{"id":63423,"date":"2022-06-15T01:23:56","date_gmt":"2022-06-15T05:23:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=63423"},"modified":"2022-06-15T01:23:56","modified_gmt":"2022-06-15T05:23:56","slug":"does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue\/","title":{"rendered":"Does bilingual education affect the development of the mother tongue?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

“In the end, with this bilingualism, children do not learn English or Spanish.”\u00a0Who has not heard, on leaving school or at a bar counter, reasoning of this type?<\/p>\n

This concern goes beyond purely informal settings and is shared even by teachers.\u00a0In 2009,\u00a0a study<\/a>\u00a0revealed how some Spanish language and literature teachers were reluctant to coordinate their actions with those of the bilingual program, since they considered it a threat to Spanish.\u00a0What is the truth behind this belief?<\/p>\n

When does bilingualism subside?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

On very specific occasions, learning a second language can be detrimental to the mother tongue.\u00a0This phenomenon, known as\u00a0subtractive bilingualism<\/em><\/a>\u00a0, occurs when, at key stages of linguistic development (childhood and adolescence), the speaker’s attention is monopolized by the second language, who abandons their first language or relegates it to a minority use.<\/p>\n

This occurs in situations of contact between languages, in which speakers of minority languages \u200b\u200bmay come to favor a dominant language due to imposition, pragmatism or prestige.\u00a0Two well-known examples worldwide are the Australian indigenous communities and the speakers of Hispanic heritage in the United States.<\/p>\n

In Australia, the language policy of teaching only in English was causing\u00a0the disappearance of Aboriginal languages<\/a>\u00a0, which were mother tongues for many children.\u00a0It was precisely the introduction of bilingual education in 1973 that promoted its use in the classroom and saved these languages \u200b\u200bfrom extinction.<\/p>\n

Currently, there are almost as many native Spanish speakers in the United States as there are Spaniards in Spain (\u00a042 million, 10% of the population<\/a>\u00a0).\u00a0However, the use of Spanish exclusively at home causes the majority to have\u00a0difficulties using it in academic settings<\/a>\u00a0.<\/p>\n

Expulsion from formal contexts<\/strong><\/h4>\n

We see therefore that bilingualism only remains when a majority language imposes itself on another minority (or minority) and relegates it to informal or low-prestige contexts.\u00a0In Spain we are not free of examples either.\u00a0During the Franco dictatorship, the use of regional languages \u200b\u200bwas not only expelled from the educational system, but was also\u00a0made illegal and sanctioned in the public space<\/a>\u00a0.<\/p>\n

In addition, today there are still important linguistic communities whose mother tongues do not constitute languages \u200b\u200bof instruction in the educational system.\u00a0This would be the case of Arabic in Ceuta (or\u00a0dariya<\/em>\u00a0), which, despite being the mother tongue of\u00a024% of the population<\/a>\u00a0, still does not have an institutional presence in schools.<\/p>\n

What happens with educational bilingualism?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

In this section we are going to focus on bilingual education in which Spanish coexists with other foreign languages, mainly English.\u00a0As much as English enjoys the status of a\u00a0lingua franca<\/em>\u00a0(or global language), the conditions for its use in the classroom to threaten the learning of Spanish are not met at all.<\/p>\n

In the first place, Spanish continues to be the vehicular language of knowledge: the minimum use of English in bilingual centers is established at 30%, and in the best of cases it reaches 50% of class hours.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Spanish enjoys great vitality, both in our streets and\u00a0worldwide<\/a>\u00a0.\u00a0Therefore, logic pushes us to think that Spanish is not at risk in the classroom.<\/p>\n

Scientific support<\/strong><\/h4>\n

However, on many occasions science reveals patterns contrary to logic or common sense.\u00a0Hence the importance of submitting these beliefs to the scientific method.\u00a0This is what we have done in the\u00a0BIMAP project<\/a>\u00a0at Pablo de Olavide University (Seville), in which we have carried out three studies to analyze the interaction between Spanish and English in bilingual schools.<\/p>\n

In a\u00a0first study<\/a>\u00a0, published in the journal\u00a0Applied Linguistics<\/em>\u00a0, proficiency tests (level) in Spanish, English and history were administered to 3,800 students from 184 high schools (bilingual and non-bilingual).\u00a0Among other things, this study revealed that students in the bilingual system obtain better results in Spanish than those in the non-bilingual system (in\u00a0this other article<\/a>\u00a0, we analyze the interaction between results and socioeconomic status).<\/p>\n

In a\u00a0second study<\/a>\u00a0, which has just been published in\u00a0Language and Education<\/em>\u00a0, 20 of these students are followed for 2 years.\u00a0Here we see that the Spanish of the students develops in a totally optimal and appropriate way: they use a richer lexicon and a more complex syntax as they advance in the educational system.\u00a0In other words, they respond without problems to the linguistic demands of the different academic disciplines, which progressively increase in difficulty.<\/p>\n

Transfer between languages<\/strong><\/h4>\n

You may wonder how Spanish can improve when it is replaced by English as the language of instruction in certain subjects.\u00a0The answer to this question can be found precisely in the third study of the BIMAP project.<\/p>\n

Since the eighties of the last century, the hypothesis of\u00a0common underlying competition<\/a>\u00a0has been sustained .\u00a0That is, it is thought that there is a common linguistic knowledge for all the languages \u200b\u200bthat an individual speaks, and that the advances in one language are also transferred to the other.<\/p>\n

In the\u00a0third study<\/a>\u00a0, recently published in the\u00a0International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism<\/em>\u00a0, we find evidence that supports precisely this hypothesis.\u00a0During the two years of the second study, the English development of these same 20 students was also analyzed.\u00a0At this time, there is a simultaneous and parallel development in both languages \u200b\u200bof linguistic aspects such as the nominalization of discourse, lexical richness and the structuring of ideas, which suppose common bases for the abstraction and organization of thought.<\/p>\n

Therefore, we have enough data to answer the headline’s question with sufficient certainty.\u00a0Yes, bilingual education in Spain affects the development of the mother tongue: it reinforces and improves it.<\/p>\n

Author Bio:<\/strong> Adrian Granados Navarro is Professor of Applied Linguistics at Pablo de Olavide University<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“In the end, with this bilingualism, children do not learn English or Spanish.”\u00a0Who has not heard, on leaving school or at a bar counter, reasoning of this type? This concern goes beyond purely informal settings and is shared even by teachers.\u00a0In 2009,\u00a0a study\u00a0revealed how some Spanish language and literature teachers were reluctant to coordinate their […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15645],"tags":[9550],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-63423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","tag-bilingualism"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDoes bilingual education affect the development of the mother tongue? - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Does bilingual education affect the development of the mother tongue? - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"“In the end, with this bilingualism, children do not learn English or Spanish.”\u00a0Who has not heard, on leaving school or at a bar counter, reasoning of this type? This concern goes beyond purely informal settings and is shared even by teachers.\u00a0In 2009,\u00a0a study\u00a0revealed how some Spanish language and literature teachers were reluctant to coordinate their […]\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-06-15T05:23:56+00:00\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/bilinguism.jpg\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kevin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\"},\"headline\":\"Does bilingual education affect the development of the mother tongue?\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-06-15T05:23:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":939,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/bilinguism.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Bilingualism\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Education\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue\\\/\",\"name\":\"Does bilingual education affect the development of the mother tongue? - World leading higher education information and services\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/bilinguism.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-06-15T05:23:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/bilinguism.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/bilinguism.jpg\",\"width\":680,\"height\":271},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Does bilingual education affect the development of the mother tongue?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/\",\"name\":\"World leading higher education information and services\",\"description\":\"Global Higher Education Jobs, University jobs, Lecturer & tenure jobs.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\",\"name\":\"Kevin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g8ba4c352a279c450aa9435d770c1ebf4\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kevin\"},\"description\":\"Kevin is founder of the world.edu project. The past 28 years have been involved in publishing to the education sector in print and the internet. Kevin has a degree in Education and has a many years experience in developing companies and projects.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/author\\\/kevin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Does bilingual education affect the development of the mother tongue? - World leading higher education information and services","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/world.edu\/does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Does bilingual education affect the development of the mother tongue? - World leading higher education information and services","og_description":"“In the end, with this bilingualism, children do not learn English or Spanish.”\u00a0Who has not heard, on leaving school or at a bar counter, reasoning of this type? This concern goes beyond purely informal settings and is shared even by teachers.\u00a0In 2009,\u00a0a study\u00a0revealed how some Spanish language and literature teachers were reluctant to coordinate their […]","og_url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue\/","og_site_name":"World leading higher education information and services","article_published_time":"2022-06-15T05:23:56+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/bilinguism.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Kevin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kevin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue\/"},"author":{"name":"Kevin","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee"},"headline":"Does bilingual education affect the development of the mother tongue?","datePublished":"2022-06-15T05:23:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue\/"},"wordCount":939,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/bilinguism.jpg","keywords":["Bilingualism"],"articleSection":["Education"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue\/","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue\/","name":"Does bilingual education affect the development of the mother tongue? - World leading higher education information and services","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/bilinguism.jpg","datePublished":"2022-06-15T05:23:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/world.edu\/does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/bilinguism.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/bilinguism.jpg","width":680,"height":271},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/does-bilingual-education-affect-the-development-of-the-mother-tongue\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/world.edu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Does bilingual education affect the development of the mother tongue?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#website","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/","name":"World leading higher education information and services","description":"Global Higher Education Jobs, University jobs, Lecturer & tenure jobs.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee","name":"Kevin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g8ba4c352a279c450aa9435d770c1ebf4","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kevin"},"description":"Kevin is founder of the world.edu project. The past 28 years have been involved in publishing to the education sector in print and the internet. Kevin has a degree in Education and has a many years experience in developing companies and projects.","sameAs":["https:\/\/world.edu"],"url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/author\/kevin\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63423"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63439,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63423\/revisions\/63439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63423"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=63423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}