Study: The Sharper Minds of Bilinguals – Learning the Language – Education Week.

There are more and more studies about the advantages of being bilingual.  Above you will find a link to yet another study.  Most bilingual folks I know are not surprised, nor are the teachers in dual language programs- like the amazing teachers in the St. Paul Public Schools Dual Language Programs.

Now I would like to see more and more studies about the best types of programs for creating bilingual students.  One- way programs?  Two-way programs?  How many minutes per day in each language? in each subject?  How does homework play into the mix?  What is the best use of technology in dual language programs?

Perhaps we will never find the perfect ‘program’ but we can continue to empower teachers to create an environment that will lower the affective filter, scaffold instruction, teach language through content and motivate students to read, learn, question and create.