Types of Bilingual Education
LCC Sandra Luz Martínez Navedo sandy.navedo@gmail.com
Types of Bilingual Education
According to Baker (1993), there are ten types of bilingual education which are divided in weak and strong forms of education for bilingualism. I will pinpoint the characteristics that define each type of education.
Submersion Education is a weak form of education for bilingualism which focuses in using majority language instruction during the day by both, teachers and students, instead of using the home language of the minority students. Also called Structured Immersion, it is used to describe education for language minority children who are placed in mainstream education. Its aim in language outcome is monolingualism.
Submersion with withdrawal classes occurs when language minority children in mainstream school are pulled out of their classrooms to support them with lessons in the majority language. This may cause minority students to fall behind in their regular classes and might be taken by the rest of the class as “limited in English”. There is a variation called Sheltered English where minority language children are taught with a simplified vocabulary and techniques, but using only English. It is taught by assimilation and it develops monolingual students.
Segregationist Education, a weak variation of bilingual education, promotes monolingualism. The ruling elite recommends education exclusively in the minority language to keep isolation. By not being bilingual, the language minority is not able to influence in society.
Another assimilationist type of bilingual education is the Transitional. Language minority students can use and are often taught through their first language until they reach the proficiency to deal with mainstream education. Its purpose is to foster the use of the majority
Types of Bilingual Education
According to Baker (1993), there are ten types of bilingual education which are divided in weak and strong forms of education for bilingualism. I will pinpoint the characteristics that define each type of education.
Submersion Education is a weak form of education for bilingualism which focuses in using majority language instruction during the day by both, teachers and students, instead of using the home language of the minority students. Also called Structured Immersion, it is used to describe education for language minority children who are placed in mainstream education. Its aim in language outcome is monolingualism.
Submersion with withdrawal classes occurs when language minority children in mainstream school are pulled out of their classrooms to support them with lessons in the majority language. This may cause minority students to fall behind in their regular classes and might be taken by the rest of the class as “limited in English”. There is a variation called Sheltered English where minority language children are taught with a simplified vocabulary and techniques, but using only English. It is taught by assimilation and it develops monolingual students.
Segregationist Education, a weak variation of bilingual education, promotes monolingualism. The ruling elite recommends education exclusively in the minority language to keep isolation. By not being bilingual, the language minority is not able to influence in society.
Another assimilationist type of bilingual education is the Transitional. Language minority students can use and are often taught through their first language until they reach the proficiency to deal with mainstream education. Its purpose is to foster the use of the majority
Bibliography: Zavala, J. (2008). Bilingüismo, Antología. In Baker, C. (1993) Types of Bilingual Education, (p.92 – 113) Tamaulipas, México: UPN