There has been an essential distinction between language use and the language ability of an individual. This gap is referred to as the difference between function and degree of language. However, bilingualism emphasis on the use of language on a regular base rather than the fluency and it also includes the understanding of various dialect of a language. Thus, bilinguals are those who are able to use two or more languages in their daily life usage (Flores & Schissel, 2014).
Moreover, communication not only includes the structure of language that is vocabulary and grammar but it also includes what is being said in what circumstances. The linguistic skills of a person may be limited but he or she must be successful in communicating things in certain situations. Another person may be an expert of a language but cannot explain things in a particular circumstance. Thus, the use of a bilingual ability depends on every day event and wide contexts. This is a form of bilingual usage called functional bilingual and its focuses on how with, whom and where people are going to use their two languages (Flores & Schissel, 2014).
However, many people use more than two languages and are multilingual.The children of such parents take their education in a third language and the get this language either from the mass community or the language used at schools. The reason to learn a second or a third language could be either societal or due to some individual reasons (Baker, 2011).
However, some of the teachers view that a student with bilinguals means he or she can speak two monolinguals. They tend to compare the English reading and speaking skills with that of the native speakers. This is considered as unfair by most of the researchers because bilinguals can use their two languages for different situation and they cannot be compared to any native speaker. The processionary in the majority language could not be as perfect as that of a native speaker in countries like the United States where the children of an immigrant in schools are categorized as Limited English Proficient. Thus, the notion of double language as gained much criticism. There are various issues with this term among immigrants in the United States and other countries (Baker, 2011).
Many Anglophone nations have adopted educational reform initiatives that include the emergent bilinguals or English language learners. Such reforms in the dedication system are considered as very important for preparing students for this globally changing world. But it has been finding out that these reforms have either missed out the notion of bilingualism or looking at bilingualism in the perspective of monolingualism. As global citizen needs to be able to understand the bilingual spaces apart from other academic concepts of bilingualism should be made the central to the initiatives of standard reforms (Flores & Schissel, 2014).
However, ideological spaces are the important ways of understanding language in the local context and the implementational spaces should be done in classrooms. The standard-bared reform initiative is shaped by the monolinguistic norm and theses norms have been the part of European Colonial and national projects (Flores & Schissel, 2014).
Monoglossic language ideologies
The ideologies of monoglots language emerged with the rise of the different nation-states in the European continent. The grammarians in the European nation began to feel the need for heterogeneity in the practices of languages and thus they gave rise to national subjects. So, it was necessary to design a standardized language in order to clean the language with lots of local impurities. The national language ideologies moved to the American continent as well with the movement of Europeans invaders.
However, the nation who took monolingualism as an ideology has described linguistic diversity with two different approaches. One approach is the subtractive bilingualism and it supports monolingualism by arguing that the bilingual should follow standard language to replace their native language with the standard one. The second approach is additive bilingualism which supports the notion of balanced bilingualism. This approach explains bilingualism in relation to monolingualism. The issue of bilingualism was kept in complete silence and the monolinguistic ideologies were promoted throughout history. This the word of bilingualism was completely removed from the legislation and its implementation was also stopped.
In the United States, the standard-based reforms are being ignored and the bilingual students are marginalized. However, in the field of the applied linguist, another alternative has emerged and researchers have challenged monolingualism as a norm and presented alternative ideologies.
Heteroglossic language ideologies
Researchers have criticized the monolingual ideologies and instead presented the theory of applied linguistics. The deficit framing of the communities with double language has been challenged and terms like translingual, metrolingualism and polylingualism have emerged. The researchers started viewing language as a fluid, dynamic and complex process rather than just a discrete object (Flores & Schissel, 2014).
These scholars have rejected the ideology of monoglossic language and instead gave the ideology of heteroglossia language. These scholars have admired the bilingual speakers and divided the bilingual population by the name of translingual. The reaches have taken the approach of blending language not as a problem but as a way to start new language practices and have appreciated the language practices of bilingual communities in the world. But the implementation of heteroglossic language lacks institutional support. Heteroglossic perspective could be induced in the educational system of the developed countries by working with professional Learning communities working directly with teachers will help to affirm bilinguals (Flores & Schissel, 2014).
Multilingual classrooms and Bilingual education:
Multilingualism is a reality in today’s era and every classroom has students who speak more than one language. But the multilingual capacity of students is always in questions and it is still not known how the multilingual capacity of the student will help them to have high academic achievements. Moreover, language is not just a means of communication or a mother tongue but it is a material of knowledge, is a mean to understand the world and it reflects our ways of knowing the world around us. However, some of the scholars have used language as resources and this concept contrast with the language planning ideologies of the other scholars. There is a utilitarianism benefit of multilingualism in gaining employment and it also orients the individual towards his or her history (Potts, 2018).
However, Language is largely a social phenomenon rather than a semiotic construct on contact to this concept language is mostly understood as a semiotic construct as the student’s access to their local language is same as access to existing knowledge. The distinguish between language as a dialect or as a resource also helps to distinguish between multilingual education from the perspective of mainstream multilingualism in classrooms. Moreover, bilingual education has different forms, some of these forms support learning a new form of language, some targeted the mechanism to maintain a language heritage and some provides a platform to learn the language of the majority of people in the community. But the purpose of a lingual program is always learning about the variety of the linguistic family and study of language as a learning frame. But the teachers in the multilingual classroom do not teach a heritage language and provides a platform to learn the dominant language. Theses teacher cannot mix up the multilingual resources that are brought by the students so these teachers are unable to mirror the diversity in the class and focus on the teaching of the dominant language (Potts, 2018).
However, it has been recognized that native language plays an important role in the academic development of students. This concept left some challenges of facilitation of multilingual practices. Students understand the linguistic resources academic relevance more than the resources given on dominant language. English as a second language program focuses students in various countries participated in the discussion of current events and these international al students have a low rate of relevance as they are unable to connect their knowledge with the projects they are connected to (Flores & Schissel, 2014).
Different communities have a different mindset and various forms of mental dispositions and such dispositions involve the level of interest of the student in their local languages. Thus, home language is a resource of thinking it reflects the ways students describe the world around them and this could be a resource used for academic success (Potts, 2018).
Moreover, the language that is used to talk about language has been referred to as a metalanguage. It is used as an effective mechanism of feedback as well in the field of second language acquisition. The metalanguage in SLA is basically about the grammatical structure and implied feedback. However, the low learner L2 are being supported to get academically high standard learning by the programs like schools-based English for academic purpose. These groups of candidates struggle with the curriculum and it have a language background other than the dominant t English language. Because of their project, the metalanguage has been used in teaching practices (Humphrey & Macnaught, 2016).
However, it has been under debate that what kind of bilingualism can be constructed with the help of education and what kind of bilingualism would be suitable in different contexts? The educational provision for multilingualism, is also under discussion. Researcher are thinking to include various programs for their linguist minorities and the children of immigrants who are enrolled in the schools of the mainstreams. The programs are desigtned to give guidelines to the bilingual children who are being taught to the needs of monolingual mainstream. For instance, the diverse nature of intervention that occurred in the United States for the minority linguistic groups includes programs for the maintenance of first language, transitional bilinguals’ programs, and dual-language programs (Jones Martin, 2007).
On the other hand, Canada is following the early partial immersion, late and total partial immersion programs for their bilingual minority population. These important types of interventions are also followed by other countries. Various linguistic diversity management intervention is taken by with the help of the public education system and volunteer sector programs like the heritage language programs (Jones Martin, 2007).
However, the age at which bilingual education should be started is also under discussion. Some of the policymakers and scholars of the opinion that proficiency in the L2 level is necessary to start bilingual education and other of the opinion that 10-12 years of age students should be enrolled in such programs. However, providing bilingual education is a very imp0rnat and complex phenomenon so it needs careful leadership. Leadership includes researching over the needs and types of bilingual education, design an effective model, training of teachers and monitoring and evaluation (Cummins & Swain, 2014).
However, the language one is using to think, dream or speak is the best tool for learning. Sociologists have found out that an individual who lives in a new environment around people with a new language can be able to think, talk or dream in that language. But mother tong is something that makes an individual connected to the native culture and it affects the learning capability of an individual. The lack of demand for various local language in the educational system restricts the students from indigenous knowledge (Orekan, n.d.).
Moreover, bilingualism is not merely can be seen by the notion of two separate monolingualism but it is a potential that can transform the lives of people. The proper understanding of the needs of bilingual people can be done by introducing this in the education system. But it is different from the education programs that teach a foreign language. Theses program teaches the other language as a subject while bilingual education aims to use the language a medium of instruction. For instance, English and Japanese are the media of instructions in Japan and these two languages are used to give proper guidance to students and thus students get meaningful education (García, 2011).
English as an Additional language development Continuum:
The Victorian curriculum F-10 was released by VCCA and it provides evidence-based strategies and linked that to practical strategies of teaching. This initiative is taken to support the various students who study English as a second language in the Victorian school.
The secondary year English learners are assessed against the stages like SL, S1-4 of the continuum of the learners at “S” stages follow three models of reading, writing and speaking. The materials show that teachers re supporting a student with bilingual capabilities and helping them learn English properly. At the SL beginning stage have little Oral English. They will be engaged with other students who can speak frequently and will take part in activities like copying nad watching others to speak. they may use words without properly understanding their meanings (“Secondary Years 7-10,” n.d).
The student with the age limit 7-12 is progressed to be involved in a situation where English is the main language. In the progressing towards these stages level, the students understand and can communicate with their teachers. Thy students enrolled in this level, SL.2 understand what language to use in what context and they properly understand the importance of nonverbal communication a well. At the Stage SL.3, students can community simple in English and understand a limited range of classroom and social context of speaking (“Secondary Years 7-10,” n.d).
They communicate with grammatically featured short sentences and can interpret short questions in the classroom as well. They understand regular and irregular verbs that are commonly used in English and are also familiar with basic connectives and prepositions. Students who are in the S1 level can communicate with the help of with well-shaped grammatical sentences and they understand the use of language in context. They cannot mostly able to reply in English but can understand simple descriptions of questions. Students who are progressed towards the S1.2 level can deliver short sentences regarding their personality or familiar topic with the help of their teachers (“Secondary Years 7-10,” n.d). Such programs enable bilingual or multilingual students to learn English as a second language.
However, the standard-based reform has been focused in England and Australia as well apart from the United States. This led the formations of the National Curriculum and have include bilingual students in the mainstreams. Before the start of this national curriculum, the bilinguals were marginalized and separated from the rest of the students in school. After the introduction of this national curriculum, the content that was being taught to the mainstream was made accessible to the bilingual students as well. Policymakers have ignored the needs of the bilinguals and thus the teachers have navigated their diverse group of students with little support and left the bilingual students unacknowledged (Flores & Schissel, 2014).
Moreover, Australia has somehow acknowledged their bilinguals through the help of monolingual lenses. The national curricula as introduced in 1987 in Australia and after it, the standard set was criticized as not appropriate for the immigrants and bilingual in Australia. ESL scale was created later and made them part of the curricula in Australia. Thus, the emergence bilingual students were able to develop themselves in Australia (Flores & Schissel, 2014).
Criticism of Bilingual Education
However, in today’s world, bilingual education was criticized because people consider it as a separate linguistic area and it does not maintain the heterogeneity of language as well. For example, countries like the United States bilingual education is always blamed and the Latino and other minority students are generally separated from the mainstream in its educational institutes. The Latino students get an education in the United States in segregated classrooms and this segregation is generally due to the segregation based on class system ion the American society. The society does not allow minorities to get the facilities and eduxcatio0n as does the mainstream and it is, therefore, bilingual education is often blamed in the United States (García, 2011).
Moreover, Bilingual education is blamed because people in the current century are claiming an absolute relationship between identity and language and they think that bilingual education strengthens language and identity. But now the current generation has understood the importance of bilingual education and it happened due to the growth of immigrants in various developed countries like the United States and the European countries. In the United States, the term bilingual has been unleashed and instead people are using the term English Language Acquisition. However, some of the states in the United States have declared bilingual education as illegal. In California, Massachusetts, and Arizona it is illegal and bilingual education is often attached to the immigrants that have arrived in these states. It is not considered as a program that only includes native English speakers as well but it is taken as a dual language education that is given to the immi9granmts only (Flores & Schissel, 2014).
However, many scholars have identified the fact the bilingual education is beneficial for everyone and it does not just involve the immigrants. It is good for adult learners as well as for children. The ethnolinguistic group can benefit from collectively from this education system and bilingual education has a characteristic to deliver transformative school practices. As school play, a vital role in the cultural and social reproduction in society and thus sociologist have linked education with the social orders. However, Monolingual education is used to limit access to the linguistics practices of the one in power but bilingual education has the potential to give the accesses of languages to power and thus bilingual education is more important. Bilingual education is a form of transformative knowledge and the basic reason behind including such programs in the education system is the economic, political and social equality (García, 2011).
The use of dual education in the classroom is not a new concept and bilingual schools are at least 5000 years old. In the eastern part of the world, the educational system has always been the mixture of systems and languages brought by Persian, Arabic, and English. In the Greek-Latin bilingual education was mean to educate the Roman boys who were expected to learn the language of the masters. It was very common that the text used in schools were of a different language than the spoken one. Mostly the translations of the text were done into one of the commonly used languages and the text for the secret book was often read as it is. After the second half of twentieth-century bilingual education was used to appreciate the creativity of the bilingual children in school (Flores & Schissel, 2014).
The emergence of bilingual education for the masses occurred due to the ideological framework of the modernist development and it is therefore bilingual is considered as a problem in most of the countries. As the modernist development ideology considered, imagined and constricted the nation-state into one language. It further says that the development of a modern and independent nation-state can call for urbanization by the transformation from a traditional to a modern nature. Language became modern due to this concept of transformation from a traditional society to an industrialized society. Thus, the language was standardized and it was used in schools to the exclusion of the others. The issue of territory is also a big problem that is demarcated by language and thus many territories prefer to have a homogeneous language (García, 2011).
However bilingual education that can provide a balanced picture of all the pole in the community and should develop a linear paradigm. It should reflect the fluidity in the discourse. Bilingual education can be seen as a resource and is the best strategy to make student learn a lot (García, 2011).
Furthermore, bilingual education is all about three principles. One is the central role of bilingualism and language in society, the role of bilingualism in enacting ideologues and identities in society and the last one is the use of bilingualism to educate the society. But in the modern era due to the technological transformation, our understanding of language has also changed. The new approach towards language is that it is an understanding of language as a practice of another language and it has impacted our approached to bilingualism as well. It has made us believe that learning a new language is not just learning a new code of conduct but to become a part of the history of the interaction of different societies. Practicing different languages develop our personality and it also boosts up the internal capacity that helps us to learn (Baker, 2011).
Children multilingualism is a very important resource that is used to expend the perspectives of the student about the world, but these resources are not fully utilized in the mainstream classroom. Diversity in education should be appreciated to make the students learn more. Multilingualism, tells about the bidirectionality between education and language. Children school may be having multiple languages and it can also be due to the result of teaching trends of using various languages (Cenoz & Gorter, 2010).
Multilingualism is also due to various cultural social, economic and political factors in a society. It was introduced in the education system by the teaching style that contains the dominant language as well as the native languages. Multilingualism is considered as an asset for most of the countries in Europe as immigrant language are more widely used in most of the countries. Thus, multilingual education provides the possibility of career and mobility for most of the students within countries with diverse cultural backgrounds (Cenoz & Gorter, 2010).
Conclusion
Recognizing the native language is helpful for learning and for the overall academic development of students but the standard-based reform that support the monoglossic language ideologies. It thus marginalized the emergent bilinguals in society. The standard-based reforms are unable to define the needs of bilinguals I and in most of the countries, bilingual education is consid4rd as illegal. Although bilingual education is considered as the best way of learning and appreciating diversity but due to the social, cultural and economic differences in society, Bilingual education is considered as a problem.
The nation-state system in Europe is promoting monoglossic language and thus the students with bilingual abilities are marginalized. But the current century bilingual education is getting more and more importance due to globalization. The increasing number of the immigrant population in the United States and Europe is making the policymakers think to introduce programs to support bilinguals. The assessments in schools should be designed in a way that will empower bilingual students while providing g them the skill they will be needing to cope with the mainstreams.
However, language is a resource for feeling, for thinking and for reflecting the different approaches that students will use to reflect the world. Home language is considering as protentional sources of resources that can be used by students for t5heir academic success and creativity in life. So bilingual education should not only include the native speakers but also enroll the mainstream as well.
References
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Cenoz, J., & Gorter, D. (2010). The diversity of multilingualism in education. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl.2010.038
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García, O. (2011). Bilingual education in the 21st century: A global perspective. John Wiley & Sons.
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Orekan, G. (n.d.). Mother Tongue Medium as an Efficient Way of Challenging Educational Disadvantages in Africa: The Case of Nigeria. 12.
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