The effects of "transitional-bilingual" and "dual-language" educational models on proficiency in students' home language (Spanish) were examined in a study of English language learners in the first and second grades in a large urban elementary school. In each grade, students were taught with either a transitional-bilingual…

This book calls for critical adaptations when theories of bilingual education, based on practices in the North, are applied to the countries of the global South. For example, it challenges the assumption that transitional models necessarily lead to language shift and cultural assimilation. Taking an ethnographically-based narrative on the purpose…

The daughter of a Puerto Rican immigrant mother and an American father describes her mother's early experiences with English language use and ethnic bias, her family's language use patterns, family sensitivity to language attitudes, school experiences with language use and language learning, and her feelings of low self-esteem and frustration as a…