The paper reviews quantitative and qualitative research evidence regarding the relationship between intercultural education and academic achievement among students from socially marginalized communities. Intercultural education is conceptualized as including a focus both on generating understanding and respect for diverse cultural traditions and…

The present paper synthesizes the international research literature on the educational achievement of immigrant and minority language students by articulating three propositions for which there is strong empirical evidence: (a) print access and literacy engagement play a key role in promoting reading comprehension; (b) the development of bilingual…

Bilingual education is inherently political because it involves power relations between dominant and dominated groups. Effective anti-racist bilingual programs will be vehemently resisted by the dominant group despite research evidence because they threaten the power of the dominant group. (LHW)

Documents the processes of "doublethink"--holding two contradictory beliefs about the same thing-- regarding the merits of bilingual education in the United States. Questions the ethical responsibility of academics and media commentators to address internal contradictions in the arguments they advance that are intended to deny…

Three inter-related assumptions regarding best practice in second/foreign language teaching and bilingual/immersion education continue to dominate classroom instruction. These assumptions are that: (a) the target language (TL) should be used exclusively for instructional purposes without recourse to students' first language (L1); (b) translation…

Outlines a framework for academic language learning that highlights the importance of focusing instructionally on meaning, language, and use. Reviews research that suggests that to develop students' academic language proficiency in bilingual or trilingual contexts, instruction must focus extensively on the processing of comprehensible input.…

Presents point-counterpoint opinions on bilingual education, regarding (1) effects on children of different language groups, (2) best methods for teaching English as a second language, (3) school's role in maintaining native language skills and culture, (4) segregation of students, (5) selection of students for programs, and (6) issues raised by…

Presents a theoretical framework for analyzing minority students' school failure and the relative lack of success of previous attempts at educational reform, such as compensatory education and bilingual education. The author suggests that these attempts have been unsuccessful because they have not altered significantly the relationships between…

Elaborates on cognitive/academic language proficiency and basic interpersonal communicative skills. Discusses assumptions regarding bilingual program exit and entry fallacies and implications for U.S. bilingual education. Argues that failure to adequately conceptualize the construes of language proficiency and its cross-language dimensions causes…

The dominant paradigm in research on bilingual education is limited, yielding little for educational policy. Recommends an alternative paradigm, highlighting strengths and limitations of each, examining how they are employed in the bilingual education debate, noting policy-relevant findings from each, and concluding that only the alternative…

Application of the research-based principle that first and second language cognitive and academic development are interdependent and that language acquisition is largely dependent on students receiving sufficient comprehensible input in the target language is discussed in reference to program planning for academically at risk language minority…

This handbook provides an introduction to research findings related to bilingualism in minority-language children, and describes the implications of these findings for issues of current concern in Canadian education. Bilingualism is defined as the production and/or comprehension of two languages by the same individual. The phrase…

There are clear differences in acquisition and developmental patterns between conversational language and academic language, or BICS (basic interpersonal communicative skills) and CALP (cognitive academic language proficiency). The conceptual distinction between these two levels highlights misconceptions about the nature of language proficiency…

Research Studies reveal that the development of native language proficiency and full bilingualism enhances rather than impedes the education and personal development of minority children. Teachers of language and all subjects should cooperate in promoting native language proficiency and encouraging its use at home. (PMJ)

Addresses recent advances in research and theory that relate to language shift in early childhood, cognitive, and academic consequences of bilingualism and second-language learning, and theoretical models for conceptualizing the development of bilingualism and second-language learning. Contains annotated bibliography. (47 references) (LET)