BILINGUAL EDUCATION

BILINGUAL EDUCATION

BILINGUAL EDUCATION
The world of the 21 century is inescapably multicultural. Over the past half century, as societies have become increasingly multicultural, many demands for specific language and literacy proficiencies have arisen in terms of maintaining, revitalizing and archiving the languages of non-dominant cultures; and in acquiring languages of wider or official communication. In response: experimental bilingual and multilingual education programs have been developed; they have grown into well-researched educational alternatives (familiar options in schools in the world).

BILINGUAL EDUCATION
Brief historical introduction to bilingual education: - not a new phenomenon; - history of language contact shows: languages of strongest influence have been supported by powerful institutions (religion, education, government, professions);

BILINGUAL EDUCATION
Bilingual education models refer to programs that use two or more languages in instruction; Monolingual education models use only one language in instruction. Bilingual education models may be further separated into additive and subtractive [sbtrakt v] mn mat kivonand models.

BILINGUAL EDUCATION
Additive (strong, developmental, maintenance) bilingual education models are bilingual education models which help students to continue to develop academically and conceptually in their first language (native language) as they add a second language; Subtractive (weak) bilingual educational programs seek to replace a students first language (native language) with a second language, in this case English.

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Programs for Language Majority Students: 1. Mainstream Education in English with foreign language teaching: This model treats the foreign/second language as a subject in the curriculum rather than a medium for instruction, unlike the Immersion and Mainstream Bilingual Education models discussed below. In a foreign language, second language instruction and exposure, throughout the school-day are minimal, perhaps as little as one thirty-minute class per day.

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In terms of duration of foreign language study, while foreign language programs in other countries run Kindergarten through twelfth grade in order to provide maximum exposure and experience within the foreign language model, in the U.S., foreign languages are most often taught at the secondary level, with only about a third of elementary schools including any foreign language instruction (Baker, 2006).

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2. Immersion Bilingual Education for monolinguals: Immersion bilingual education was created in Canada in the 1960s (Baker, 2006). Within this program the second language is used as a medium of instruction and the goals are bilingualism and biliteracy. Importantly, in immersion programs minority languages are as valued as maj ority languages, rather than being assigned lesser prestige as may be the case in other models. In order to prevent loss or lack of development in a students native language, some programs, particularly partial immersion programs, support students first languages to varying extents.

BILINGUAL EDUCATION
Differentiation between immersion programs is based on the age at which a child enters the immersion experience and the amount of time spent in immersion. Early immersion begins in kindergarten, delayed or middle immersion starts in middle school, and late immersion commences in high school or ju nior high. Total immersion means that the student starts out being 100% immersed in the second language and that the immersion diminishes gradually to about 50% of the week being spent in the students first language, and 50% in his or her second language.

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3. Mainstream Bilingual Education in two majority languages: Mainstream Bilingual Education is defined by Baker (2006) as the use of two (or more) majority languages in a school, with the goals of bilingualism, biliteracy, and cultural pluralism. Baker emphasizes that such schools typically educate majo rity language children, rather than a mixed student population of majority and minority language students. International Schools, which are found in over 80 countries throughout the world and primarily cater to the affluent, are one example of such schools

BILINGUAL EDUCATION
Programs for Language Minority Students: 1. Structured Immersion/Submersion: Structured Immersion, (Baker,2006), is a monolingual program: - all instruction is in English but the teachers use simple or simplified English; - contains only language minority children, meaning that students (e.g., in California) are not taught alongside native English speakers;

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the native language is not developed, but rather is replaced by English, with monolingualism in English being the goal; typically, there is no first language support, although individual Structured Immersion teachers may or may not initially allow students to use a little of their native language in class. Given these qualities, structured immersion clearly corresponds with Californias English-Only political stance and the related linguistic orientation of language as a problem and linguistic ideology of assimilation.

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2. English as a Second Language (ESL): ESL is a monolingual model in which students spend the majority of the school day in mainstream classes but also have special sessions of tutoring in English with an ESL teacher in order to develop their competence in English (Akkari & Loomis, 1998). Brisk (1998) specifies that these sessions generally occur outside of the mainstream classes and are thus referred to as pull-outs. In some cases, although less commonly than pull-outs, pull-ins may occur in which the ESL teacher comes to some of an ELL students mainstream classes to give the student extra help in English (Brisk, 1998).

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Both students and teachers are expected to use English .
Torres-Guzmn and Etxeberra (2005) report that historically ESL has been one of the most popular if not the most popular method of educating ELLs in the U.S.

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3. Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE): TBE is a bilingual education model in which ELL students move from instruction via their first language to instruction via English. Akkari and Loomis (1998) clarify that English is taught directly in a separate language class but all other classes are initially taught in a students first language, gradually progressing to instruction in English with students native languages used only for elaboration or clarification.

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TBE can be divided into early- and late- exit programs. As described by Baker (2006), early-exit signifies a two year limit on assistance using the native language, while late-exit TBE permits approximately 40% of instruction to be conducted in the native language until the sixth grade. Both varieties entail segregation (i.e. separate classes) from fluent English speakers.

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4. Dual-Language (Two-Way Immersion) programs: Dual-Language programs are additive bilingual education programs which, strive for all students, language minorities and language majorities, to attain academic achievement, bilingualism, biliteracy, and biculturalism (i.e., cross culturalcultural competence ) (De Jong & Howard, 2009). Unlike the above-mentioned programs directed to ward ELL students, Dual-Language programs correspond with the English-Plus political agenda , the language as a right or resource perspectives , and a pluralist ideology.

BILINGUAL EDUCATION
Programs goals: - high levels of mastery in both languages; - the capacity to read and write at grade level in both languages; - general academic success at or above grade level; - positive intercultural behaviours and attitudes; - preparation of individuals who value intercultural peace and respect for people o f different cultural backgrounds.

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5. Heritage language programs: Heritage programs, like Dual-Language programs, are additive bilingual education programs that strive for bilingualism, biliteracy, and biculturalism, and thus also correspond with English-Plus, the view of language as a right and/or resource, and pluralism. As in Dual-Language programs, classes contain a mixture of language minority and language majority students and both languages (e.g., Spanish and English) are used for instruction.

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Unlike Dual-Language programs, Heritage programs, (Baker, 2006): - often dedicate themselves more to the preservation of the ethnic (minority) language and culture; - have significantly more language minority students than language majority students.

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Cummins enumerates applied linguistics researchers common findings about bilingual education (2000, pp. 202-3): 1 bilingual programs for students from minority and majority language backgrounds have been implemented successfully in countries around the world; 2 bilingual education, by itself, is not a panacea /[pns] ltalnos/univerzlis gygyszer, csodaszer, panacea/ for students underachievement; 3 the development of literacy in two languages entails linguistic and perhaps cognitive advantages for bilingual students; 4 significant positive relationships exist between the development of academic skills in L1 and L2;

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2 Bilingualism and nationalisation Concept of one nation one lang (signalling unification of a nation-state through a common lang) e merged recently in human history (following the establishment of 18-19th-century nation-states in Europe and America) (Hornberger, 2001, p.31.) Since 20th cent, however, this marginalizing ideology has been pressured by globalisation, ethnic fragmentation, multinational t rade, supranational political blocs. English, French, Russian have been appropriated as languages of wider communication (Lewis, 1976)

BILINGUAL EDUCATION
Bilingual education is rooted in a political ideology that rejects a singularity of cultural vision and works toward understanding across cultural and linguistic difference. Bilingual education is lauded as an enriching educational experience, it is not a universal opinion.