Transitional bilingual education
Encyclopedia
Transitional Bilingual Education is an educational theory that states that child
ren can most easily acquire fluency
in a second language
by first acquiring fluency in their native language
. Fluency is defined as linguistic fluency (e.g. speaking) as well as literacy (e.g. reading and writing).
The goal of transitional bilingual education is to help transition a student into an English-only classroom as quickly as possible. A bilingual teacher instructs children in subjects such as math, science, and social studies in their native language, so that once the transition is made to an English-only classroom, the student has the knowledge necessary to compete with his peers in all other subject areas. The length of time a student is taught English while learning other subjects in their first language is typically three years. Research has shown that many of the skills learned in the native language can be transferred easily to the second language later.
Child
Biologically, a child is generally a human between the stages of birth and puberty. Some vernacular definitions of a child include the fetus, as being an unborn child. The legal definition of "child" generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority...
ren can most easily acquire fluency
Fluency
Fluency is the property of a person or of a system that delivers information quickly and with expertise.-Speech:...
in a second language
Second language
A second language or L2 is any language learned after the first language or mother tongue. Some languages, often called auxiliary languages, are used primarily as second languages or lingua francas ....
by first acquiring fluency in their native language
First language
A first language is the language a person has learned from birth or within the critical period, or that a person speaks the best and so is often the basis for sociolinguistic identity...
. Fluency is defined as linguistic fluency (e.g. speaking) as well as literacy (e.g. reading and writing).
The goal of transitional bilingual education is to help transition a student into an English-only classroom as quickly as possible. A bilingual teacher instructs children in subjects such as math, science, and social studies in their native language, so that once the transition is made to an English-only classroom, the student has the knowledge necessary to compete with his peers in all other subject areas. The length of time a student is taught English while learning other subjects in their first language is typically three years. Research has shown that many of the skills learned in the native language can be transferred easily to the second language later.