Being bilingual

During the development and trialling of this ,resource, one year 7 student said, “I feel lucky to be bilingual.” His appreciation of the many advantages of being bilingual is in contrast to the view, still widely held, that bilingualism is a problem and that languages other than English should be discouraged in the classroom. The view of bilingualism as a problem has been discredited. Instead, research consistently shows us that when students’ bilingualism is recognised, valued, and used in the classroom, their language skills and general academic performance improve significantly. These improved language skills also include students’ increased mastery of academic English.

Research shows that there are important educational advantages in being bilingual – particularly when bilingual students can also become biliterate, or literate in two languages. The more your bilingual students can use both their languages in curriculum learning, the better. The two languages support each other and are interdependent, and bilingual speakers have some cognitive advantages over those who know only one language.

Bilingual people use their languages in a variety of ways and for many different purposes. Even young children know how to use the two languages in different places, with different people, and for different purposes. They also know how to purposefully switch back and forth between the two languages in the course of a single activity or interaction.

This section explores the research around bilingualism, particularly as it relates to learning. It shows how teachers can think about the bilingualism of their Pasifika (and other) students in positive terms. It also discusses ways of recognising and including the bilingualism of students in the mainstream classroom, even when the teacher does not personally know the language(s) concerned.