Heather Lotherington Julia Soares Muto BILINGUAL EDUCATION Heather Lotherington Julia Soares Muto

Heather lotherington Professor, Education & Linguistics; Researcher: multimodal literacies, multilingual education; Lover of digital communications, ballet, chocolate

Linguistics applied or applied linguistics? Draws from sources other than linguistics (psychology, sociology)

Bilingual education What? “Bilingual education refers to education in which two languages are used instructionally.” (p. 706) Why? “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.” (p.695) To learn a second language without abandoning the first language and culture or sacrificing curricular content. (p. 697) Bilingual education

A brief history Bilingual education predates the alphabet “Close relationship between religion, language and literacy” (p. 696) Languages supported by big institutions have more influence Before the Industrial Revolution: education in a classic language Recently, with mass education: “the teaching of languages [...] being a basic social and economic necessity”

Bilingual immersion education Kindergarten program in Quebec “They wanted ‘normal’ education, with one exception – it should lead to bilingualism by the end of elementary school, with no deficit in the mother tongue” (Lambert & Tucker, 1972, p. 231). At least 50% of content given in the second language Replicated in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe On the other hand: “English-only” schools in the USA”

Bilingualism and Nationalism Recently – Nation-states Even MORE recently - Globalization “Bilingual education is rooted in a political ideology that rejects a singularity of cultural vision and works toward understanding across cultural and linguistic difference. Although bilingual education is generally lauded as an enriching educational experience, this is not a universal opinion. Given the range of political perceptions of multilingualism, from economic bonus to political threat, and the influence of social policies on public views and expectations of citizens’ language competencies, opportunities for and attitudes toward bilingual education vary widely.” (p. 698) The case of Ebonics, or African American Vernacular English

LANGUAGE ECOLOGY AND REVITALIZATION MOVEMENTS Number of oral languages: around 6.700 30% have fewer than 1000 speakers 50% of the population speak about 15 languages Bilingual education: saboteur x guardian LANGUAGE ECOLOGY AND REVITALIZATION MOVEMENTS

CONTEXTS OF BILINGUAL EDUCATION - SOCIOCULTURAL In a recent study in Australia, students in a variety of bilingual courses were found to have the following range of possible language backgrounds (Lotherington, 2001): 1 recent arrivals to Australia who had been educated in the target language (TL), 2 those who had an oral and literate grounding in the TL, 3 those who had an oral background in the TL, 4 those who had a passive knowledge of the TL, 5 dialect speakers, 6 those with a cultural but not a language background in the TL, 7 monolinguals with no language background in the TL, 8 bi- and multilinguals with no language background in the TL. (p. 702) CONTEXTS OF BILINGUAL EDUCATION - SOCIOCULTURAL

Contexts of Bilingual Education – political: Language Policy “Language can be politically perceived as a problem, a right, or a resource (Ruiz, 1984)” (p. 702) USA: national unity Canada: additive bilingualism (but not to every language) Victoria, Australia: over 50 languages optional

Contexts of Bilingual Education – political: Language Planning and Standards “Status planning affects bilingualism and bilingual education by facilitating the study of languages of high or protected status.” (p. 703) “The question of who sets the standard involves a historical quest.” (p. 704) “Establishing a recognized orthography for a language is imperative.” (p.704)

CONTEXTS OF BILINGUAL EDUCATION – PSYCHOLOGICAL “L1 development provides an important basis for L2 learning in formal, serial language learning (Cummins, 2000).” (p.705) “The attitudes held by students with the regard to the languages they are learning, the cultural context/s of those languages, and their speakers affect learners’ success in becoming bilingual.” (p. 705) - Intrinsic and extrinsic influences CONTEXTS OF BILINGUAL EDUCATION – PSYCHOLOGICAL

Models of bilingual education “Bilingual education programs may be aimed at: 1 enrichment education for majority language speakers (L2 = minority language), 2 maintenance education for bilingual speakers (L2 = minority language), 3 compensatory education for minority language speakers in a majority context (L2 = majority language), 4 transitional education for minority language speakers in a majority context (L2 = majority language), 5 revitalization education in an endangered language (L2 = endangered minority language).” (p. 707)

Strong bilingual education programs Content-based language teaching or Bilingual immersion (total or partial) Immersion program’s main features: “1 use of the L2 as medium of instruction, 2 a curriculum parallel to that used in the L1, 3 overt support for the L1, 4 additive bilingualism as program aim, 5 exposure to the L2 being largely confined to the classroom, 6 students entering the program with similar, limited levels of L2 proficiency, 7 bilingual teachers, 8 the classroom culture being that of the local L1 community.” (p. 707-708) Multilingual education: Luxemburg

WEAK SECOND-LANGUAGE EDUCATION PROGRAMS - Submersion: sink or swim: Solomon Islands - Transitional education: Fiji - Language object: Scandinavia WEAK SECOND-LANGUAGE EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Evaluation of bilingual education Defining bilingual proficiency “How much and what kind of each language is enough to warrant the label of bilingual?” (p. 712) “L2 proficiencies tend to be judged against monolingual L1 standards” (p. 712) Effect on teaching: Rosemount High School

BENEFITS OF BILINGUAL EDUCATION “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 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. 5 Conversational and academic registers of language proficiency are distinct and follow different developmental patterns.” (p. 714-715)

“applied linguistics researchers know that bilingual education does work. This knowledge comes from research that spans the globe. How well bilingual education works depends on how bilingual proficiency is defined and assessed. We know that if both (or all) languages are educationally supported, children will profit educationally, linguistically, and socially; indications are that they will also profit cognitively and economically.” (p. 715)

BILINGUAL EDUCATION IN BRAZIL