Bilingual Education
Why Bilingual Ed.?
Is it Effective ?
Politics of Bilingual Ed ?
Success Stories
 

What Is Bilingual Education?

Bilingual education has been practiced in many forms, in many countries, for thousands of years. Defined broadly, it can mean any use of two languages in school – by teachers or students or both – for a variety of social and pedagogical purposes.

In today’s context, a period of demographic transformation in United States, bilingual education means something more specific. It refers to approaches in the classroom that use the native languages of English language learners (ELLs) for instruction. Goals include:

• teaching English,
• fostering academic achievement,
• acculturating immigrants to a new society,
• preserving a minority group’s linguistic and cultural heritage,
• enabling English speakers to learn a second language,
• developing national language resources, or
• any combination of the above.

How does bilingual education work?

In different ways, because numerous program models are used. These are often classified as transitional, developmental, or two-way bilingual education, depending on the program’s methods and goals. But within these short-hand categories there are significant variations:

Sometimes the transition to the all-English mainstream is rapid (one to three years), sometimes gradual (five to six years).

Classrooms may be composed entirely of ELLs, or they may include native English speakers who are learning Spanish, Chinese, Navajo, or some other language.
Students are sometimes taught a full curriculum in their native language and in English. Elsewhere ELLs may receive only native-language support – periodic translations or tutoring – with lessons conducted primarily in English.