State after state is wrestling with federal legislation's mandate to respond to the needs of students whose native language is not English. Much ambiguity, confusion, and frustration surrounds the issue of bilingual-bicultural education. This paper begins by describing the confusion which often surrounds the English component in a bilingual program, and then reviews the historical development of bilingual education in the United States. Within this context, aspects and implications of the Bilingual Education Act are discussed. Definitions of key terms are then presented, followed by a discussion of the fundamental question of whether the child's mother tongue should function solely as a "bridge" to English or whether a systematic attempt should be made to maintain and develop linguistic and cultural differences between the child's native language and the target language. Specific problems related to bilingual-bicultural education are then discussed in some detail. Some of these include the qualifications of bilingual-bicultural teachers, the development and implementation of a bilingual curriculum, the development of bilingual-bicultural materials, the identification of bilingual children and/or the assessment of language dominance. Finally, the importance of community involvement in bilingual-bicultural programs is discussed. (Author/TL)