BILINGUALISM AND EDUCATION

Bilingualism and Education

Bilingualism and Education

Introduction

The terms bilingual students and bilingual education are sometimes confused. Bilingual children know and use two languages to different degrees. Depending on the nature of access to both languages, as well as attitudes toward the languages, bilingual children demonstrate varying proficiency in their two languages; for example, they may speak both languages but be literate in only one language. Their bilingual skills and the extent they identify culturally with the two languages may develop and vary over time. Bilingual children may or may not attend a bilingual education program.(Genesee,2004)

This entry outlines bilingual and multilingual education for minority (dominated) language and majority (dominant) language speakers, using examples from nations throughout the world. After introducing some basic definitions of key terms, the entry highlights various models that are traditionally distinguished. The third section addresses issues and trends related to the implementation of bilingual education programs.

Civil rights are guarantees of equal social opportunities and equal protection under the law regardless of race, religion, or other personal characteristics. Examples of civil rights include the right to vote, the right to a fair trial, the right to government services, the right to a public education, and the right to access public facilities.(Glenn,1996) Civil rights are an essential component of good governance; when someone is denied access to the opportunities of participation in political society, that person is being denied his or her civil rights. In contrast to civil liberties, which are freedoms that are secured by placing restraints on government, civil rights are secured by positive government action, often in the form of legislation. Civil rights laws attempt to guarantee full and equal citizenship for people who have traditionally been discriminated against based on some group characteristic. When the enforcement of civil rights is found by many to be inadequate, a civil rights movement may emerge in order to call for equal application of the laws without discrimination.

Unlike other rights concepts, such as human rights or natural rights, in which people acquire rights inherently, perhaps from God or nature, civil rights must be given and guaranteed by the power of the state. Therefore, they vary greatly over time, culture, and form of government, and tend to follow societal trends that condone or abhor particular types of discrimination. For example, the civil rights of homosexuals have only recently come to the forefront of political debate in some Western democracies. (Genesee,2004)

A high-profile civil rights movement led to the end of the South African system of racial segregation known as Apartheid. The resistance movement began in the 1950s and 1960s when civil rights as a concept was sweeping the globe, but it was forced underground as most of its leaders were imprisoned and did not regain strength until the 1980s. International pressure combined with internal upheaval led to the eventual lifting of the ban on the African National Congress, the major Black party in South Africa and the release from prison of beloved leader Nelson Mandela in ...