Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism - Colin Baker

The fifth edition of this bestselling book provides a comprehensive introduction to bilingualism and bilingual education. In a compact and clear style, its 19 chapters cover all the crucial issues in bilingualism at individual, group and national levels. These include:

defining who is bilingual and multilingual

testing language abilities and language use

languages in communities and minority groups

endangered languages

language planning, language revival

the development of bilingualism in infancy and childhood

bilingualism in the family

age and language learning

adult language learning

bilinguals' thinking skills

bilingualism and the brain

theories of bilingualism

types of bilingual education

heritage language education

evaluations of bilingual education

minority language literacy

biliteracy and multiliteracies

effective teaching and learning methods in bilingual classrooms

the effectiveness of bilingual education in the United States

the history of bilingual education in the United States

language minority underachievement

bilingual special education

the assessment of language minority children

Deaf bilinguals

the spread of English as a global language

learning English as a second or third language

language identity and multiple identities

the politics surrounding language minorities and bilingual education

assimilation and pluralism

bilingualism and employment

bilingualism and the internet