Characteristics of Selected Multilingual Education Programs from Around the World: A Review of the Literature
Graduation Date
Fall 2005
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Document Form
Degree Name
Master of Science
Program Name
Education
Program Director
Madalienne F. Peters, EdD
Abstract
During the past several years, the debate on how best to educate the increasing number of linguistically and culturally diverse students in the United States has intensified. Second language learners in this country are not achieving grade level proficiency in English as required by current federal mandates (Callahan, Unz & Vega, 1998). ‘English-Only’ and ‘bilingual education’ policies have dominated the discourse of policy makers, educators and the body public as the two primary possibilities to deal with the challenges facing educators in classrooms across the U. S. at the present time. Some scholars have suggested that the United States should look at education systems from around the world with a successful history of multilingual education to derive solutions to its current challenges and enable all students; including second language learners achieve the required grade level proficiency in English. This review of the literature in multilingual education collects and organizes the scholarship over the last twenty years from selected countries representing each continent in the world.