language in education. Each view is based on a different vision for African societies: (1) The view that reflects the current practice in most African countries advocates for the continued use of the official/foreign language as the primary and ultimate medium of instruction throughout the entire educational system. This view refers to substractive and early-exit bilingual education models; and (2) The second view argues that the viewpoint above reflects the colonial vision of Africa which should not and can no longer be the vision for contemporary Africa. It advocates for the use of mother tongues or familiar languages as primary media of instruction and for the gradual introduction of the official/foreign language throughout the education system. This view refers to late exit and additive bilingual education models. As a result of this research, there is convincing evidence to argue for the second approach: the use of mother tongue (often an African language), i.e. a language familiar to the child upon school entry, as the natural medium of instruction in all African schools. This volume contains the following chapters: (1) Background and history–language politics and planning in Africa (Ekkehard Wolff); (2) Theory and practice–language education models in Africa: research, design, decision-making and outcomes (Kathleen Heugh); (3) Teaching practices–teaching in a familiar language (Hassana Alidou and Birgit Brock-Utne); (4) Active students–learning through a language they master (Birgit Brock-Utne and Hassana Alidou); (5) Use of African languages for literacy: conditions, factors and processes in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Mali, Tanzania and Zambia (Hassana Alidou); (6) Cost implications of the provision of mother-tongue and strong bilingual models of education in Africa (Kathleen Heugh); (7) Publications in African languages and the development of bilingual education (Yaya Satina Diallo); and (8) Promise and pitfalls–A commercial view of publishing in African languages (Peter Reiner). Mother-tongue and bilingual education programmes in Africa are appended. A glossary is included. Individual chapters contain footnotes. [More] Descriptors: Educational Quality, Teaching Methods, African Languages, Bilingual Education
(2008). Dancing with Languages, Teaching Tolerance. Teachers in traditional bilingual settings confront strict program requirements under the guise of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), excessive assessment demands (state, district and program assessments in both English and Spanish), and negative attitudes about bilingual education from many in the political and public spheres. Since 1998, the passage of Proposition 227 in California and similar laws in other states have forced the implementation of Structured Immersion Programs for English Learners (EL). As a result, students with limited English skills are taught in English with some or no primary language support. These students are falling further behind in learning English and other subjects, and the high school drop-out rate is getting worse. The decline in bilingual education also contributes to the loss of heritage. Most many bilingual teachers to turn away from programs that promote biliteracy and instead second-generation Hispanics, for example, prefer to speak English, and by the third generation most Hispanic Americans are no longer able to speak Spanish. It's difficult for teach English in ways that many feel are less effective. In this article, the author, a scholar and expert in biliteracy, shares a personal story about the challenges and joys–and ultimate effectiveness–of bilingual education. [More] Descriptors: Immersion Programs, Federal Legislation, Negative Attitudes, Bilingual Education
(2014). Factors, Processes and Outcomes of Early Immersion Education in the Francophone Community in Belgium, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. Although Belgium is characterized by a widespread consensus that a functional proficiency in the two major national languages, Dutch and French, as well as in English is desirable, educational provision to achieve such proficiency has long been constrained by an official language policy which mandates that education must be monolingual in Dutch, French or German. The last two decades, however, have witnessed an increased interest in bilingual education. In 1998, a legal framework was created for immersion education in the francophone part of the country, allowing for the use of Dutch, English or German as a medium of instruction from the age of five onwards. After an outline of the legal socio-political background, against which immersion education in Belgium is implemented, this paper describes structural and organizational features of early immersion education in the Francophone Community (FC), discusses pedagogical practices and reviews academic and linguistic outcomes. In addition, a study of the L2 development in one early English immersion school is presented. Results are compared to the L2 proficiency levels obtained in immersion preschools in Germany and Sweden. Outcomes are discussed in terms of the programme characteristics and of the challenges facing early immersion education in the FC. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, French, Immersion Programs, Outcomes of Education