192 pages
228 x 145mm
ISBN: 978 1 85856 294 0
Published 2003 - Reprinted 2006


What makes bilingual children high achievers in school? Jean conteh traces a group of successful bilingual learners as they progress through Key Stage 2 in the mainstream classrooms. Her study shows how successful children are helped by their interactions and experiences at home and school to move confidently between social worlds, cultures and languages in their daily lives.

These are the fortunate children: the skills, knowledge and strategies they display in all these interactions are, as the author describes, recognised and valued in classroom pedagogy and in assessing their achievements in school. But they are the exception - most bilingual learners are still condemned to failure in school.

The implications for educational policy, teacher education and cladssroom practice of this case study are set out and linked in new ways with established knowledge and ideas about linguistics, learning and language in the mainstream classroom. Supported with practical suggestions and resources, this book will enable primary teachers to provide what bilingual children in their class need to learn successfully, and will also be essential reading for policy makers and teeacher educators.

Dr Jean Conteh is Senior Lecturer at the University of Leeds.