ERIC Number: ED249772
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1982
Pages: 38
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Basic Principles for the Education of Language-Minority Students: An Overview. 1982 Edition.
California State Dept. of Education, Sacramento. Office of Bilingual Bicultural Education.
Drawing on and extending the work presented in a companion volume, "Schooling and Language Minority Students: A Theoretical Framework," five principles are presented that represent an integration of recent empirical research in bilingualism, bilingual education, and second language acquisition to help policymakers and educators meet the educational needs of language minority students. In an introductory section, previous theoretical frameworks for language minority programs are reviewed and their deficiencies noted. In five subsequent sections, these principles and their applications for this group are discussed. The principles are that: (1) bilinguals' first and second language development is positively associated with academic achievement; (2) language proficiency is the ability to use language for both academic purposes and basic communication; (3) for language minority students the development of the primary language skills necessary to complete academic tasks forms the basis for similar proficiency in English; (4) acquisition of basic communicative competency in a second language is a function of comprehensible second language input and a supportive affective environment; and (5) the perceived status of students affects the interactions between teachers and students and among students, in turn affecting student outcomes. These principles provide the empirical support for the Contextual Interaction Theory of bilingual education, and the implications of this theory for the teaching of language minority students are examined in the remainder of the report. (MSE)
Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Educational Environment, Educational Needs, Educational Objectives, Educational Strategies, Instructional Improvement, Language of Instruction, Language Proficiency, Language Research, Limited English Speaking, Minority Groups, Oral Language, Second Language Learning, Social Status, Student Adjustment
Bureau of Publications, California State Department of Education, P.O. Box 271, Sacramento, CA 95802 ($2.00, plus sales tax in California).
Publication Type: Guides - Non-Classroom
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Administrators; Teachers; Policymakers; Practitioners
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: California State Dept. of Education, Sacramento. Office of Bilingual Bicultural Education.
Identifiers - Location: California
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A