It is proposed that as both bilingual education (BE) and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) programs continue to define their specific philosophies more clearly, the definitions are beginning to overlap in significant ways. In differing degrees, they are beginning to understand and appreciate the complexity of dual language learning and teaching. First and second whole language theory and research are moving in the direction of integrating the two. BE and ESL's main point of intersection is in the student whose linguistic circumstances have required him to develop both English and another language, who may be in the majority in the near future. Both BE and ESL instruction aim at bilingual/bicultural development of language minority and language majority students. Areas for further consideration and research include the dual-language acquisition process, special cross-cultural or dual-cultural identity development, and implications of these issues for classroom instruction. (MSE)