[lg policy] Review of Bilingual education in the 21st century

[Harold Schiffman]

Review of Bilingual education in the 21st century
posted December 9th, 2010

Bilingual education in the 21st century: A global perspective. By
Ofelia García. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. Pp. xiv, 481. ISBN
9781405119948. $41.95.

Reviewed by Esther Núñez Villanueva, Bangor University

This book strikes the difficult balance of giving an extensive
treatment to a complex topic and discussing it in an approachable
fashion, while remaining true to the use of the term global in the
title. It is more than an in-depth overview of current practices and
theoretical models of bilingual education worldwide, since the
profound belief of the author that bilingual education can be socially
transformative is truly inspiring.

G has a sound understanding of the multiple identity and language
practices of the children of immigrant communities in powerful states
such as the USA and sees them as advantageous. Her view of education
as reflecting family and community practices makes us better
understand the current phenomena of globalization and multiculturalism
and their impact on education. She succeeds in incorporating other
bilingual education environments in her discussion, such as elite
bilingual education in private schools, African and Asian countries
which incorporate indigenous and formal colonial languages in
education, and language revitalization projects, leaving the reader
with the sense that this volume should be compulsory reading for
educational policymakers worldwide.

The book contains five broad sections, divided into chapters and
arranged from the more general issues of language and education to the
more concrete discussion of bilingual classroom practices. Part 1 is a
general introduction to the book. Views surrounding language and
bilingualism from the viewpoint of the individual, the society and the
state are the topic of Part 2. Chs. 2–4 deal with the sociopolitics of
language and bilingualism, including models of bilingualism in
society, attitudes towards languages, and language policy. At the
individual level, Ch. 5 ‘Benefits of bilingualism’ (93–108) discusses
the cognitive and social advantages of bilingualism.

Part 3 identifies nine types of bilingual education models that
correspond to four theoretical frameworks. Ch.10 ‘Monoglossic
bilingual education policy’ (218–43) reviews models of bilingual
education that are inspired by subtractive and additive ideologies
towards bilingualism and consider bilinguals as the sum of two
monolingual speakers. In contrast to these views, the recursive and
dynamic theoretical frameworks stem from beliefs that bilingualism
comprises ‘multiple language practices in interrelationship’ (7).
Models emerging from these two new frameworks are the topic of Ch. 11
‘Heteroglossic bilingual education policy’ (244–85), written with Hugo
Baetens Beardsmore. An example of a model that explicitly promotes
multilingualism in all its dimensions is the language policy of the
European Union institutions, discussed in Ch. 9, ‘Language promotion
by European supra-national institutions (197–217) by Hugo Baetens
Beardsmore. This type of policy contrasts with the US policy of
tolerance towards other languages, as discussed in Ch. 8, ‘U.S.
language policy in education’ (159–96).

Part 4 provides information about instructional methods and strategies
to develop bilingualism in the classroom, linking with more
traditional pedagogical approaches. Chs. 14 and 15 discuss two
concrete issues that are usually neglected in bilingual education: the
promotion of literacy in two languages and assessment practices. Part
5 summarizes the ideas contained in the volume.

This volume is destined to become a reference book for teachers and
scholars in the field of bilingualism since it incorporates relevant
aspects of previous scholarship on bilingualism, education, language
planning, and sociolinguistics in a very approachable fashion. Each
section ends with questions for reflection and suggestions for further
reading. Furthermore, there are frequent re-caps of previously
introduced ideas, summary tables, and examples that facilitate the
reading. This book could very well serve as an undergraduate or
postgraduate textbook and even as a guide to parents.

http://www.elanguage.net/blogs/booknotices/?p=1258

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