Decolonising the languages curriculum is a radical requirement to critically reexamine the way in which the languages curriculum has been formed in any context. It requires the examination of the power dynamics which have led to the dominance of certain languages over others and which languages are and are not accorded resources in schools,…

In this article, we analyze the plurilingualism of instructors and their students in a program taught through the medium of French at a multilingual, Anglophone university in Western Canada. We employ the lenses of plurilingualism and plurilingual competence in the analysis of data from a one-year qualitative study of plurilingualism across the…

French second language education, including the option of one-way French immersion, is mandated for majority-language Anglophone children in New Brunswick, Canada's only officially bilingual province. Language ideological debates in the province surrounding official English--French bilingualism led us to investigate adolescent majority-language…

French immersion (FI), one of the hallmarks of French as a Second Language education in Canada and mandated in New Brunswick, Canada's only officially English/French bilingual province, is often the target of language ideological debates surrounding its purposes and expected outcomes. Yet, notably absent in FI scholarship has been a focus on the…

This article focuses on the reported experiences of three focal students who participated in a Spanish/English dual language program in their southern California school district throughout their elementary and middle school years. All three students identify as Mexican-origin and speak Spanish, English, and the Indigenous language of Zapoteco and…

Effectively engaging students in mathematics discourse is challenging, especially in a language other than the one in which you learned mathematics. Teachers must manage the academic as well as social function of language. In Spanish-English bilingual classrooms in the U.S., changing the language of instruction to Spanish may not be enough to…

Previous studies have shown that immersion students tend to speak the majority language during peer interactions, regardless of the language of instruction or their dominant language. Researchers have argued that the societal status of the majority language presents an obstacle to providing equitable support for both languages of instruction. To…

Considerable research documents students' outcomes in dual language (DL) programs, but there is little examination of students' perceptions of bilingualism and its impact on students' cognitive functioning and social relationships, especially with comparative studies across different target languages and student backgrounds. This study, which…

This article provides an in-depth exploration of the language ecologies of two classrooms attempting to implement a two-way dual language (TWDL) program and its mediating conditions. Drawing on ethnographic methods and a sociocultural understanding of language, we examined both teachers' and students' language ideologies and language practices,…

As a language, Irish is unique to Ireland and is, therefore, of crucial importance to the identity of the Irish people, to Irish culture and to world heritage. The Irish language however has had a turbulent and traumatic history and has endured a complex and varied relationship with the Irish people. Since the foundation of the Irish Free State,…

This study explores the language ideologies of young children in a Spanish/English dual language programme in the USA. Recent studies of language ideologies in education have centred primarily on adults or older students, but this study focuses on young children from varied language backgrounds. By analysing discussions centred on children's…

This study investigated the language and literacy practices of five graduates of a Spanish-English K-12 dual language immersion program through semistructured interviews to understand the residual impact of thirteen years in a Spanish-English bilingual school program. Drawing from sociocultural theory, the interviews also sought to provide an…

Three hundred sixty-six parents of children enrolled in a school-wide English-Spanish two-way bilingual program participated in this study. They were asked to answer a survey that attempted to elicit information about their degree of satisfaction with the program, as well as the reasons that led them to select it, and their perception of and…

Describes the rationale, content, goals, and initial results of an Australian high school's French immersion program. Factors cited in the program's success include strong parental support and a generally supportive school and community environment. (CB)

Attitudes of four groups of elementary school students toward 10 socially relevant concepts, e.g., "self,""monolingual French Canadians,""bilingual English Canadians," and other areas are studied. Two of the groups were grade five and six English-speaking Canadian Students who had participated in either an…