Multilingual families face decisions about the linguistic upbringing of their children. These decisions shape their family language policy (FLP) which potentially impacts the children and their family. Departing from this hypothesis we conducted a systematic literature review applying the PRISMA guidelines, screening three databases, using search…

This study examined how parents, teachers, and administrators conceptualised dual-language immersion (DLI) education and its goals at Bobcat Canyon School (BCS, pseudonym), a private preschool in the Southwestern USA where 64% students were White and 36% were students of colour. Through interviews with 15 parents, eight teachers, and two school…

The Italian linguistic space has radically changed through the onset of the new millennium due to the presence of innovative multiple linguistic practices that have taken place as a consequence of deterritorialization processes. Furthermore, Latino diaspora in recent years have fostered the appearance of new forms of Global Spanishes (García and…

Language attitudes play a vital role in the way individuals and societies perceive, use and learn languages, and communicate with other cultures. They are formed in a specific political, ideological, and cultural context and change over time, which is why researchers focus on studying language attitudes of different age groups and also different…

In this paper, we present a synthesis of a series of studies, carried out by our research groups, from the Greek educational context on teachers' and immigrant students' views on issues of bilingual acquisition and of heritage language learning and teaching. Albeit including heterogeneous samples and employing quantitative and qualitative…

Research has demonstrated that second language immersion is an effective means of facilitating primary school students' second language acquisition without undermining their competence in their first language. Despite the rapid growth of Chinese-English bilingual programmes in China, limited empirical research has been conducted thus far by which…

Discussion of a study of eight-year-olds' acquisition of English during formal classroom situations notes advantages in introducing linguistic familiarity at an early school age, including beneficial effect upon cognitive growth, prevention of the development of ethnocentric tendencies, and increased motivation to learn a second language.…

Identifies five recurring themes in the literature on bilingualism: role of language policy or planning activities in educational reform; concern with nurturing the mother tongue and facilitating transfer of skills across languages; importing a model versus a "cycle of discovery"; practical problems that impede implementation of…

Analysis of the responses of monolingual Dutch and bilingual Turkish, Moroccan, and Surinamese children living in the Netherlands to word association and sorting tasks revealed no significant differences among the groups. Results of the study indicated that bilingualism does not affect cognitive-linguistic development. (22 references) (Author/VWL)

The conditions of the development and the present status of the mother tongue in the Finland-Swedish compulsory school are discussed from an investigation under progress. The aims, contents, and methods are examined from both cognitive and affective points of view in the curricula that have governed teaching in the compulsory school. (Author/CB)

Analyzes the syllabus used in Brunei schools, questioning the introduction and timing of school subjects, particularly in relation to which language medium is used for teaching, and suggesting an alternative syllabus. Samuel's response questions whether Jones' recommendations are workable and acceptable in the Brunei situation. (33 references)…

Failures are better documented than successes in bilingual education programs. A theory is needed powerful enough to predict success while accounting for reported failures. Most important is the effect of bilingualism on cognitive development. Use of the first language should complement the second, particularly in problem solving and question…

Compares efforts to support minority languages in the developed, industrialized countries of the north and the developing countries of the southern hemisphere. The article examines whether comparable principles are being applied to minority language planning, and if not, what the underlying reasons for the differences are. (33 references)…