Current Research in Bilingual Education

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Current Research in Bilingual Education

• By Julie Ruelas

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Agenda

• The three components
• A gradual exit, variable threshold model
• Case histories late-comers
• Transfer of literacy
• Socio-economic status
• Free voluntary reading

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The Three Components of Good Bilingual Programs

• Comprehensible input in English, provided as ESL
  sheltered subject matter classes
• Subject matter teaching done in the first
  language without translation
• Literacy development in the first language, which
  transfers to the second language

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Gradual Exit

• A bilingual educational plan in which children
  are exited into the mainstream gradually, subject
  by subject, as they are ready to understand the
  input

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Two thresholds exist in L1 development

• lower threshold minimum amount of L1 academic
  proficiency needed to make a positive impact on
  L2 academic proficiency
• higher threshold amount of L1 competence needed
  to reap the cognitive benefits of bilingualism

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Case Histories Late-Comers

• In cases where a child was able to succeed in
  school without bilingual education, the
  conditions underlying successful bilingual
  education programs were satisfied outside of
  school

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Transfer of Literacy

• If a child learns how to read in one language,
  that general ability will facilitate learning to
  read in another language
• The underlying process of reading in different
  languages is similar

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Socio-Economic Status as de facto Bilingual
Education

• Socio-economic status had been shown to be a
  consistent predictor of student success
• it is not the only determinant of academic
  success
• higher socio-economic status could result in more
  tutoring, a more print-rich environment, greater
  access to libraries, etc.

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Successful Bilingual Education Programs also
provide

• Continued development in the primary language,
  for economic, job related advantages, and
  cognitive advantages

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Free Voluntary Reading

• Can contribute greatly to the effects of a good
  bilingual program
• Its an excellent way of providing comprehensible
  input in English
• A growing amount of research indicates that free
  voluntary reading contributes to second language
  reading and writing ability,spelling, vocabulary
  grammatical skills

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Resource

• Under Attack The Case Against Bilingual
  Education
• By Stephen D. Krashen

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Further Resources/Researchers

• Cummins
• Crawford
• Diaz
• Garcia
• Wong-Fillmore

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Summary

• Underlying successful bilingual education is the
  fundamental principal of language acquisition and
  literacy development
• We acquire language by understanding messages (by
  obtaining comprehensible input)
• We develop literacy from reading