Language is a crucial factor for the academic achievement of minority people. Speaking the mother tongue in school increases self-confidence and thinking skills, and conveys freedom of speech. Mother tongue is an inseparable element of his or her culture and that everyone has the right to learn his or her mother tongue. The main objective of this…

In this study, we examined the bilingual language development among Korean American first-graders in two southern California cities and explored the opportunities for language use available to them in various spaces: at school (one dual language immersion school and one traditional English-only public school), at home, and in the community. Data…

As a state with a longstanding tradition of offering bilingual education, Illinois has a legislative requirement for native language instruction in earlier grades through a model called Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE). This model does not truly develop bilingualism, however, but rather offers native language instruction to English learners…

In Australia, languages education in early childhood and primary education includes three main approaches: transitional, enrichment and full bilingual programmes. This article proposes that transitional and enrichment programmes in Australia are constituted and shaped by competing and contested institutional, material, discursive and economic…

This paper draws on three years of fieldwork within informal supported play-groups in inner Sydney. In Australia, some 40% of children reach school age without attending formal preschools. Aboriginal and immigrant groups are greatly overrepresented in this statistic. For these children, informal playgroups, funded from a range of government and…

CThe article is a study of Latino immigrant parents' agency toward primary language (L1) instruction in the face of restrictionist language policy. Certain attitudes and characteristics were associated with advocacy for Spanish L1 instruction. Interviews conducted in an urban California school district among parents with different background…