A quality chinese-english bilingual education program: Defining success

Abstract

This study aims to provide an in-depth case study of a Chinese-English bilingual program in the largest ISD of a Southwestern state, in the hope of shedding light on what makes a bilingual education program successful. Few research studies have systematically delved into an English-Chinese bilingual program as this one. The study illuminates that children in this immersion program have benefited from "additive bilingualism" in that they have learned a second language at no cost to their first language and also out-scored their non-immersion peers in state standardized exams. Employing qualitative methods, narrative inquiry in particular, this research study offers a compelling case that bilingual education does not hinder students’ English language acquisition. Instead, it accelerates students’ English proficiency development while promoting students’ second language acquisition, overall academic achievements, and sociocultural integration.