Bilingual Education

A Dialogue with the Bakhtin Circle

By Marcia Moraes

Subjects: Multicultural Education
Series: SUNY series, Teacher Empowerment and School Reform
Paperback : 9780791430224, 159 pages, July 1996
Hardcover : 9780791430217, 159 pages, July 1996
Out of print (Hardcover)

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Table of contents

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. THE BAKHTIN CIRCLE AND LANGUAGE

Voloshinov or Bakhtin? Whose Authorship?
The World of Language through Voloshinov's and Bakhtin's Eyes

 

Sign
Consciousness
Utterance
Process of Understanding
Communication

 

A Debate between Voloshinov and Saussure: What Is Language?
Conclusion

2. THE HISTORICAL APPEAL

Bilingual Programs
Bilingual Education within a Piece of History
Conclusion

3. WHOSE FINDINGS?

Bilingual Education and Research

 

Immersion Programs
Theoretical Approaches to L2 Acquisition

 

Conclusion

4. LANGUAGE AND ITS MULTIPLE VOICES

Dialogue: What Is It?
Dialogic Pedagogy
Critical/Radical Pedagogy
Dialogic-Critical Pedagogy
Conclusion

5. BILINGUAL ENCOUNTER: A DIALOGIC-CRITICAL PEDAGOGY

Beyond English-Plus versus English Only: Toward the Living Dialogue
Concluding Remarks

References

Index

Examines the theories of Bakhtin and Freire in relation to bilingual education and second language learning.

Description

Bilingual Education: A Dialogue with the Bakhtin Circle is the first book to make a connection between bilingual education and the theories of the Bakhtin circle. The analysis is focused on language as a social entity from the perspective of Bakhtinian dialogic existence. The author includes a discussion of critical/radical pedagogy connected to Paulo Freire's dialogic pedagogy. Also addressed are the major laws and policies of bilingual education in the U. S. and the current debate involving English-only versus English-plus instruction.

Marcia Moraes is Professor in the Department of Languages and Literature at Rio de Janeiro State University in Brazil.

Reviews

"This book harnesses two powerful theoretical frameworks, testing the implications of Bakhtinian and Freirian perspectives for rethinking bilingual education. The author provides a critical analysis that will speak both to teachers about instructional practice and to 'educational planners' about curricular design. I admire the ambitious aim of re-examining approaches to bilingual education through the lens of sophisticated linguistic and social theory. In addition, the premise that traditional, structuralist theories can undermine language teaching by overlooking the importance of social context to language learning is a sound one. Moraes makes a persuasive argument against viewing bilingual education in monolithic, 'one-policy-fits-all' terms. " — Christian Knoeller, University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire

"The author's summary of the Bakhtin Circle's thought is masterful and impressive. She deftly finesses the non-issue of 'who wrote what' in the Bakhtin Circle. She correctly assesses the need to inform her readers of Bakhtinian thought prior to launching into her critique of bilingual education. The book is thoughtful, with provocative writing throughout. " — Dennis Sayers, University of California Educational Research Center