Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-29T04:14:55.307Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Beyond Common Sense in Bilingual Education*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2016

Stephen G. Harris
Stephen G. Harris*
Affiliation:
Milingimbi, Via Darwin, N.T.
Get access

Extract

It is assumed that by now the widely known UNESCO statement about the value of vernacular literacy has achieved the status of “common sense” knowledge among those interested in the schooling of minority language groups. The term “common sense” here implies that although there is much that is sound in a common sense view, there is also the danger of oversimplification. Although strongly in favour of bilingual education, both educationally and in terms of the ethics of racial contact, I see a number of areas where an oversimplified approach to it can bring either some harm with the good or at least lessen the effectiveness of the use of the vernacular language in education. The “initial literacy in the vernacular” approach is not a panacea for all minority group educational problems. The article by Joy Kinslow-Harris (1968), probably the best single statement made on the value of vernacular education for Australian Aboriginals, was a profound call for a basic change in attitude towards the education of Aboriginals, and outlined sound starting procedures. While this paper strongly supports Kinslow-Harris’s statement, it wishes also to extend understanding of some important theoretical issues.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 3 , Issue 4 , August 1975 , pp. 3 - 27
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 1975

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barker, G.C.: Social functions of language in a Mexican American community. Acta Americana, 5, 1948, 185–202.Google Scholar
Bowen, J.D.: Linguistic perspectives in bilingual education, in Bilingual Education a volume in Current Trends in the Language Science Series, Spolsky, B. and Cooper, R.L. [Eds.). In press.Google Scholar
Bruner, J.S., Olver, R., Greenfield, P., et al. Studies in Cognitive Growth, Wiley & Sons, New York, 1966.Google Scholar
Cazden, Courtney, and John, V.P.: Learning in American Indian children, in Anthropological Perspectives on Education, Wax, M.L., Diamond, S. and Gearing, P.O. (Eds.) Basic Books, New York, 1971.Google Scholar
Cole, M., Gay, J., Glick, J. and Sharp, D.W.: The Cultural Context of Learning and Thinking, Basic Books, New York, 1971.Google Scholar
Cole, M., Gay, J., Glick, J. and Sharp, D.W. and Bruner, J.S.: Cultural differences and inferences about psychological processes, American Psychologist, 1972, 867–876.Google Scholar
Cole, M., Gay, J., Glick, J. and Sharp, D.W. and Scribner, S.: Culture and Thought, Wiley & Sons, New York, 1974.Google Scholar
Collier, John Jr.: Alaskan Eskimo Education, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, 1973.Google Scholar
Dumont, R.V. Jr.: Learning English and how to be silent: Studies in Sioux and Cherokee classrooms, Functions of Language in the Classroom, Cazden, C., John, V. and Hymes, D. (Eds.) Teachers College Press, New York, 1972.Google Scholar
Ferguson, C.: Diglossia, Word, 15, 1959, 325–340.Google Scholar
Fishman, J.A., Cooper, R.L., Roxana, Ma, et al.: Bilingualism in the Barrio, Yeshiva University, New York, 1968.Google Scholar
Fishman, J.A., Cooper, R.L., Roxana, Ma, et al.: Advances in the Sociology of Language, Vol. I, Mouton, The Hague, 1971.Google Scholar
Flanders Ned, and Amidon, E.: Interaction analysis as a feedback system, in Interaction Analysis: Theory, Research and Application, Amidon, and Hough, (Eds.) Addison Wesley, Reading, Mass., 1967, 137–139.Google Scholar
Gay, John and Cole, M.: The New Mathematics and an Old Culture, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, 1967.Google Scholar
Greenfield, L.: Situational measures of normative language views in relation to person, place and topic among Puerto Rican bilinguals, in Advances in the Sociology of Language, Vol. II, Fishman, Joshua (Ed.) Mouton, The Hague, 1972.Google Scholar
Gumperz, J.J.: Verbal strategies in multilingual communication, in 21st Annual Round Table: Bilingualsim and Language. Contact, Alatis, (Ed.] Georgetown University Press, 23, 1970, 129–148.Google Scholar
Hamilton, Annette: Nature and Nurture: Child Rearing in North Central Arnhm Land, unpublished M.A. thesis. University of Sydney, Australia, 1970.Google Scholar
Hernandez-Chavez, K.: Factors in Spanish language maintenance in the Southwest, 6th lecture in the series Multilingualism in the Southwest: Its Nature and Implications, in press.Google Scholar
John, Vera P., Horner, V.M., and Berney, T.D.: Story retelling: a study of sequential speech in young children, in Basic Studies on Reading, Levin, H. and Williams, J.P. (Eds.) Basic Books, New York, 1970.Google Scholar
John, Vera P., Horner, V.M., and Berney, T.D.: Styles of learning – styles of teaching, in Functions of Language in the Classroom, op.cit., 331–343.Google Scholar
John, Vera P., Horner, V.M., and Berney, T.D. and Horner, V.: Early Childhood Bilingual Education, Modern Language Association of America, New York, 1971.Google Scholar
Kearins, Judith: Visual memory in desert Aboriginal children, in Proceedings of the Biennial Conference of Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra, A.C.T., May 1974. In press.Google Scholar
Kinslow-Harris, J.: Linguistics and Aboriginal education, Australian Territories, Department of Territories, Canberra, 8:1, 1968, 24–34.Google Scholar
Kjolseth, R.: Bilingual education programs in the United States: for assimilation or pluralism? In The Language Education of Minority Children, Spolsky, B. (Ed.) Newbury House, Rowley, Mass., 1972, 94–124.Google Scholar
Kleinfeld, Judith: Effective Teachers of Indian and Eskimo High School Students, Institute of Social, Economic and Government Research, University of Fairbanks, Alaska, 1972.Google Scholar
Kritchevsky, S., Prescott, E. and Walling, L.: Planning Environments for Young Children: Physical Space, National Association for the Education of Young Children, Washington, DC, 1969.Google Scholar
Leacock, E.B.: Teaching and Learning in City Schools, Basic Books, New York, 1969.Google Scholar
Lambert, W.E. and Tucker, R.G.: Bilingual Education of Children: The St. Lambert Experiment, Newbury House, Rowley, Mass., 1972.Google Scholar
Luria, A.K.: Towards the problem of the historical nature of psychological processes, International Journal of Psychology, 6:4, 1971, 259–272.Google Scholar
Macnamara, John: What can we expect of a bilingual program? In Working Papers on Bilingualism, 4, Oct., 1974, Bilingual Education Project, The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 252 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario M5S IV6, Canada.Google Scholar
O’Grady, G. and Hale, K.: Recommendations Concernirig Bilingual Education in the Northern Territory, 1974., (available from the Department of Education, Northern Territory Branch, Darwin).Google Scholar
Oller, J.W. Jr.: Discrete-point tests versus tests of integrative skills, in Focus on the Learner, Oller, and Richards, J.C., (Eds.), Newbury House, Rowley, Mass., 1973.Google Scholar
Oller, J.w. Jr.: Bilingual Education: Promises and Paradoxes. In press.Google Scholar
Philips, S.U.: Participant structures and communicative competence: Warm Springs children in community and classroom, in Functions of Language in the Classroom, op.cit.Google Scholar
Rubin, Joan: Bilingualism and language planning, 9th lecture, Multilingualism in the Southwest, op.cit.Google Scholar
Scribner, S. and Cole, M.: Cognitive consequences of formal and informal education, Science, 182:4112, 1973, 553–558.Google Scholar
Smith, Sara D.: An Analysis of Self-Developmental Behavior Patterns of Preschool Children in Planned Variation in Head Start, unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Maryland, 1972.Google Scholar
Spolsky, B.: What does it mean to know a language; or how do you get someone to perform his competence? Focus on the Learner, op.cit.Google Scholar
Spolsky, B., Green, Joanna B. and John, Read: A Model for the Description, Analysis, and Perhaps Evaluations of Bilingual Education. Navajo Reading Study Progress Report No. 23, 1974, Albuquerque, U. of New Mexico.Google Scholar
UNESCO: The Use of Vernacular Languages in Education, Monographs on Fundamental Education VIII, Paris, UNESCO, 1953.Google Scholar
Watts, B.H., McGrathi, W.J. and Tandy, J.L.: Recommendations for the Implementation and Development of a Program of Bilingual Education in Schools in Aboriginal Communities in the Northern Territory. Department of Education, Canberra, ACT, 1973.Google Scholar
Withal, John: Research Tools: Observing and Recording Behavior, Review of Educational Research, 30:5, 1960, 496–512.Google Scholar
Zintz, Miles: Education Across Cultures, (2nd ed.) Kendall/Hunt, Dubuque, rowa, 1969.Google Scholar