Bilingual Education

Communication > Language and Speech
Education > Multiculturalism
Education > Theory

Bilingual Education

An analysis of the positive effects of bilingualism and why Canadian immersion programs have been so successful compared to their American counterparts.

2,177 words () | 12 sources | APA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the research on bilingualism. It argues that the research clearly shows that bilingualism is desirable and therefore that it should be promoted, preferably by making its benefits more widely known. The paper discusses possible reasons why Canadian immersion programs have been so successful while similar attempts at immersion in the USA (with minority children) have often been quite unsuccessful.

From the Paper:

"Moreover, as we have seen above, the evidence from Canada shows that bilingualism can often be very useful for children, promoting their competence and achievement in the classroom, as well as their intelligence on all measures. However, it must be conceded that the playing fields in the USA and Canada are different, in that in the Canadian situation, children are electing to immerse themselves in a second language, rather than attempting to hold on to their mother tongues while simultaneously learning English - as is often the case in the USA. It may well be that the relative lack of success in the US context is a direct result of the fact that immigrant children often face other barriers, such as poverty. This is not the case in immersion programs in Canada, where the children are usually neither immigrants nor living with other impeding factors such as poverty. It is argued that the evidence regarding bilingualism that stems from the Canadian context does not have these extraneous variables, and thus can be regarded as more reliable."

Sample of Sources Used:

Agnihotri, Rama Kant. (1995). Multilingualism as a Classroom Resource. Multilingual Education for South Africa. Johannesburg: Heinemann Publishers Ltd: 3-7.
Cummins, J. (1994). Bilingualism and Special Education: Issues in Assessment and Pedagogy. Cleveland: Multilingual Matters.
Cummins, J. and M. Swain. (1986). Bilingualism in Education: Aspects of Theory, Research and Practice. London: Longman.
Crawford, James. (1998). Language Politics in the U.S.A.: The Paradox of Bilingual Education. Social Justice 25(3): 50+.
Ellwood, Wayne. (2003). The No-Nonsense Guide to Globalization. Oxford: New Internationalist Publications Ltd.