Links

Baker, C., & Prys Jones, S. (1998). Encyclopedia of bilingualism and bilingual education. Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.
This book is a reference guide for international bilingualism. Divided into four sections (individual bilingualism, languages in society, languages in contact in the world, and bilingual education) the book covers 500,000 terms. The authors have not only written explanations for each term, but have also included further reading and research on which their writings are based.
Collier, V. P. (1987) Age and rate of acquisition of second language for academic purposes. TESOL Quarterly, 21, 617-641.Reported in this article is a study of how long it takes English language learners to acquire academic proficiency in English. Cummins (1979, 1980, 1981) distinguished between two types of proficiency: basic interpersonal communication (BICS) and cognitive academic language proficiency (CALPS). BICS is the ability to generally communicate with others in a language and takes 2-3 years to develop, but CALP is the kind of proficiency that it takes to be successful in academic areas like school and higher education. This type of proficiency can take up to 7 years to develop. Both of course are dependent upon two constructs: age on arrival and length of residence or amount of exposure to the second language.
This study looked at 1,548 students learning English as a second language. Collier wanted to know how long it took to reach CALPS or academic proficiency. Variable included were basic math and literacy skills, age on arrival, amount of English on arrival, and years of instruction in English. The author found that children ages 8-11 achieved proficiency the fastest needing only 2-5 years to reach 50th percentile on national norms. Students 1-3 were the next and last were the group of 12-15 year olds. These results have implications on the amount of time students should be given before they are expected to perform on level in English.
Collier, V.P. (1989) How long? A synthesis of research on academic achievement in second language. TESOL Quarterly, 23, 509-531.Here many of the most important pieces of research have been complied into one review of literature on second language acquisition and the need for bilingual education. Five major patterns were found in the research. First, several studies showed that students schooled in two languages with cognitive instruction provided in both languages both language majority and language minority students take 4-7 years to reach 50th percentile on national norms regardless of socioeconomic status. Second, students arriving between 8-12 years of age with at least 2 years of schooling can take 5-7 years to reach nation norms in science and social studies and possible only 2 years in math and language arts. Third, students who have not had any schooling in their home or host country may take much longer to reach proficiency and national norms for their grade level. Fourth, adolescent immigrants who are not permitted to be schooled in their first language while learning a second language may not have enough school years left in order to reach academic proficiency in the second language or national norms. Finally, research shows that consistent, uninterrupted cognitive academic instruction in subject areas is more important than the amount of second language instruction if students are to achieve academically in a second language.
Thomas, Wayne P. & Collier, Virginia, P. (2001) A national Study of School Effectiveness for Language Minority Students' Long-Term Academic Achievement Final Report: Project 1.1
This report was a large longitudinal study looking at the effectiveness of bilingual programs. One of the first of it's kind the report used the largest quantitative database of student long-term achievement depending on the type of program in which they are placed. The date reported here is from 1996 to 2001 and was conducted at the school and district level. Data was collected from testing offices, bilingual/ESL education, curriculum supervisors and data processing offices across the nation. Nationwide findings in reading of this study include less achievement for students in English only classrooms and highest English achievement for those in 50-50 one way bilingual programs. For Spanish reading achievement students reached above 50th percentile in almost all programs. Researchers also found that when test in their native languages Spanish speakers out preformed English speakers when they had been in a bilingual program. Findings for achievement in other subjects are also included.
Cummins, Jim (1981). Age on arrival and immigrant second language learning in Canada: A reassessment. Applied Linguistics, 1, 132-149.It has long been said that children learn languages faster than adults do and that there is in fact a critical point at which a person's ability to learn a language becomes significantly lessened. In this article Cummins takes a closer look at this idea using the constructs of Age on Arrival and Length of Residence. Cummins posits that older students and adults who have more cognitive maturity will learn some aspects of language better and faster than young children. Using the Ramsey and Wright (1974) study Cummins has reanalyzed the data to show that older learners gain cognitive or academic skills in their second language more rapidly than younger learners. He also found some evidence that may lead to the conclusion that older learners have an advantage in acquiring sound discrimination and recognition in second language. It is also reconfirmed that it takes students about five years for children who arrive in the host country after the age of six to acquire academic proficiency or CALP in their second language. These results have several implications including language of instruction and testing for students within the five year time period.
Cummins, Jim (1984) Bilingualism and Special Education: Issues in Assessment and PedagogyIn this book Cummins exposes the issues of English language learners in the US blaming the lack of appropriate education rather than the usual deficient family environment. More specifically Cummins talks of the need for change in special education as a whole in order to better serve these students. Cummins explains how language learning is much more complex than simply exposing students to English. Development of a student's first language is key to the successful acquisition and use of a second language. Cummins calls this the Threshold Hypothesis. Without this students become semi-linguists never fully developing proficiency in either language keeping them from reaching any kind of success in school. The Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis claims that students who learn skills in their first language first will be more successful using those skills in their second language than those who only learn skills in their second language. The ideas in the book are based on an in depth look of over 400 assessments of minority students to analyze common constructs such as IQ, language proficiency, and school achievement. Finally, Cummins offers solutions to the special education system, curriculum issues, and assessment.
Hakuta, K., Butler, Y. G., & Witt, D. (2000). How long does it take English learners to attain proficiency? Unversity of California Linguistic Minority Research Institute Policy Report 2000-1. Santa Barbara, CA: University of California-Santa Barbara. http://www.lmri.ucsb.edu/
In this report Hakuta and Witt revisit the question of how much time English Language Learners require to become academically proficient in English. They define this construct as "the ability to use language in academic contexts," essential for success in school. Due to the decision in the Lau v. Nichols (1974) school districts and states have been mandated to provide services for students who need them, but the debate over how long these services should last is still raging. Using data from two school districts in San Francisco and two from Canada the authors analyzed several indicators of English proficiency as a function of time exposed to English in order to draw their conclusions. Hakuta and Witt findings were similar to those of Jim Cummins almost two decades before. Students required 3 to 5 years to gain oral proficiency in English and 4 to 7 years to gain academic proficiency. Researchers warn that these numbers may be an underestimate due to the narrowing of a sample of students who attended the same school throughout elementary school. The authors also note only one district used in the study offered bilingual education programs. Implications suggest that students should be allowed the range of the elementary years to acquire English language skills sufficiently enough to be held accountable for them.

More Research Supporting Bilingual Education