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Synopsis :

At a seminar on bilingualism held at the Regional Language Centre (RELC), Dr Marta Rado from La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia looks at the issue of bilingual education from the student's viewpoint. Although bilingual education sounds innovative, it has a long history. In the last 30 years, one third of immigrants in Australia came from non English speaking backgrounds. Today, there are over 80 ethnic minorities. In one classroom, there could be speakers of 8 to 10 languages. Most teachers are monolingual English speakers although lately more bilingual teachers have emerged. The first language is the student's ethnic language. English, which is the dominant language is the second language. Dr Rado says that to have a good command of the first and second languages, students must use them for information processing and social processes. While some ethnic minority children resist learning the first language, others seem to enjoy it. La Trobe University has developed audiovisual materials, games and puzzles for use by groups in the classroom. Students are encouraged to bring in materials about their own culture and interact verbally with other students. The teacher acts as a facilitator helping to organise the classroom and forming discussion groups. Dr Rado feels that students need time to become effectively bilingual. Athough bilingualism is intellectually and socially important, students should not be forced to participate in these programmes. Bilingualism can be made attractive to them by positive discrimination in favour of bilinguals in the employment sector, investing social prestige on it and offering superior bilingual programmes.