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Bilingual Education for Speakers of English
Author(s) -
Met Myriam
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
foreign language annals
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.258
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1944-9720
pISSN - 0015-718X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1944-9720.1978.tb00007.x
Subject(s) - neuroscience of multilingualism , biculturalism , psychology , german , bilingual education , competence (human resources) , linguistic competence , pedagogy , language proficiency , language assessment , mathematics education , linguistics , social psychology , philosophy , neuroscience
This paper reports on a bilingual/bicultural optional educational program for children who are native speakers of English. The Cincinnati Public Schools offer children entering kindergarten or grade one the opportunity to learn French, German, or Spanish in a racially integrated school environment. Not only do students learn a second language, but it is also used as a medium of instruction in later grades. The goals of the program are to produce bilingualism and biculturalism in students. Language instruction stresses communicative competence. Curricular objectives and content have been developed by the program staff. Evaluation results indicate that students and parents hold positive attitudes toward second language learning and toward the school. Students are achieving in the basic skills while spending over one hour daily learning another language.