Bilingual education in a community language: lessons from a longitudinal study

Provision for students learning English as an additional language
(EAL) frequently overlooks the linguistic resources these children
bring to the classroom. This is despite international research that
highlights the facilitative links between support of the home
language and the acquisition of new languages. This article reports
on a longitudinal study of KarenEnglish bilingual learning in the
early years at one culturally and linguistically diverse primary
school. It analyses classroom observation and student achievement
data, work samples, staff interviews, parent questionnaires, and
student self-assessments to build a rich evidence base that attests
to the advantages afforded by plurilingual opportunities in what are
often staunchly monolingual classroom contexts. The importance of
additive language policies and pedagogies for EAL students in
mainstream classes is reinforced by this study, and a framework is
proposed whereby bilingual education focusing on community
languages can be successfully operationalised.