Bilingual education models and approaches

Bilingual Education

The first federal Bilingual Education Act (BEA) was signed into law in 1968. This study sought to determine what effects the BEA had on local and state school districts in California, some who had previously initiated programs to address the Limited English Speaking (LES) students who were becoming an integrated part of the educational system in California. The study is important to the proposed paper in that it shows how good intentions on the part of the Federal government don't always translate into good results. The study found that there were a number of innovative and independent programs that were adversely affected by the increased oversight and enforcement that the federal program brought with it.

Petrzela, N.M. (2010) Before the Federal Bilingual Education Act: Legislation and lived experience in California, Peabody Journal of Education, Vol. 85,

Bilingual education is not just a byword in the United States it is also practiced in numerous developed and developing countries as well. This article examines the strategies employed by the Chinese to accommodate the bilingual education efforts in many of the schools in China. China contains one of the world's largest populations and its diversity is very unique, there are currently over 128 distinct languages spoken by Chinese minority groups. One of the strongest relationships between a minority language and Chinese is the one evidenced by the Korean language. The article presents data that shows how successful integration at a bilingual school can have positive effects on society and build stronger relationships between the minority and majority groups; ie, the Koreans in South Korea and the Chinese in China, while at the same time showing the increasing disadvantages of Korean language teaching as compared to the increasing advantages of China language teaching.

Gao, F.; (2010) Bilingual education among ethnic Koreans in China: Ethnic language maintenance and upward social mobility, Chinese Education and Society, Vol. 43, No. 1, pp. 82 -- 92

The study examined in this article can be used in the proposed paper because it provides evidence of how the individual teacher is an important cog in the wheel of dual language learning. The article examines what role the teacher must play and how the teacher implements certain teaching styles as well as the characteristics of teacher agency. The study sought to determine what specific teaching practices are being used by teachers in a successful dual language arena. According to the study, this determination is important because it will enhance and inform the work of other educators seeking the same level of success. The study determined that evidence did exist that supported the use of dual language education in the American classroom.

Ray, J.M.; (2009) A template analysis of teacher agency at an academically successful dual language school, Journal of Advanced Academics, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp 110 -- 141

This article was a well-written lament about the lack of literature on a wholly different approach to bilingual education; homeschooling. The author presents a solid case for the teaching of children in the home based on dual languages being used, while at the same time reminding the reader that there seems to be no additional research being attempted or presented that provides literature on the subject. The author provides a single case for examination of success (his own daughter) but states unequivocally that there should be additional research on the subject of dual language homeschooling because of the success of his own personal experience. This article could be used to present an entirely new way of examining teaching success in the educational arena; albeit one that is often overlooked by the more mainstream educators.

Carlson, D.; (2009) Homeschooling and bilingual education: A well-kept secret, Encounter, Vol. 22, Issue 4, pp. 10 -- 13

This article concerns a study on the effects of university bilingual teaching programs in Norway that seem to provide an education to the prospective teachers that is denigrated or disregarded once the new teachers are assimilated into the Norwegian public school system. As the author of the article states there is a "shift towards even weaker forms of bilingual education in Norwegian elementary schools where mainstreaming is the aim…yet, on the other hand, there is an introduction of a new university college education for bilingual teachers." The paradox seems to be (in Norway) that the universities are being encouraged to educate new teachers in a bilingual manner, yet those same teachers are being shunned at the local elementary school systems.