Bilingual Education and Bilingualism

Abstract

This article presents a selection of the key literature on bilingualism and bilingual education and gives readers access to the international research on the multiplicity of topics that make up these fields. While the term “bilingualism” is consistently used throughout this article, it should also be taken as incorporating multilingualism. The question of what constitutes bilingualism has been the subject of much debate, with definitions ranging from minimal to maximal competency in more than one language. Similarly, the links between bilingualism and education have also been widely debated. Prior to the 1960s, for example, research on bilingual students in schools attributed bilingualism with detrimental effects on thinking. From this, early researchers often claimed that bilingual education had few, if any, benefits. In contrast, the consensus of research since the 1960s strongly suggests the opposite, highlighting the cognitive benefits of bilingualism and, relatedly, that bilingual education is an effective approach for language learning when it is designed and implemented appropriately. A comprehensive review of the literature on bilingual education also suggests that it is a highly political issue on many levels. For instance, some have noted that bilingual education policies are seldom actually assessed on the basis of educational research and theory alone, but are instead shaped and determined by external influences such as political ideology. Added to this are the challenges associated with assessment measures for students undertaking bilingual education. Not only is testing a political act, but bilingual institutions and programs are confronted with significant complexities. These include how best to examine student learning and capabilities in ways that take aspects of their bilingual and cultural backgrounds into consideration while simultaneously meeting the requirements of often-monolingual assessment schemes. The themes presented here are but a sample of the topics that are considered vital to the progression of research encompassing bilingualism and bilingual education.