What is bilingual education?

Jan Dormer Malang, East Java

Apparently, misconceptions abound as to the nature and purpose of bilingual education. In a recent The Jakarta Post's article (Foreign Teachers not Qualified, May 21), Alex Tubagus decried the use of English in National Plus Schools, asking, "Why must students leave behind their mother-tongue to (apparently) study in English?"

Parents, teachers, and even bilingual school administrators seem to sometimes also lack an understanding of what it is that bilingual education is trying to accomplish, and whether or not it is good for Indonesian children, and for Indonesia. Some people appear to think that bilingual education is simply tossing English into the curriculum randomly, hoping that a bilingual child will emerge.

"Bilingual education," more often referred to as "language immersion" or "dual language" education in countries where the language to be learned is a foreign language, is essentially learning academic content in two languages. If these two languages are Indonesian and English, for example, perhaps half of the school subjects would be taught in English and half in Indonesian. This is a "50/50" school model.

In non-English speaking majority countries such as Indonesia, a school may choose to begin in grade one with 80 percent of instruction in English and 20 percent in Indonesian. This helps children learn English quickly, and assures their ability to learn academic subjects in English by the time those academic subjects are laden with complex ideas and vocabulary -- at about grade four.

Such early immersion bilingual education models usually begin reversing the balance of the instructional language in junior high and high school, often finishing with 80 percent instructional time being spent in the first language (e.g. Indonesian), and only 20 percent being spent in English.

Some schools even eliminate instruction in the foreign language altogether at the high school level, except for English class, as their intent is to prepare students well for local college entrance exams. Thus, the whole of 12 grades of school instruction is usually a "50/50" language balance, or even a greater percentage in the native language. Whatever the bilingual educational model chosen -- early or late immersion, "50/50" throughout or a shifting language balance -- the goal is always the same: To produce students who are highly proficient in two languages.

Jim Cummins, a leading writer in bilingual education, has stated time and again in his writings over three decades that the first language -- the native language -- must be highly valued. He and others consistently argue that effective bilingual education never replaces the first language with another. Instead, the goal is additive bilingualism -- simply providing the student with an additional linguistic communication code.

Still, it is legitimate to ask, "Is bilingual education good for Indonesian children?" Indonesian educators are much better prepared to answer this question than I. Still, it can be helpful to look at bilingual schools in other countries, and the results they have experienced. Parents and educators in non-English speaking countries rightfully ask questions such as, "Will learning English through bilingual education diminish our students' abilities to speak and use their first language?" and "Will learning English diminish students' value of their own culture and language?"

Research in bilingual education in international contexts is still relatively new, and definitive answers to those questions are not yet readily apparent. However, the news from some initial projects is encouraging. For example, Mike Bostwick, the director of a bilingual school in Japan (using an "80/20" early immersion model) has found children in that school to be more proficient in Japanese language by high school age than children who studied in Japanese only schools.

This is in addition, of course, to their being highly proficient in English. This supports various other studies showing that children in bilingual education tend to acquire higher levels of both languages than children experiencing monolingual education. This is probably due to the greater emphasis on language in the school, and the fact that language concepts transfer from one language to another.

What about culture? Do children in bilingual education value their own culture less than children who have studied only in the local language? According to Bostwick, no. He has found that Japanese children in his school actually place a higher value on their own culture than do monolingual Japanese students.

It is true that Tubagus has some genuine cause for concern. Bilingual education is great when done well, but can be highly damaging when done poorly. In worst case scenarios, students can be hindered in their acquisition of academic content because of their poor command of the language of instruction. Teachers may need to take valuable classroom time for translation, lessening the amount of time available for instruction.

Tubagus points out one such problem in Indonesia: Poorly trained native speakers. While local native speakers can be a great asset for Indonesian bilingual schools, they do need training and qualification -- as do Indonesian teachers -- in teaching English and bilingual education.

A final caution is that languages should be learned for the right reasons. Will facility in English enable Indonesian students to compete more successfully in the job market and partake more fully in international resources? If so, knowing English is a good thing.

The writer is a doctoral candidate in Teacher Development at the University of Toronto. She currently lives in Malang, where she is completing her dissertation research and can be reached at jandormer@mailblocks.com.