This study presents a rationale for working with the principles of transactional analysis (TA) in the bilingual/bicultural classroom, particularly to develop the child's self-concept. The two basic premises of TA are that all human beings have a fundamental worth that is neither increased nor decreased by anything they may do or refrain from doing, and that we are responsible to a great extent for choosing our own feelings and for deciding how to act upon them. The implications of these premises for the bilingual classroom are enormous: if a child's self-concept is consistently eroded by early and continued academic failure, if the language spoken by those he loves most is treated as a second-rate idiom, and if his home culture is denigrated or ignored, the conclusions that child comes to regarding his essential worth may not be positive ones. The objectives of applying the principles of TA to the bilingual classroom include providing a nurturing environment where "positive strokes" are freely given and received by all students and by the teacher; facilitating communication by teaching new communications skills; and giving students tools they can use in taking responsibility for their own actions and reactions and stopping inappropriate reactions. When these objectives are met, student self-concept is enhanced and learning can take place more readily, pleasurably, and effectively. (EJS)