Good Writer 64 | - ✏ Freelance Writer
Jul 28, 2014 | #1
Abstract
This paper explores the relevant issues internationally in the area of bilingual education. It is noted that language education and policies can promote languages. There has recently been an alarming trend toward a reduction in the number of languages spoken worldwide. If this trend continues the 6000 languages which now exist will be reduced to 600 by the end of the 21st century. Latin America is used as an example of how education, language, and politics can interact. A number of different types of bilingual education exist. Several of these are explored in this paper. The intercultural bilingual education of Latin America is explored, and it is noted that this type of education increases cultural awareness. Two-way immersion studies for bilingual education were begun in the 1960s but create problems for students at the lower grade levels who may not grasp the language sufficiently to understand other subjects that are being taught. Studies on transitional bilingual education and structured immersion indicate that students who are native Spanish speakers can learn English with both strategies at approximately the same rate. One of the most promising bilingual education methods is known as the speech community model. It is important for educators to understand that there is a difference between the basic interpersonal communication skills of students attempting to learn a new language and their academic language level (Cummins, 2003). Bilingual education is important for learning in general as it increases a variety of cognitive skills (Sanz, 2000). The increasing trend toward worldwide recognition of the importance regarding language rights is discussed. The speech community model is an effective method of bilingual education, which would benefit from further research.
Throughout the world, there are immigrants and indigenous languages, which are under political, economic, and social pressures, to reduce their usage (Hornberger, 1998). Recent research indicates that language education and policy can promote the stability of these languages. The education and government policies which exist in a country regarding languages can have significant effects on the continued use of these forms of communication. There are scholars who believe that each language should be viewed as a resource which must be protected (Hornberger, 1998).
The phenomenon of languages disappearing is occurring throughout the world (Hornberger, 1998). It has been estimated that there are now approximately 6000 languages on earth and with the current level of loss, only 600 will remain into the next century. There are roughly 175 indigenous languages, which still exist in the United States. However, only 20 of these are being taught to children in an active fashion. In California, there were 100 Native American languages spoken when Europeans first arrived. This has been reduced to 50 in the 21st century with none of them being taught to children (Hornberger, 1998).
The United States is not alone in losing languages (Hornberger, 1998). This is a worldwide concern. There are now at least 16 languages in Ethiopia, which are in danger of extinction. The native languages in South Africa have not completely disappeared and 11 official languages exist. However, South African English and the Dutch derived Afrikaans are the predominant languages throughout the country (Hornberger, 1998).
Latin America can be seen as an example of how language, politics, and education interact. Globally there are approximately 300 million people who are indigenous to the country in which they reside. More than 40 million of these individuals reside in Latin America. All of these countries, except possibly Uruguay, have indigenous residents. In Guatemala and Bolivia at least half of the population consists of natives.
The Latin American community is diverse and has more than 700 indigenous languages. While some of these languages are spoken by millions, others are spoken by only a few. Examples of languages which are commonly spoken in Latin America are Aymara and Quechua (Lopez & Sichra, 2008).
During the 1970s and continuing into the 21st century, there have been attempts by groups in Latin America to revitalize the indigenous culture. This has included pushing the government to enact reforms of their constitution, which acknowledge the multilingual nature of Latin American societies. Laws have been passed in many countries, which give the indigenous people the right to teach and learn in their native tongue.
The events in Latin America reveal how literacy, language, rights, and self determination can interact in a complex fashion. Several Latin American governments have enacted bilingual education reforms which respect native languages. These reforms have increased public awareness of language issues, which has led to further requests from groups interested in maintaining native languages.
There are many different types of bilingual education. One type of bilingual education involves using two languages in teaching, which encourages knowledge in both tongues. Another type of education which is considered bilingual is primarily monolingual and presented to bilingual children who are attempting to learn a new language. The bilingual education can also be transitional or maintenance (Baker, 2006). When the education is transitional the primary goal is to alter the child's use of a minority language and help them learn the dominant language in the community. Maintenance education has the aim of helping a child maintain their original minority language while living in a society which uses a different language. The main purpose of this type of education is to help the child maintain their cultural identity. This type of education is seen as a way of increasing linguistic diversity and promoting the child's native culture (Baker, 2006).
There are different types of learning within most of the bilingual education methods (Baker, 2006). For example, monolingual education for bilinguals can consist of submersion or structured immersion. The submersion method introduces the minority language student to the majority language by placing them in a classroom with both minority and majority language students (Baker, 2006). Instruction only takes place in the majority language. Structured immersion is a similar. However, the classes consist entirely of minority language students. All instructions are done in the majority language, and the students are expected to use that language exclusively. There are numerous other types of bilingual education and several of these will be discussed in this paper.
In Latin America, there is an interesting form of learning known as indigenous bilingual education. This consists of teaching two languages to classrooms composed of students from different cultural backgrounds. This type of education is used today and began in the early 20th century in Ecuador, Peru, and Mexico. During the 1930s in Mexico the Summer Institute of Linguistics, based in the United States, contracted with several organizations to provide Bible translations. This group also helped incorporate indigenous people in the Amazon basin into mainstream society by encouraging language development.
The initial goal of intercultural bilingual education was assimilation of the native culture by the majority (Lopez & Sichra, 2008). In 1977 there was a meeting held in Barbados in which intellectuals interested in linguistics formed methods for helping indigenous organizations influence governmental policies. This resulted in a shift of the education goal from assimilation to that of the maintenance model which encourages the retention of the original language and culture.
Intercultural bilingual education has helped researchers understand how the use of language maintenance, combined with the learning of a new language, encourages students to have increased cultural awareness. This education has gradually become more common with students from indigenous populations. The focus is on combining the learning of a new language along with its culture, while maintaining respect for the student's native language and culture.
The two-way immersion programs were first used in the 1960s. This type of teaching involves having classrooms, which consist of both language majority and minority students. The teaching of language and other subjects is done in both the minority and majority language. The goals of this type of learning include bilingualism, academic achievement, cross-cultural competence, and the development of biliteracy. These programs include students from different ethnic, language, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds. The education of all students is enriched by understanding others. The two-way immersion prevents a stigma of remediation and segregation being assigned to the users of the minority language.
While the two-way immersion program represents an improvement over the traditional minority language model which treats learning of the majority language as remediation, the learning opportunities may not be equally distributed among students. This can be a considerable drawback to the method. This is particularly true for lower grade levels when instruction is being done in the majority language and the children may not have necessary language skills in the other language to learn the information being presented. It is important that the students have sufficient understanding of the other language so that they are able to assimilate information in other subject areas. More research needs to be done on accomplishing this goal before two-way immersion presents a complete solution.
A study done on the success of five years of bilingual education, focused on the success of transitional bilingual education versus structured English immersion (Slavin, Madden, Calderon, Chamberlain & Hennessy, 2010). The study was longitudinal and involved following three successive years of kindergarten students until they completed grade 4. The students were randomly assigned to English only or bilingual conditions. The longitudinal nature of the study was required due to the length of time involved for successful bilingual education. During the initial education process, the English language students will temporarily outperform the non-native speaking students when courses are offered in English.
The study found slight differences in the bilingual versus the immersion classes. In order to measure the students' knowledge the Spanish and English versions of the Woodcock Reading Scales were used. The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test was also used as well as its Spanish equivalent. The kindergarten and first grade students who were in the transitional bilingual courses had slightly higher scores in Spanish and slightly reduced scores in English when compared to students who were in the immersion classes. In grades 2 through 4 the transitional bilingual children scored slightly lower than the immersion students on receptive vocabulary. However, the transitional bilingual children scored slightly higher in reading. The findings of this study were not entirely conclusive and suggest that students who are needed Spanish speaking individuals can learn English in both types of learning situations.
The case study of a high school in Washington Heights, New York suggests that a speech community model may be a successful way of approaching bilingual education. Gregorio Luperon School is located in a Dominican neighborhood in New York City. This school is composed of immigrants who are newly arrived in the United States and have poor English reading and writing skills. The school has successfully helped the majority of these students pass standardized exams in history, science, math, and English. The dropout rate of this high school is significantly lower than similar schools. The school also has a high attendance record with excellent rates of college acceptance.
The high school is using a completely different type of language acquisition, which can be conceptualized as going beyond psycholinguistic learning processes and helping students build on the speech community. This involves a social process. The high school segregates students into groups who have similar skills in English so that they experience a learning environment in a community of peers. The education goes beyond the learning of the language and there is an explanation of the sociocultural factors involved. The majority of these students have Spanish as their native language. This is the indigenous language of the teachers as well. Spanish maintains a high status while there is recognition of the need to master English.
There is an important difference between academic language and interpersonal communication skills (Cummins, 2003). The distinction must be made due to the difference in learning time required. Many students moving to a new country acquire fluency in the predominant language necessary for conversation in approximately two years. However, it frequently takes the student five years or more in order to reach the same academic proficiency level as individuals that are native speakers.
The difference in learning time between academic and conversational fluency can have significant effects on a student. The student who is attempting to learn a new majority language may appear quite fluent during a conversation after only a couple of years. It is assumed by teachers and other individuals at the school that the child has similar competency in regard to the language necessary for academic pursuits. This can lead to psychological assessments, which are done in English and yield inaccurate results. Furthermore, many bilingual students are discontinued prematurely from a language support program due to the misconception that they are fully fluent in the new tongue. This can result in a child being placed in mainstream classes in which they are unable to understand the material being presented.
In addition to the social and occupational advantage provided by learning the majority language, bilingual education can help students learn a 3rd language more quickly and with better comprehension (Sanz, 2000). A number of research studies have indicated that bilingualism increases cognitive flexibility, linguistic awareness, and the ability to process new information. It has even been associated with an increased tendency toward a democratic disposition. With all of these factors in mind it should come as no surprise that individuals that are already fluent in two languages can learn a 3rd more easily.
A study was done on students attempting to learn English, who were monolingual Spanish speakers or were fluent in both Spanish and Catalan. The study was done on 201 high school students who were in an immersive English language program. The study used hierarchical multiple regression analysis to remove any extraneous effects and was designed well. The study found that the students who were fluent in both Spanish and Catalan learned English more quickly and with better comprehension than the monolingual Spanish students. These researchers conclude that bilingualism increases cognitive efficiency in general.
Bilingual education and language rights are related to one another and important factors for all children. Many areas of the world have regional and international legal provisions, which provide for bilingual education. In 1989 the United Nations put forth the Convention on The Rights of the Child. Article 30 of this convention stipulates that when the indigenous population is a minority it is especially important to ensure that the minority children be allowed to learn their native language and culture. They should also be allowed to practice the associated customs of the culture.
While the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and many regional laws, help increase bilingual education this is not a universal trend. Both Denmark and France have contemplated the adoption of laws, which would prevent parents from speaking their native language to infants even in a private residence. However, these situations appear to be exceptions rather than the general trend.
Conclusion
There are a number of different types of bilingual education. The intercultural bilingual education which is present in Latin America has the advantage of increasing the students' cultural awareness. This type of education has been used in Latin America for more than 70 years. While it was originally meant as a method of assimilation, it has been transformed into a model of language maintenance, which encourages intercultural awareness.
One of the most promising models of bilingual education is provided by the case study of Gregorio Luperon School in New York City (Garcia & Bartlett, 2007). The majority of this school's immigrant children pass standardized tests in math, science, history, and English. The school has a low dropout rate, a high attendance record, and excellent acceptance rate for college. The school uses a speech community model in which students attend classes with pupils that have similar language skills to their own. There is recognition of the importance of their native language and culture, while stressing the necessity of learning the predominant language (Garcia & Bartlett, 2007). Further research needs to be done into this successful method of approaching bilingual learning.
References
Baker, C. (2006). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism. (4th ed.). New York: Multilingual Matters, Ltd.
Cummins, J. (2003). Basic interpersonal communicative skills and cognitive academic language proficiency.
DeJong, E., & Howard, E. (2009). Integration in two-way immersion education: equalising linguistic benefits for all students. The International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 12(1), 1-21.
Garcia, O., & Bartlett, L. (2007). A speech community model of bilingual education: Educating Latino newcomers in the USA. The International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 10(1), 1-25.
Hornberger, N. (1998). Language policy, language education, language rights: Indigenous, immigrant, and international perspectives. Language in Society, 27(4), 439-458.
Lopez, L. E. & Sichra, I. (2008). Intercultural bilingual education among indigenous peoples in Latin America. In J. Cummins, N. HornbergerEncyclopedia of language and education, volume 5 (pp. 295-310). New York: Springer.
Lorenzo, F., Casal, S., & Moore, P. (2009). The effects of content and language integrated learning in European education: Key findings from the Andalusian bilingual sections evaluation project. Applied Linguistics, 1-25.
Sanz, C. (2000). Bilingual education enhances 3rd language acquisition: Evidence from Catalonia. Applied Psycholinguistic, 21, 23-44.
Skutnabb-kangas, T. (2008). Language rights and bilingual education. In J. Cummins, N. Hornberger Encyclopedia of language and education(pp. 117-131). New York: Springer.
Slavin, R. E., Madden, N., Calderon, M., Chamberlain, A. , & Hennessy, M. (2010).Reading and language outcome of a five-year randomized evaluation of transitional bilingual education. Baltimore, Maryland: Success for All Foundation.
This paper explores the relevant issues internationally in the area of bilingual education. It is noted that language education and policies can promote languages. There has recently been an alarming trend toward a reduction in the number of languages spoken worldwide. If this trend continues the 6000 languages which now exist will be reduced to 600 by the end of the 21st century. Latin America is used as an example of how education, language, and politics can interact. A number of different types of bilingual education exist. Several of these are explored in this paper. The intercultural bilingual education of Latin America is explored, and it is noted that this type of education increases cultural awareness. Two-way immersion studies for bilingual education were begun in the 1960s but create problems for students at the lower grade levels who may not grasp the language sufficiently to understand other subjects that are being taught. Studies on transitional bilingual education and structured immersion indicate that students who are native Spanish speakers can learn English with both strategies at approximately the same rate. One of the most promising bilingual education methods is known as the speech community model. It is important for educators to understand that there is a difference between the basic interpersonal communication skills of students attempting to learn a new language and their academic language level (Cummins, 2003). Bilingual education is important for learning in general as it increases a variety of cognitive skills (Sanz, 2000). The increasing trend toward worldwide recognition of the importance regarding language rights is discussed. The speech community model is an effective method of bilingual education, which would benefit from further research.
Throughout the world, there are immigrants and indigenous languages, which are under political, economic, and social pressures, to reduce their usage (Hornberger, 1998). Recent research indicates that language education and policy can promote the stability of these languages. The education and government policies which exist in a country regarding languages can have significant effects on the continued use of these forms of communication. There are scholars who believe that each language should be viewed as a resource which must be protected (Hornberger, 1998).The phenomenon of languages disappearing is occurring throughout the world (Hornberger, 1998). It has been estimated that there are now approximately 6000 languages on earth and with the current level of loss, only 600 will remain into the next century. There are roughly 175 indigenous languages, which still exist in the United States. However, only 20 of these are being taught to children in an active fashion. In California, there were 100 Native American languages spoken when Europeans first arrived. This has been reduced to 50 in the 21st century with none of them being taught to children (Hornberger, 1998).
The United States is not alone in losing languages (Hornberger, 1998). This is a worldwide concern. There are now at least 16 languages in Ethiopia, which are in danger of extinction. The native languages in South Africa have not completely disappeared and 11 official languages exist. However, South African English and the Dutch derived Afrikaans are the predominant languages throughout the country (Hornberger, 1998).
Latin America
Latin America can be seen as an example of how language, politics, and education interact. Globally there are approximately 300 million people who are indigenous to the country in which they reside. More than 40 million of these individuals reside in Latin America. All of these countries, except possibly Uruguay, have indigenous residents. In Guatemala and Bolivia at least half of the population consists of natives.
The Latin American community is diverse and has more than 700 indigenous languages. While some of these languages are spoken by millions, others are spoken by only a few. Examples of languages which are commonly spoken in Latin America are Aymara and Quechua (Lopez & Sichra, 2008).
During the 1970s and continuing into the 21st century, there have been attempts by groups in Latin America to revitalize the indigenous culture. This has included pushing the government to enact reforms of their constitution, which acknowledge the multilingual nature of Latin American societies. Laws have been passed in many countries, which give the indigenous people the right to teach and learn in their native tongue.
The events in Latin America reveal how literacy, language, rights, and self determination can interact in a complex fashion. Several Latin American governments have enacted bilingual education reforms which respect native languages. These reforms have increased public awareness of language issues, which has led to further requests from groups interested in maintaining native languages.
Types of Bilingual Education
There are many different types of bilingual education. One type of bilingual education involves using two languages in teaching, which encourages knowledge in both tongues. Another type of education which is considered bilingual is primarily monolingual and presented to bilingual children who are attempting to learn a new language. The bilingual education can also be transitional or maintenance (Baker, 2006). When the education is transitional the primary goal is to alter the child's use of a minority language and help them learn the dominant language in the community. Maintenance education has the aim of helping a child maintain their original minority language while living in a society which uses a different language. The main purpose of this type of education is to help the child maintain their cultural identity. This type of education is seen as a way of increasing linguistic diversity and promoting the child's native culture (Baker, 2006).
There are different types of learning within most of the bilingual education methods (Baker, 2006). For example, monolingual education for bilinguals can consist of submersion or structured immersion. The submersion method introduces the minority language student to the majority language by placing them in a classroom with both minority and majority language students (Baker, 2006). Instruction only takes place in the majority language. Structured immersion is a similar. However, the classes consist entirely of minority language students. All instructions are done in the majority language, and the students are expected to use that language exclusively. There are numerous other types of bilingual education and several of these will be discussed in this paper.
Intercultural Bilingual Education
In Latin America, there is an interesting form of learning known as indigenous bilingual education. This consists of teaching two languages to classrooms composed of students from different cultural backgrounds. This type of education is used today and began in the early 20th century in Ecuador, Peru, and Mexico. During the 1930s in Mexico the Summer Institute of Linguistics, based in the United States, contracted with several organizations to provide Bible translations. This group also helped incorporate indigenous people in the Amazon basin into mainstream society by encouraging language development.
The initial goal of intercultural bilingual education was assimilation of the native culture by the majority (Lopez & Sichra, 2008). In 1977 there was a meeting held in Barbados in which intellectuals interested in linguistics formed methods for helping indigenous organizations influence governmental policies. This resulted in a shift of the education goal from assimilation to that of the maintenance model which encourages the retention of the original language and culture.
Intercultural bilingual education has helped researchers understand how the use of language maintenance, combined with the learning of a new language, encourages students to have increased cultural awareness. This education has gradually become more common with students from indigenous populations. The focus is on combining the learning of a new language along with its culture, while maintaining respect for the student's native language and culture.
Two-Way Immersion
The two-way immersion programs were first used in the 1960s. This type of teaching involves having classrooms, which consist of both language majority and minority students. The teaching of language and other subjects is done in both the minority and majority language. The goals of this type of learning include bilingualism, academic achievement, cross-cultural competence, and the development of biliteracy. These programs include students from different ethnic, language, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds. The education of all students is enriched by understanding others. The two-way immersion prevents a stigma of remediation and segregation being assigned to the users of the minority language.
While the two-way immersion program represents an improvement over the traditional minority language model which treats learning of the majority language as remediation, the learning opportunities may not be equally distributed among students. This can be a considerable drawback to the method. This is particularly true for lower grade levels when instruction is being done in the majority language and the children may not have necessary language skills in the other language to learn the information being presented. It is important that the students have sufficient understanding of the other language so that they are able to assimilate information in other subject areas. More research needs to be done on accomplishing this goal before two-way immersion presents a complete solution.
Transitional Bilingual Education versus Structured Immersion
A study done on the success of five years of bilingual education, focused on the success of transitional bilingual education versus structured English immersion (Slavin, Madden, Calderon, Chamberlain & Hennessy, 2010). The study was longitudinal and involved following three successive years of kindergarten students until they completed grade 4. The students were randomly assigned to English only or bilingual conditions. The longitudinal nature of the study was required due to the length of time involved for successful bilingual education. During the initial education process, the English language students will temporarily outperform the non-native speaking students when courses are offered in English.
The study found slight differences in the bilingual versus the immersion classes. In order to measure the students' knowledge the Spanish and English versions of the Woodcock Reading Scales were used. The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test was also used as well as its Spanish equivalent. The kindergarten and first grade students who were in the transitional bilingual courses had slightly higher scores in Spanish and slightly reduced scores in English when compared to students who were in the immersion classes. In grades 2 through 4 the transitional bilingual children scored slightly lower than the immersion students on receptive vocabulary. However, the transitional bilingual children scored slightly higher in reading. The findings of this study were not entirely conclusive and suggest that students who are needed Spanish speaking individuals can learn English in both types of learning situations.
The Speech Community Model
The case study of a high school in Washington Heights, New York suggests that a speech community model may be a successful way of approaching bilingual education. Gregorio Luperon School is located in a Dominican neighborhood in New York City. This school is composed of immigrants who are newly arrived in the United States and have poor English reading and writing skills. The school has successfully helped the majority of these students pass standardized exams in history, science, math, and English. The dropout rate of this high school is significantly lower than similar schools. The school also has a high attendance record with excellent rates of college acceptance.
The high school is using a completely different type of language acquisition, which can be conceptualized as going beyond psycholinguistic learning processes and helping students build on the speech community. This involves a social process. The high school segregates students into groups who have similar skills in English so that they experience a learning environment in a community of peers. The education goes beyond the learning of the language and there is an explanation of the sociocultural factors involved. The majority of these students have Spanish as their native language. This is the indigenous language of the teachers as well. Spanish maintains a high status while there is recognition of the need to master English.
Academic Language and Interpersonal Communication Skills
There is an important difference between academic language and interpersonal communication skills (Cummins, 2003). The distinction must be made due to the difference in learning time required. Many students moving to a new country acquire fluency in the predominant language necessary for conversation in approximately two years. However, it frequently takes the student five years or more in order to reach the same academic proficiency level as individuals that are native speakers.
The difference in learning time between academic and conversational fluency can have significant effects on a student. The student who is attempting to learn a new majority language may appear quite fluent during a conversation after only a couple of years. It is assumed by teachers and other individuals at the school that the child has similar competency in regard to the language necessary for academic pursuits. This can lead to psychological assessments, which are done in English and yield inaccurate results. Furthermore, many bilingual students are discontinued prematurely from a language support program due to the misconception that they are fully fluent in the new tongue. This can result in a child being placed in mainstream classes in which they are unable to understand the material being presented.
Bilingual Education and Third Language Acquisition
In addition to the social and occupational advantage provided by learning the majority language, bilingual education can help students learn a 3rd language more quickly and with better comprehension (Sanz, 2000). A number of research studies have indicated that bilingualism increases cognitive flexibility, linguistic awareness, and the ability to process new information. It has even been associated with an increased tendency toward a democratic disposition. With all of these factors in mind it should come as no surprise that individuals that are already fluent in two languages can learn a 3rd more easily.
A study was done on students attempting to learn English, who were monolingual Spanish speakers or were fluent in both Spanish and Catalan. The study was done on 201 high school students who were in an immersive English language program. The study used hierarchical multiple regression analysis to remove any extraneous effects and was designed well. The study found that the students who were fluent in both Spanish and Catalan learned English more quickly and with better comprehension than the monolingual Spanish students. These researchers conclude that bilingualism increases cognitive efficiency in general.
Language Rights
Bilingual education and language rights are related to one another and important factors for all children. Many areas of the world have regional and international legal provisions, which provide for bilingual education. In 1989 the United Nations put forth the Convention on The Rights of the Child. Article 30 of this convention stipulates that when the indigenous population is a minority it is especially important to ensure that the minority children be allowed to learn their native language and culture. They should also be allowed to practice the associated customs of the culture.
While the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and many regional laws, help increase bilingual education this is not a universal trend. Both Denmark and France have contemplated the adoption of laws, which would prevent parents from speaking their native language to infants even in a private residence. However, these situations appear to be exceptions rather than the general trend.
Conclusion
There are a number of different types of bilingual education. The intercultural bilingual education which is present in Latin America has the advantage of increasing the students' cultural awareness. This type of education has been used in Latin America for more than 70 years. While it was originally meant as a method of assimilation, it has been transformed into a model of language maintenance, which encourages intercultural awareness.
One of the most promising models of bilingual education is provided by the case study of Gregorio Luperon School in New York City (Garcia & Bartlett, 2007). The majority of this school's immigrant children pass standardized tests in math, science, history, and English. The school has a low dropout rate, a high attendance record, and excellent acceptance rate for college. The school uses a speech community model in which students attend classes with pupils that have similar language skills to their own. There is recognition of the importance of their native language and culture, while stressing the necessity of learning the predominant language (Garcia & Bartlett, 2007). Further research needs to be done into this successful method of approaching bilingual learning.
References
Baker, C. (2006). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism. (4th ed.). New York: Multilingual Matters, Ltd.
Cummins, J. (2003). Basic interpersonal communicative skills and cognitive academic language proficiency.
DeJong, E., & Howard, E. (2009). Integration in two-way immersion education: equalising linguistic benefits for all students. The International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 12(1), 1-21.
Garcia, O., & Bartlett, L. (2007). A speech community model of bilingual education: Educating Latino newcomers in the USA. The International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 10(1), 1-25.
Hornberger, N. (1998). Language policy, language education, language rights: Indigenous, immigrant, and international perspectives. Language in Society, 27(4), 439-458.
Lopez, L. E. & Sichra, I. (2008). Intercultural bilingual education among indigenous peoples in Latin America. In J. Cummins, N. HornbergerEncyclopedia of language and education, volume 5 (pp. 295-310). New York: Springer.
Lorenzo, F., Casal, S., & Moore, P. (2009). The effects of content and language integrated learning in European education: Key findings from the Andalusian bilingual sections evaluation project. Applied Linguistics, 1-25.
Sanz, C. (2000). Bilingual education enhances 3rd language acquisition: Evidence from Catalonia. Applied Psycholinguistic, 21, 23-44.
Skutnabb-kangas, T. (2008). Language rights and bilingual education. In J. Cummins, N. Hornberger Encyclopedia of language and education(pp. 117-131). New York: Springer.
Slavin, R. E., Madden, N., Calderon, M., Chamberlain, A. , & Hennessy, M. (2010).Reading and language outcome of a five-year randomized evaluation of transitional bilingual education. Baltimore, Maryland: Success for All Foundation.