Bilingualism in the Primary School

Over the past few years bilingualism has come to be seen not as a hinderance to assimiliation but as an asset which, properly nurtured, will benefit children's linguistic awareness, cultural sensitivity and cognitive functioning. Bilingualism in the Primary Classroom gives primary teachers a window on the experience of the bilingual children in their care and by doing so helps them to make the most of what the children and their parents have to offer as well as giving them a good start in the National Curriculum. Many of the contributors to the book are themselves bilingual and are thus able to understand the children's experience from within, but they are also particularly careful to show monolingual teachers how they too can make use of children's mother tongue experience. The book is based throughout on rich case study material of individual children at various stages on the bilingual spectrum.

Richard Mills has taught in England, Australia and Pakistan, the last with Punjabi, Urdu and Pashtu speakers, and is now Principal Lecturer and In-Service coordinator at Westhill College, Birmingham. He is the author of numerous books, including Observing Children in the Primary Classroom (Routledge, 1988). Jean Mills has taught in Canada and Australia, and has over fourteen years teaching experience in UK inner city schools, mostly as a language support teacher. She has also been Deputy of the Primary ESL Unit in Birmingham LEA and is currently Senior Lecturer at Westhill College, Birmingham. Her publications include co-authorship of the Choices series (Oxford University Press).

Figures and tables, Contributors, Acknowledgements, Introduction: Setting the scene, Section I: Living and learning in two languages, 1. Language activities in a multilingual school, 2. A young child learns English, Section II: Assessment of and through language, 3. Monolingual teachers assessing bilingual children, 4. Assessing in mother tongue, 5. Assessing in English and mother tongue, Section III: The bilingual experience, 6. Children as interpreters, 7. Teachers speak out, 8. A community project, Bibliography, Index