This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include William P. Ancker, Elizabeth Arnot-Hopffer, Patricio R. Ortiz, Angel Lin, Jacob Marriote Ngwaru, Fern L. Johnson, Jamy Stillman, Arieh Sherris, Erica Volkers, and Kristin Rosekrans.
(2009). Indigenous Knowledge and Language: Decolonizing Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in a Mapuche Intercultural Bilingual Education Program in Chile, Online Submission. This article illustrates how Mapuche Indigenous knowledge (Kimun) and language (Mapudungun) incorporated into an Intercultural Bilingual Education (IBE) program of a school within a Mapuche context in Chile creates decolonizing counter-hegemonic narratives as forms of culturally relevant pedagogy. Based on a six-month school ethnography, this study focuses on the role of an ancestral educator (Kimche) who, as a teacher in the IBE program, becomes an agent of Indigenous cultural and linguistic transmission as he brings Indigenous knowledge into the classroom as his main curricular objectives. Framed within the complex historical, socio-cultural and political contexts of Indigenous education in Latin America and in Chile, this article highlights the current debates about IBE inside and outside Indigenous communities, which are defining the sustainability of these programs. [More] Descriptors: Indigenous Knowledge, Culturally Relevant Education, Bilingual Education Programs, Cultural Context
(2012). Education Reform for the Expansion of Mother-Tongue Education in Ghana, International Review of Education. In 1957 Ghana was the first sub-Saharan colonial nation-state to achieve independence from British rule. The language of literacy instruction, however, remained English throughout most of Ghana's independence, effectively thwarting reading and writing in 11 major and 67 minor indigenous languages in use today. After years of policy shifts, including the intermittent of mother tongue in early childhood schooling to facilitate English language and literacy instruction, prospects for a bold move towards multilingual education have emerged from a coalescence of forces inside and outside of Ghanaian education policy circles. This article discusses how the inertia of a dated language policy and a historic disregard for Ghana's multilingual landscape by the country's own policy makers are being overcome, at least partially, by progressive powers of change, albeit not without challenge. It undertakes an analysis of how a policy environment that supports bilingual education was created in order to implement a comprehensive and innovative multilingual programme, the National Literacy Acceleration Program (NALAP), which was rolled out across the nation's schools in early 2010. Having been involved in the process of designing NALAP, the authors describe the development of standards of learning and materials, as well as innovative aspects of a constructivist teacher education approach. The paper concludes with recommendations for further research, including combining a change process for key stakeholders and randomised language and literacy assessment with social marketing research in a unified approach. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Educational Change, Native Language, Language of Instruction
(2005). Making Ends Meet: Bringing Bilingual Education and Mainstream Students Together in Preservice Teacher Education, Equity and Excellence in Education. In some institutions offering certification for bilingual education and ESL teachers, the corresponding mainstream programs do little to ready their students to work effectively with language minority children. Yet today's mainstream classrooms are linguistically and culturally diverse, and all teachers must appreciate the role of language and culture in teaching and learning. This study describes one effort to consciously combine preservice bilingual and mainstream education teachers in a bilingual education methods cohort. Students reported promising gains in cross-cultural understanding and in cross-program appreciation. Some losses took place as well, however, and further innovation and research are needed in order to ensure that such efforts to combine programs strengthen, but not weaken, each program. [More] Descriptors: Preservice Teacher Education, Preservice Teachers, Minority Group Children, Language Minorities
(2012). Language-Switching Costs in Bilingual Mathematics Learning, Mind, Brain, and Education. Behavioral studies on bilingual learning have revealed cognitive costs (lower accuracy and/or higher processing time) when the language of application differs from the language of learning. The aim of this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study was to provide insights into the cognitive underpinnings of these costs (so-called language-switching costs) in mathematics. Twenty-nine bilingual adults underwent a 4-day arithmetic training in one language, followed by an fMRI test session in which they had to solve the trained problems in both languages. Language-switching costs were accompanied by increased activation in areas associated with magnitude processing (intraparietal sulcus), visuo-spatial imagery (precuneus), numerical stimulus recognition (fusiform gyrus) and executive functions (frontal areas). These findings suggest that language-switching costs in arithmetic are due to additional numerical information processing. Bilingual education programs need to take these findings into account to reduce language-switching costs in order to fully exploit the potential of bilingual learning. [More] Descriptors: Mathematics Education, Bilingual Education, Bilingual Education Programs, Arithmetic
(2009). Heritage Agency in a Transnational California Community: Latino Parents and Bilingual Education, Language, Culture and Curriculum. Latino immigrant parents were interviewed in a transnational urban community in California after passage of a law intended to abolish bilingual education (BE). Approximately half had English learner children in bilingual classes; the others in English-only classes. Guided by a macrocultural psychological interpretive framework, the study used a concurrent nested mixed methods design to examine the influences of material and social conditions in shaping parents' agency for their children's heritage preservation. It was found that local community resistance to mainstream assimilation played a significant role in agency formation and that depth and quality of experience with BE and Latino-dense schools influenced the perception of BE as a viable means for heritage agency fulfilment. International policy implications are discussed. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Foreign Policy, Immigrants, Bilingualism
(2012). Rhetorical Positioning of US Policy Statements about Multilingual Education–With Reference to the EU, Language, Culture and Curriculum. The focus of this paper is on US language policy statements that govern the priorities for teaching languages other than English in public schools and the language ideologies implied by specific management moves by the federal government to regulate language education, starting with the Bilingual Education Act (BEA) of 1968. Following introductory comments on language ideology, rhetorical positioning, and claims-making, this paper provides an overview of language diversity in the USA as the context for examining four major policy statements by the federal government up through the present: (1) the "BEA of 1968"; (2) "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB), which replaced the BEA when it became law in 2002; (3) the "National Security Language Initiative of 2006"; and (4) the current proposal from President Barack Obama's administration, titled "A Blueprint for Reform", which–if enacted–will replace "NCLB". The next section provides an overview of European Union (EU) language policy in recent years to highlight the sharp contrast between the EU and US approaches. This paper closes with a comparison of the EU and US approaches, with emphasis on how the EU approach could be instructive for US policy-makers. [More] Descriptors: Language Planning, National Security, Federal Legislation, Bilingual Education
(2012). The 21st Century Teacher: A Cultural Perspective, Journal of Teacher Education. In this article, the authors focus on the disciplinary divides between multicultural, bilingual, and special education. Existing issues that inhibit closer integration of these areas are highlighted, and a focus on the issue of culture is examined. Problematic ways that this key area has been treated in the past are described, and a proposal for a cultural focus on all students is described. [More] Descriptors: Special Education, English Language Learners, Teacher Education, Teacher Education Programs
(2004). Insufficient Funding for Bilingual Education in Texas, Intercultural Development Research Association. Bilingual education teaches English to children and at the same time, they are taught core subjects like math and science. The facts show that bilingual education is a small investment that pays big dividends for the country in the form of a well educated work force. This article focuses on three areas: historical basis for Texas funding for its bilingual and English as a second language (ESL) programs, the evolution of funding formulae for the program, and current issues related to funding for students enrolled in the state's bilingual and ESL programs. [This document originally appeared in the "IDRA Newsletter", however some accompanying charts and graphs may not be provided here.] [More] Descriptors: Second Language Learning, Special Programs, Bilingual Education, Educational Finance
(2006). Beyond Linguistic Purism in Language-in-Education Policy and Practice: Exploring Bilingual Pedagogies in a Hong Kong Science Classroom, Language and Education. This paper proposes to overcome the traditional essentialist and dichotomous ways of conceptualising language and language pedagogies, i.e. to go beyond linguistic purist perspectives. Analysing bilingual teaching practices in a science lesson, the paper proposes that practical bilingual pedagogies can be developed to help students in bilingual education programmes to access dominant linguistic resources and discourses by capitalising on their indigenous linguistic and cultural resources. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Language of Instruction, Educational Policy, Bilingual Education
(2012). Investigating the Coexistence of the Mother Tongue and the Foreign Language through Teacher Collaboration in CLIL Contexts: Perceptions and Practice of the Teachers Involved in the Plurilingual Programme in Andalusia, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. In content and language integrated learning (CLIL), as in any other type of bilingual education, two languages are used to promote cognitive and language learning. Whereas in the bilingual classroom the two languages are always present, in CLIL they may appear together or be used in totally separate circumstances. Although the relationship between languages is different, in CLIL, where the foreign language is the minority language employed, we uphold that the purported benefits of combining both languages should not be underestimated in this type of education. The objective of this study is to find out if the collaboration among teachers, particularly between language assistants and content teachers, with the subsequent use of two languages in the same classroom, may result in the development of strategies that will ultimately contribute to the improvement of the teaching process, the learning of content matter and also the development of language skills and language awareness. By analysing the perceptions and reflection on the actual performance of teachers involved in CLIL programmes in Andalusia, a Spanish monolingual autonomous community, this article aims to identify the existence of collaborative work among teachers, the advantages of such collaboration and the benefits of using the two languages. [More] Descriptors: Metalinguistics, Bilingual Education, Teacher Collaboration, Communicative Competence (Languages)
(2009). Bilingual Education: Using a Virtual Guest Speaker and Online Discussion to Expand Latino Preservice Teachers' Consciousness, Multicultural Education. In today's sociopolitical climate in the United States, nativist anti-immigrant movements drive the marginalization and disempowerment of Latino schoolchildren. Latino teachers need more than a shared ethnicity with their students to help them develop their full potential. Bilingual educators and proponents of dual language programs must understand the often camouflaged hegemonic ideological motives behind most organized opposition to bilingual education. It is essential that teachers of linguistic minorities develop a critical cultural and professional identity, and this development can and should begin in teacher education programs. For many Latino preservice teachers, such development begins as an evolutionary transformative process that requires assistance by knowledgeable others. This study describes how a knowledgeable other, an expert guest speaker, facilitated the awakening of a critical awareness of issues related to native language (L1) preservation and globalization among Latino preservice teachers in an online dialogue. [More] [More] Descriptors: Preservice Teacher Education, Bilingual Education, Global Approach, Multicultural Education
(2012). The Psychic Rewards of Teaching: An Interview with James E. Alatis, English Teaching Forum. James E. Alatis has a distinguished career in Foreign Language teaching and Bilingual Education that spans 50 years. Early in his career he served as a language researcher for the U.S. Departments of Education and State. At Georgetown University in Washington, District of Columbia (DC), he has been a professor of linguistics and Modern Greek since 1966 and was dean of the School of Languages and Linguistics from 1973 to 1994. His record of professional service is outstanding; he has served numerous national and international organizations in management and advisory positions. For 21 years, Dr. Alatis was the executive director of the international association Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). During his tenure, TESOL grew from 337 members in its first year (1966) to over 12,000 in 1987. Dr. Alatis has also been chair of the annual Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics. He has published dozens of articles in scholarly journals, written and edited numerous books, and delivered hundreds of presentations at conferences around the world. When TESOL created an annual award to recognize outstanding and extended professional service, it was named the James E. Alatis Award in honor of his years of vision and leadership. TESOL also established the James E. Alatis Plenary Session at its annual convention. In this interview, Dr. Alatis talks about his career and shares his personal vision of the future of the English teaching profession. (Contains 4 notes.) [This interview was first published in Volume 42, No. 2 (2004).] [More] Descriptors: Teaching (Occupation), Recognition (Achievement), Bilingual Education, Rewards
(2012). African Language Books for Children: Issues for Authors, Language, Culture and Curriculum. Growing interest in bilingual education in sub-Saharan Africa has highlighted an urgent need for reading material in African languages. In this paper, we focus on authors, one of several groups of stakeholders with responsibility for meeting this demand. We address three main issues: the nature and extent of African language publishing for children; the challenges for authors; and the available support. Our analysis is based on interviews and focus group discussions with publishers, authors, translators, educationalists, and representatives of book promotion organisations from nine African countries and documentary data on children's books in African languages in South Africa. Although there is evidence of a growing interest in producing books in local languages, the number of titles is constrained by funding. The challenges for authors include the need to understand the ingredients for successful children's books and for the sensitivity necessary to negotiate the linguistic challenges associated with a newly emergent genre in African languages. Support, in the form of competitions and workshops, relies on external funding and expertise and offers only temporary solutions. We finish with suggestions for more sustainable ways forward. [More] Descriptors: Expertise, African Languages, Reading Materials, Bilingual Education
(2003). Language Revitalization, Annual Review of Applied Linguistics. Surveys developments in language revitalization and language death. Focusing on indigenous languages, discusses the role and nature of appropriate linguistic documentation, possibilities for bilingual education, and methods of promoting oral fluency and intergenerational transmission in affected languages. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Indigenous Populations, Language Fluency, Language Maintenance
(2012). Trespassing Barriers: Researching the Experiences of Latina Immigrants in a Community College Bilingual Early Childhood Program, ProQuest LLC. There has been much debate on the politics and pedagogies of bilingual education in K-12 schools, but conspicuously absent in this debate are institutions of higher education. English-only ideologies are deeply embedded and rarely questioned in U.S. institutions of higher education, which predominantly require English language proficiency to access college-level coursework. Working within the intersections of critical race theory and participatory research, I engaged Latina immigrant students participating in a community college bilingual early childhood degree program as "research collaborators" in examining the influences of this program on their lives. Their stories, shared in a community narrative, reveal how this program opened the door to college access and empowered them as students, mothers, professionals, and advocates. In my discussion of our findings I highlight the capital Latina immigrant students bring to their academic journey, critique the English-only pathway to college, and underscore the importance of creating spaces for the voices of these students to be heard. Documenting our research journey, I also provide an analysis of the challenges and rewards of engaging students from a traditionally marginalized population as research collaborators. [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: Student Experience, Hispanic American Students, Immigrants, Community Colleges