This article examines the role of mainstream teachers in supporting children's biliteracy development and bilingualism in a public primary school where English is the medium of instruction. It reports a research conducted in a public primary school in Australia. The research employs a longitudinal ethnographic approach to collect data on how the…

Although generally acknowledged as complex and multidimensional, bilingual education, when successful, plays an important role in maintaining and developing bilingualism, resulting in numerous benefits to those who undertake it. This essay will discuss the necessary components and principles of what is required to make a successful bilingual…

Research holds that, for bilingual children, a strong establishment in one language not only develops skills in that language, but also facilitates the development of a second language. The participants for this research were six nine-year-old children who were being educated in their first language, Macedonian, and also in English. This research…

The most reported outcome of programs for teaching English in Indigenous schools in Australia is that there continues to be a significant gap in the level of attainment of English language and literacy between Indigenous students as a group and other Australian students (Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR), 2008a,…

Bilingual students have, at times, been thought to be at a disadvantage in learning mathematics because of an assumed interference between their two languages. Earlier research, confirmed again in this study, shows that this is a naive view to take. Although some bilingual students do have a harder time, others seem to be at an advantage. This…

Teachers are often unaware that bilingual students often switch between their languages when doing mathematics. Little research has been undertaken into this phenomenon. Results are reported here from a study of language switching by sixteen Year 4/5 Iranian bilingual students as they solved mathematical problems in an interview situation. Reasons…

In this article, the author describes the French immersion program at Meriden Junior School, an Anglican school for girls from pre-Kindergarten to Year 12 in Sydney. Four teachers (one of whom is the coordinator) and three assistants are involved in the program. They include six French native speakers and one non-French-born teacher who speaks…

Modern primary teachers must adapt literacy programmes and ensure efficient learning for all. They must also support children with language and literacy difficulties, children learning English as an additional language and possibly teach a modern foreign language. To do this effectively, they need to understand the applied linguistics research…

Discussed are the results of interviews with 63 Australian children (interviewed in English) and 62 Nigerian children (62 interviewed in English and 60 interviewed in Yoruba) to determine how they used number concepts in discussing five demonstrations manipulating physical matter. Differences between the two groups are considered. (RH)

Offers guidelines, activities, and teaching methods that can be used in English classrooms serving bilingual, multicultural, and migrant youth. (RL)

A study investigating secondary students' receptiveness to bilingual education in Melbourne, Australia examined general student perceptions of (1) bilingual and monolingual students' attitudes and (2) bilingual students' own perceptions of their parents' and teachers' attitudes. Strong bilingual student support was found despite their own…

This paper adopts a sociocultural perspective on learning (Vygotsky, 1978, 1986) to explore connections between the concept of voicing (Bakhtin 1981, 1986) and a Year four student's second language learning in Australia. Results are drawn from a qualitative study conducted in the Australian outback, through ethnographic research strategies, which…

Examines issues related to assessing bilingual preschool children who are developing language skills in neither their mother tongue nor English. Explores the importance of culturally unbiased assessment. Presents a case study of a bilingual preschooler with a suspected language disorder to demonstrate the inadequacy of current assessment…

Examined bilingual Australian elementary students' attitudes toward their first and second languages, noting attitudes they attributed to significant others in various contexts and investigating the impact of demographic and educational factors. Interviews indicated that children held significantly different attitudes toward first and second…