One tongue or two?

Concerns that a multilingual learning environment may confuse students and harm their learning are unfounded, according to an analysis by researchers at the University of Luxembourg.
 

This study investigated the effectiveness of bilingual programs for academic achievement in language-minority children in Europe. Similar studies have been conducted in North America, but not previously in Europe.
 

The meta-analysis combined data from five European studies and revealed a small positive effect (g=0.23) on academic achievement, including reading, for language-minority children educated bilingually compared with those who experience submersion programs (which use only the majority language).
 

The authors stated that their analysis supported the importance of bilingual education. They noted that the small number of included studies limited the extent to which their findings could be generalized to other settings. They called for further studies and closer attention to the size of the effects.
 

Effect sizes in the analysis are in line with previous meta-analyses in the United States, including those of Slavin and Cheung, which also found small positive effects in support of bilingual programs when compared with monolingual education. 

Johns Hopkins University 

Research in Brief

News Blast