This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Colin Baker, Kate S. Mahoney, Jeff MacSwan, Early Childhood Today, Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, Carla Paciotto, James Crawford, Aura Mor-Sommerfeld, Lisa Pray, and Dale Wayne Kerwin.
(2005). Language and Content in Bilingual Education, Linguistics and Education: An International Research Journal. This article suggests that there is a tendency to argue for or against bilingual education in terms of productivity (student attainment expressed as test scores), and that productivity is discussed in terms of division of time, curriculum and speakers. Although this orientation has produced some valuable macro-level accounts, it does not address the need for close-up interaction data showing how language(s) are used by teachers and students in classroom activities. It is argued that such data is vital for understanding language and curriculum content learning in specific local contexts, which in turn can be fed into wider discussions on pedagogy and policy in bilingual education. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Productivity, Academic Achievement, Language of Instruction
(2011). When We Become People with a History, International Journal of Inclusive Education. Aboriginal children learn a two-way pedagogy and most Aboriginal learners have to engage in bicultural and bilingual education to succeed in the dominant educational setting. Aboriginal Australians pride themselves on being Aboriginal, however Aboriginal epistemology and ontology are never considered as true methodologies within a dominant learning environment. Aboriginal children have to engage in the dominant paradigms, discourses and descriptives (in other words, the dominant language and ways of doing things) when reconstructing an historical consciousness. Aboriginal people, since the invasion of Australia by a dominant cultural group, have been forced to accommodate other ways of knowing and take these as fact. Aboriginal pedagogy has and is still being seen as primitive with no place in a modern world. Aboriginal pedagogy and theoretical discussion of history, ideas of time and place, and the evolution of knowledge systems form the bases for this paper. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Indigenous Populations, Minority Groups, Cultural Differences
(2005). Learning English Bilingually: Age of Onset of Exposure and Rate of Acquisition among English Language Learners in a Bilingual Education Program, Bilingual Research Journal. This article asks whether children enrolled in a bilingual education program learn English in a reasonable amount of time, and whether older children learn English faster than younger children. Children (N = 89) were found to achieve parity with native English speakers in a range of 1 to 6.5 years and in an average of 3.31 years on measures of English language. Indirect comparisons with other data suggest that children in bilingual education programs learn English as fast as or faster than children in all-English programs, and an ANOVA analysis indicates that older school-age children in the sample learn English faster than younger children, F(4, 84) = 9.037, p < 0.001, adjusted R[squared] = 0.268. The evidence supports the underlying rationale of bilingual education programs; in addition, the authors argue that English-only programs may inhibit successful learning of academic subject matter. [More] Descriptors: Second Language Learning, Bilingual Education Programs, English (Second Language), Elementary School Students
(2009). Mother Tongue and Bilingual Minority Education in China, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. Mother tongue education in separate schools has been in the norm for several of China's large minorities since 1949. In recent years, however, the shift in minority parental demand, media focus on low educational outcomes of mother tongue education combined with government concerns about separatism have led to the development of mixed schools for Chinese and minority students. In China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) the government plans to merge all minority mother tongue schools with Chinese schools by the end of 2008. This paper explores the reasons for this policy change and examines whether the mixed schools will address the unsatisfactory educational outcomes for minority students. It draws on data of case studies of two schools in XUAR, a rural minority primary school and an urban mixed minority/Chinese school. The study found mixed schooling does not address the disparity in educational outcomes. Minority ethnic children in both schools have insufficient access to adequate education in their mother tongue, in the national language as well as in the third language, English. It questions whether either school provides genuine bilingual education but provides an example of how bilingual education in one of the schools can address issues of educational outcomes. [More] Descriptors: Language of Instruction, Educational Objectives, Bilingual Education, Official Languages
(2011). Planning Micro-Level Language Education Reform in New Diaspora Sites: Two-Way Immersion Education in the Rural Midwest, Language Policy. Discontinuities are often found between top-down language education policies and local language policy enactments, as de facto language policymaking results from stakeholders' negotiation and interpretation of policy mandates. Teachers occupy a particular role in the execution of language education policies, as they are the "final arbiters" of what takes place in the classroom. Due to the spreading of the Latino Diaspora to non-metropolitan areas, US rural school districts experiencing a flow of English language learners represent salient new contexts for language policy implementation. Since 1973, the state of Illinois has mandated a top-down K-12 Transitional Bilingual Education policy for English language learners, which some school districts have contested by creating two-way immersion programs. Drawing on teacher and administrator personal narratives, this study describes a case of primarily White teachers' reintepretation and "correction" of macrolevel language policies and development of a two-way immersion program in rural Illinois. It traces the processes educators experienced when enacting state language policies with limited educational resources and no professional expertise. It also unveils how the implementation of subtractive bilingual education and professional development opportunities shaped teachers' language ideologies and transformed them into resisters of top-down mandates and enactors of a bottom-up dual language policy. While the interplay of macrolevel language policies, teachers' individual professional experiences and evolving language ideologies generated implementational and ideological spaces challenging remedial educational approaches, programmatic choices were also constrained by social forces, as community members challenged the teachers' choice of bilingual teaching for all children. [More] Descriptors: Expertise, Rural Schools, Language Planning, Immersion Programs
(2003). Education as a Site of Language Contact, Annual Review of Applied Linguistics. Reviews the multidimensional research on bilingual education, covering contexts where bilingual children are in transitional classrooms as well as schools where curriculum content is experienced in two (or more) languages. Suggests that for bilingual education to play its part in language reversal, it needs to show its relative effectiveness, both as an educational approach and for language maintenance planning. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Instructional Effectiveness, Language Maintenance, Language Planning
(2009). English-Only Language-in-Education Policy in Multilingual Classrooms in Ghana, Language, Culture and Curriculum. This paper, based on the findings of a qualitative study, discusses the influence of Ghana's recently introduced English-only language-in-education policy on pupils' classroom communicative practices and learning generally. It highlights how the use of English–an unfamiliar language–creates anxiety among students and stalls effective classroom participation. The paper first considers the key issues that impinge on the literacy development in multilingual classrooms in postcolonial Africa including the uninformed attitudes towards mother tongue/bilingual education. It then draws on the empirical data from Africa and elsewhere to refute the negative perceptions about mother-tongue education, and, examines the prospects for bilingual/mother-tongue education in multilingual classrooms in Ghana. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Language of Instruction, Multilingualism, Foreign Countries
(2013). Reflections on the Process of Bilingual Education in Latin America: A Perspective from Globalization, GIST Education and Learning Research Journal. This paper intends to explain how education can be understood as a process that involves the transmission of culture, knowledge, manners and values; meanwhile, globalization implies an evolving process of constructing a global system of languages. In this way, the relationship between the educational and economic systems can become stronger through processes of bilingual education. In Latin America, bilingualism has its origins in European colonization and has acquired power because of the wide range of opportunities that communication in the contemporary world can offer. Therefore, it has prioritized the necessity of raising the levels of undergraduate and post graduate education. The spread of English within the bilingual model as a possibility for the development of Latin American countries does not constitute a very clear perspective in the sense of guaranteeing the inclusion of the entire population. Indeed, a bilingual model with an ethnocentric tendency has prevailed, which favors the English speaking culture as the model to follow. This perspective opens the possibility to reflect on the use of English as a common framework of reference. It means the construction of multicultural and plurilingual spaces which are able to favor the inclusion and innovation of sectors related to transnational markets. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Bilingual Education, Global Approach, English
(2007). Bilingual Education in Rural Schools with Native and Non-Native Students: Indigenous-Language Programme Elements for an Inclusive Model, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. The inclusive bilingual-education programme suggestions and insights presented here are derived from grassroots input on the Flathead Reservation. This study focuses on the emic point of view. Views from the inside are valuable because they provide authoritative interpretations of local conditions. The author conducted 101 interviews with 89 educational stakeholders holding diverse perspectives on indigenous-language education in public schools on the Reservation. The bilingual education components addressed by the research participants include objectives, target population, frequency, and curriculum. Some of the participants' suggestions are applicable reservation-wide and some are specific to one of the three rural school districts selected for the study. These data are separately analysed and reported in two different sections in this paper. Although the envisioned bilingual-education programme will not, by itself, save any language, it can complement other community efforts by supporting Native-language education, creating a positive community environment for place-based language and cultural studies, and solidifying the foundation for further intensive second-language learning. The grassroots suggestions presented in this paper advance the goal of reversing language loss, in addition to enhancing place-based multicultural education for all. In the context of rural districts of mixed populations, the future of indigenous language learning lies in well-planned coordination and collaboration among tribal and non-tribal entities, multiple language programmes, committed language educators who work in different settings, and curriculum developers from inside and outside of the language classroom. [More] Descriptors: Language Skill Attrition, Rural Schools, Bilingual Education, Bilingualism
(2005). Weighing the Evidence: A Meta-Analysis of Bilingual Education in Arizona, Bilingual Research Journal. This article reviews the current policy context in the state of Arizona for program options for English language learners and produces a meta-analysis of studies on the effectiveness of bilingual education that have been conducted in the state in or after 1985. The study presents an analysis of a sample of evaluation studies (N = 4), which demonstrates a positive effect for bilingual education on all measures, both in English and the native language of English language learners, when compared to English-only instructional alternatives. We conclude that current state policy is at odds with the best synthesis of the empirical evidence, and we recommend that current policy mandating English-only and forbidding bilingual education be abandoned in favor of program choices made at the level of the local community. [More] Descriptors: Second Language Learning, English (Second Language), Bilingual Education, Educational Policy
(2007). Spanish-English Immersion in the Wake of California Proposition 227: Five Cases, Intercultural Education. Two-way bilingual immersion programs are noteworthy within the context of US public education because, in them, the children of immigrants are essential assets. Language-minority and English-speaking pupils are grouped together, starting in kindergarten or earlier and extending at least through grade five, with a goal of bilingual proficiency and biliteracy for all. This paper explores two-way immersion educators' and parents' responses to California Proposition 227, which severely restricted bilingual education. Given this obstacle, what has motivated the maintenance and further initiation of two-way bilingual immersion? And to what ends? Answers hinge on varied institutional climates at the school district level and parent-teacher activism towards the goal of truly multicultural education. Proposition 227 was a disastrous move, but dedicated educators, parents and communities have been proactive in creating two-way bilingual programs to help maintain bilingual education in a way that benefits all students. [More] Descriptors: Multicultural Education, Immersion Programs, Bilingual Education, Bilingual Education Programs
(2005). NABE News, 2004-2005, National Association for Bilingual Education. This document contains the 2004-2005 issues of the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) newsletter, which covers the topic of bilingual education. Six issues are contained in this document. Each issue is centered around a theme: (1) Models for Teacher Preparation: Deciding Which Ones Meet Our Needs; (2) Applications for Classroom Instruction; (3) No Child Left Behind: Assessing the Impact; (4) Funding Programs for English Language Learners; (5) Promoting Biliteracy through Content Themes; and (6) Reducing Dropout Rates for Hispanic Students. Along with feature articles, each issue also contains book reviews, announcements of upcoming conferences and calls for papers, noteworthy events and news in the bilingual education field, and membership information. [More] Descriptors: Federal Legislation, Second Language Learning, Dropout Rate, Bilingual Education
(2009). A New Bilingual Education in the Conflict-Ridden Israeli Reality: Language Practices, Language and Education. Under the Israeli language education policy, the mother tongue is learned first for several years, followed by a second language (English for Jews, Hebrew for Arabs) and then a third language (English for Arabs, Arabic/French for Jews). This type of limited bilingualism seems to suit the Israeli reality in the context of the Israeli-Arab conflict, the definition and perception of Israel as a Jewish-Zionist state and the complex Jewish-Arab relations within Israel. In 1997, the Hand in Hand Center for Jewish-Arab Education in Israel initiated a new model of Hebrew-Arabic bilingual education in Israel, assuming that direct contact between Arab and Jewish pupils would bring about far-reaching changes in the conflict-ridden Israeli society. Currently, three schools have adopted the new model. Several studies of the new model have provided rich information, mainly about educational, cultural and national issues. However, no systematic study has focused on the implementation of bilingual education in the schools; less emphasis has been placed on actual language practices in the classroom and the school environment in relation to ideology and policy. This article attempts to investigate and document the interaction between Hebrew and Arabic in a location which conceptually places both languages on equal footing. [More] Descriptors: Semitic Languages, Jews, Bilingual Education, Conflict
(2015). Two-Way Bilingual Education and Latino Students, Educational Leadership and Administration: Teaching and Program Development. Two-way bilingual immersion (TWBI) programs have demonstrated great success in improving Latino English learners' educational outcomes. Nevertheless, TWBI classrooms are not immune to the greater power dynamics and influences of United States society. This Participatory Action Research study brought together eight two-way bilingual immersion teachers from two school districts. The participants explored awareness of power imbalance and validation of cultural capital. They then collaborated to develop practices that promote cross-cultural competency in their TWBI classrooms. This study highlights changes that generate higher educational benefits for Latino English learners, thus fostering stronger, more socially just two-way bilingual immersion programs. [More] Descriptors: Hispanic American Students, Bilingual Education Programs, Immersion Programs, Educational Benefits
(2004). Roundtable: Profiles in Culture. In this article, Early Childhood Today (ECT) talked with three early childhood leaders from diverse backgrounds: Rebeca Barrera, Asa Hilliard, and Lily Wong. This article presents what they said about their own childhoods–and about helping children develop pride in their heritage. Among other things, Rebeca Barrera discusses the importance of bilingual education and the reasons for introducing bilingual education to the nation's children. [More] Descriptors: Profiles, Hispanic Americans, Early Childhood Education, Whites