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論文

US Bilingual Education and Its Application to Japanese EFL Teaching
HASE, Naoya(Kwansei Gakuin University)

MARTINEZ-ROLDAN, Carmen M.
(Teachers College, Columbia University)

CHANG, Sharon(Teachers College, Columbia University)

1. Introduction
Bilingual education in the United States has a rather different meaning thanwhat we associate with when we hear the term “bilingual education” or “bilingualism”
in Japan, where these terms more often than not mean “elite bilingualism” or “additivebilingualism” (Flores & Beardsmore, 2015), as being bilingual is considered an asset ora luxury. If you are bilingual, it usually means that on top of your first language(Japanese), which is also the society’s majority (mainstream) language, you speak
another one , which is often English; “bilingual education” implies education for therich and the elite.
While this could also be the case in some privileged contexts in the United States,
the roots of US bilingual education invite us to think about its close connection tolanguage-minoritized populations. It is true that bilingual education is now regarded
as an asset by families from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, including highsocioeconomic background in U.S. society, and as a great educational alternative for
their children. These families benefit from the version of bilingual education called“dual-language programs” that enroll students from both minoritized and majority
languages and communities so that students learn from each other. Historically,
however, even when developing dual-language programs, bilingual education has
aimed at emphasizing its role to meet the needs of language-minoritized children
through “diversity”, “equity”, and “social justice”. In other words, bilingual educationin the school setting is especially concerned about meeting the learning needs oflanguage-minoritized children, who are often recent immigrants coming to school withvarious linguistic resources from their communities, but who may have limited or no
English language proficiency. While there are different models to implement bilingual
education, its main purpose in the US schools is ideally to support children’s learning
through two languages, with a commitment to help maintain their native language

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HASE, Naoya; MARTINEZ-ROLDAN, Carmen M.; CHANG, Sharon

while learning English, and by so doing, help them survive and succeed in the newcountry and the new society, while contributing to its diversity. This difference between
bilingual education in Japan and in the US comes as no surprise when we think about
the difference between the demographic makeup (i.e. the ethnic and linguistic
diversities) of these two countries.
To date, in Japan, foreign language education has almost exclusively meant
English education, and as the globalization process continues, the teaching of English
draws more and more attention. The new course of study for elementary and secondary
schools has been recently revised by MEXT (The Ministry of Education, Culture,
Sports, Science, and Technology, also known as MEXT), and English instruction isgoing to become one of the academic subjects for 5th and 6th graders (MEXT, 2017).
All these changes are expected to boost the English proficiency of Japanese students
and eventually that of the general public. This is all fine, but at the same time, aconcern should be raised about the linguistic and cultural diversities in this country,
especially in the school setting. Why teach only English when there is a rich variety oflanguages and cultures that we should cherish and learn from? We believe that the
pursuit of effective pedagogy for English education in Japan lacks an understanding of
the essential meanings of language and language education.
This paper reviews bilingual education in the United States to analyze theessential meaning of language and language education that can be derived from it, andattempts to see how we can apply the underlying concepts of bilingual education in the
United States to the teaching of English as a foreign language (EFL) setting in Japan.
2. Bilingual Education in the United States
2.1 Historical background
Here is the historical background of the bilingual education in the United States,
compiled in Menchaca-Ochoa (2006).
During the 19th Century, bilingual education for Spanish, French, and German
was offered, in the Southwest, Louisiana, and the Midwest respectively.

In thecentury that followed, bilingual education was divided into three major periods: The
Assimilation Period (1900-1960), The Re-Birth Period (1960-1994), and The
Reactionary Period (1994-Present).
During the Assimilation Period (1900-1960), the states that had implemented
bilingual education in the 19th Century started to repeal it and enact laws mandating
English as the language of instruction.

In 1906, the House Committee on

Immigration and Naturalization established the ability of speaking English as arequirement for citizenship. Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1917, which
required literacy in English or the native language of the immigrant in order to obtain

US Bilingual Education and Its Application to Japanese EFL Teachinglegal immigration.

81

The beginning of World War I triggered and accelerated

anti-German feelings and may have caused the initial wave of the English-only
movement, prohibiting the use of languages other than English for instruction inelementary schools.
The Re-Birth Period (1960-1994) started when the Russians launched Sputnik in
1957. Shocked by the Russia’s scientific progress, federal legislation was passed toemphasize math, science, and foreign language education in the US. The necessity to
educate Cuban refugees who fled to Miami due to the Cuban revolution also helped
establish bilingual education in the area around this time.
The Reactionary Period (1994-Present) started when California, whose bilingual
students account for 30% of all English language learners in the United States, passed
Proposition 227, which eliminated bilingual education in the state in 1998.
Proposition 207, passed in the state of Arizona in 2001, was even more restrictive,
making it almost impossible for school districts to offer any form of bilingual education,and establishing “Language Patrols” to supervise school districts to make sure they arefollowing English-only instruction.
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 neither prohibits nor encourages native
language instruction, but the law was considered a step back for bilingual education inthat it made no reference to bilingual education, bilingualism, or biliteracy.

The

principle focus of this law was to ensure that children acquire English as soon as
possible, which literally ignored the children’s primary language and left them
unattended.
As stated at the beginning of this article, bilingual education in the United States
was originally for language-minoritized children; helping these children is still its
primary intention. While many policy makers and schools saw bilingual education
simply as a way to transition immigrant children into English as soon as possible,
other advocates have seen it and still see it as an additive educational model. Its main
purpose is not only to help those children succeed in the new society by learning
English but also to help maintain their linguistic and cultural heritage, while learning
academic content, and by so doing, contributing to the linguistic and cultural diversityof the United States.
In November of 2016, California passed Proposition 58 with a majority vote (LosAngeles Times, 2016). This will allow public schools in the state to develop their own
bilingual and multilingual programs, and English- only instruction will now be
repealed in California.

HASE, Naoya; MARTINEZ-ROLDAN, Carmen M.; CHANG, Sharon82

2.2 Bilingual/Bicultural Education Program at Teachers College, Columbia University
The first author of this article was fortunate enough to spend his one-year
sabbatical leave at the Bilingual/Bicultural Education Program of Teachers College,
Columbia University in the City of New York from September 2015 thru August 2016,
allowing him to revisit the essential meaning of language and language teaching in a
new context. This section briefly looks at the conceptual frameworks of Teachers
College and the Bilingual/Bicultural Education Program, which helped him gain many
invaluable insights into language and language teaching during his one-year staythere.
2.2.1 Teachers College
The five stances identified in the conceptual framework of Teachers College, andthat the Bilingual/Bicultural Education Program promotes through its courses, are:Inquirers and Reflective Practitioners, Lifelong Learners, Learner-centered Educators,
Effective Collaborators, and Advocates for Social Justice (Bilingual/Bicultural
Education Program Guide 2015-16).

Among these, “Advocates for Social Justice” is ofparticular relevance to bilingual education and the sociopolitical role that it plays.
The fundamental concept of Teachers College is also clearly shown in its website
link entitled “Diversity and Community”:
Teachers College, Columbia University, strives to establish an institution that
actively attracts, supports, and retains diverse students, faculty, and staff,
demonstrated through its commitment to social justice, its respectful and vibrantcommunity, and its encouragement and support of each individual in theachievement of his or her full potential (Teachers College Website).
A message to the same effect was also conveyed in the congratulatory speech given by
Dr. Susan Fuhrman, president of Teachers College, at the Convocation in May 2016.
Below are 12 excerpts from her short speech related to the institution’s view of “social
justice”:

・“-expand educational opportunities for everyone including our most marginalized
and vulnerable fellow human beings”・“-dedicating your lives to the pursuit ofsocial justice, TC tradition that literally goes back to the founder Grace Dodge”

・“-work with immigrant children and families”
・“-TC’s commitment to social justice”
・“-our work on social justice takes on renewed urgency”
・“-advance social justice”

US Bilingual Education and Its Application to Japanese EFL Teaching83

・“-embody social justice tradition”
・“-pursuit of social justice is very much at the core of what makes TC great”
・“-cultural funds of knowledge”
・“-your quest for social justice”
・“-we have to do more to give access to marginalized children”(Fuhrman, 2016)
These words clearly show that dedication and commitment to language-minoritizedchildren are at the core of Teachers College at large.
2.2.2 Bilingual/Bicultural Education Program
The fundamental concept of the Bilingual/Bicultural Education Program can beseen again on its website:
In our increasingly diverse world, the study of multiple languages-in-education isin high demand.

The Program in Bilingual/Bicultural Education acknowledges

the need to provide students with a foundation for understanding and working
with bilingual learners in diverse educational settings. Our program specializes
in education that privileges language minority student populations in the U.S. andin the world (Bilingual/Bicultural Education Program Website).
Furthermore, Bilingual/Bicultural Education Program Guide 2015-2016 lists fourconceptual areas that the Program emphasizes: children, families, and social contexts(especially related to language-minoritized or bilingual children); multilingualism,
literacies, and cultures; policies, histories, and models of multilingual education andschools; pedagogies and assessments in multilingual education.
From these descriptions, it is clear that the Bilingual/Bicultural Education
Program focuses not only on bi/multilingualism and bi/multiculturalism, but also on
language-minoritized students in the U.S. and the rest of the world. In this respect,
the Bilingual/Bicultural Education embodies the conceptual framework of Teachers
College as part of its identity.
In the next section, we will look at three courses that were offered in the
Bilingual/Bicultural Education Program during the fall and spring semesters of
2015-2016 and see how the program’s fundamental concepts are practiced in theclassroom setting.

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HASE, Naoya; MARTINEZ-ROLDAN, Carmen M.; CHANG, Sharon

2.2.3 Bilingual/Bicultural Education Program courses
The first one is Teacher Inquiry in Bilingual/Bicultural Education. With the key
words of “Teacher Researcher” and “Qualitative Case Study,” the goal of this course isfor students to engage in an inquiry process about their teaching in bilingual settings
or working with bilingual populations. The essential question to ask in this course is:
What are the critical questions bilingual teachers think about when confronting thechallenges involved in the process of teaching and learning? Through this course,
students are expected to gain some understandings of how one can learn about
themselves in the inquiry about others and vice-versa, how teaching in bi/multilingual,bi/multicultural settings requires on-going research, and how they can advocate forbilingual children when they can articulate both the research and practice basis of aphenomenon within bi/multilingual, bi/multicultural education.
Next is a course titled Teaching Literacy in Bilingual Settings, whose key words
are “First- and Second-language Literacy” and “From theory to practice”. This course
addresses the fundamental aspects of teaching reading and writing in a second
language and will acquaint students with first- and second-language literacy research,
practice, and reading assessment in elementary school settings.

Students are

expected to develop personal directions of inquiry for their professional growth and to
be reflective about their development.
The last course is called Cross-Cultural Communication and Classroom Ecology;
its key words are: “Culture and language”, “Identity and Culture”, and “Cultural

Aspect of Language Learning/Teaching”. Designed to develop a foundation for therole of culture in instruction, this course explores the intersection of identity andculture, as well as the conceptual frameworks that provide meaning andunderstanding to people’s lived experiences as they relate to issues of power dynamics,
race, ethnicity, and intercultural understanding.

This course will engage students ina critical examination of theory and research on cultural aspects of the language
learning/teaching process.
By looking at the course contents, the course objectives, and the goals for students,
we can see how each course’s content fits into the conceptual framework of the
Bilingual/Bicultural Education Program, and those of Teachers College at large.
In the next section of this article, the first author (HASE, Naoya) shares hisreflections about what English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching in Japan canlearn from the underlying concepts of bilingual education in the United States, despite
seemingly numerous and large differences between the two settings in terms of
linguistic, ethnic, cultural, and societal diversities. The final part of this article willattempt to make it clear from the first author’s perspective as a Japanese teacher ofUS Bilingual Education and Its Application to Japanese EFL Teaching

85

English that bilingual education in the United States and what it teaches us are verymuch relevant to the EFL teaching in Japan.
3. Application of the US Bilingual Education to Japanese EFL teaching: Perspectives
from a Japanese teacher of English
So far, we have looked at how bilingual education in the United States has
progressed or regressed due to political and societal turbulences. Also, we looked at
how future bilingual education teachers are trained by studying the conceptual
frameworks of Teachers College, Columbia University, one of the leading graduate
schools of education in the United States, and several courses offered at theinstitution’s Bilingual/Bicultural Education Program. Now, we would like to ponder
how the underlying concepts behind bilingual education in the United States can beapplied to EFL teaching in Japan. There are three strands of relevancies that we will
look at one by one below.
3.1 Sociopolitical meaning of language and language teachingFirst, let us think about the sociopolitical meaning of language and language
teaching. There are over 5,000 or 6,000 languages spoken on this planet, but nolanguage is free from issues of power, whether it is economic, political, or military
power. Language reflects the power of its speakers. It works the other way as well: by
speaking a language associated with power, sometimes those who do not possess it as
their native language can join the dominant group, or at least be possibly perceived
that way by others. By the same token, there are languages that are not perceived ashaving much power, especially from the dominant group’s perspectives, reflecting thelimited power that the speakers of those minoritized languages have in society. When
two languages having differential power status meet, it is always the language of themost powerless group that is expected to compromise. In the extreme case, theselanguages spoken by non-dominant groups get oppressed and sometimes placed indanger of extinction due to this power conflict; the same thing can be said about thelanguage of minoritized people. Language minoritized people tend to get oppressed bylanguage majority people, and it is precisely the mission of bilingual education in the
United States to keep this from happening.
As we have seen, the fundamental concept of bilingual education in the UnitedStates is to pay respect to the languages and cultures that immigrant children bring to
the classrooms and help them maintain those languages and cultures while learning
the majority language.

For bilingual education to be successful, language-sensitiveand culture-sensitive pedagogy is indispensable.
This is a very important concept when we teach English in Japan as well. English

HASE, Naoya; MARTINEZ-ROLDAN, Carmen M.; CHANG, Sharon86

is currently perceived as a language of power due to its prestige, and also is considereda lingua franca in the international arena. This does not mean that everybody is happy
with this situation (Pennycook, 1998); on the contrary, it is rather easy to imagine
there are those who do not like English for various historical and political reasons. Of
course, English is not the only language that generates mixed feelings among speakers.
Any language, especially those associated with the group in power, can generate thesefeelings since dominant languages often times exist at the sacrifice of non-dominantlanguages.
When we teach and learn English, which is the hyper-central language spoken inalmost any country and is now taught in most countries of the world (Cook & Singleton,
2014), both teachers and students should realize what it can mean to be a speaker ofEnglish to the people who are not in favor of or have mixed feelings about the current
widespread popularity of the English language. Since it is used widely in the present
world, it is still necessary for many of us to learn English but teaching and learning
English should require careful consideration for the above-mentioned reasons.
Teaching and learning English while being aware of its sociopolitical meaning
discussed here can make a big difference to students.
3.2 Multilingualism and multiculturalism
The concepts of multilingualism and multiculturalism are based on the idea that
there are multiple languages and cultures in the world and that regardless of the sizeof the population who possess them, no language or culture is superior to others. All
languages and cultures are equally valuable and important.
As mentioned in the previous sections, one important aspect of bilingual educationin the United States is to respect the language and culture of language-minoritizedchildren. While dominant languages and dominant cultures in the society are likely to
influence and often oppress those of language-minoritized children, the idea that every
language and culture is equally important is at the core of bilingual education in the
United States.
This concept is very relevant to the EFL teaching situation in Japan as well, as we
see the value that successful English learners should become intercultural diplomats(Corbett, 2003). While there is an argument that teaching English may be seen as away to promote multiculturalism and contribute to intercultural understanding(MEXT, 2003), teaching English may also result in reinforcing the belief among its
learners that English is superior to other languages and thus the most important
language to learn (Kubota, 2015), which is the last thing we want to do if we are tocultivate multilingualism and multiculturalism in Japan.

Only by adopting

language- and culture-sensitive teaching materials and methods can English be a tool

US Bilingual Education and Its Application to Japanese EFL Teaching87

to accomplish MEXT’s goal; otherwise, the consequence of emphasizing the teaching ofEnglish can be disastrous in light of multilingualism and multiculturalism as Kubota
warns. In this sense, teachers have a critical role to play. Starting in 2020, English will
be taught as an academic subject in Japanese elementary schools (MEXT, 2017). Thisissue is of utmost importance now, since young learners such as elementary school
children can be one of the most vulnerable groups among English learners due to thefact that they have not developed their critical perspectives yet.
3.3 Meaning of culture in language education
Needless to say, language and culture are inseparable. In the context of language
teaching, culture has been an integral part of language education since its beginning(Kumaravadivelu, 2008), so it is well worth considering what culture means and whatrole it plays in teaching and learning languages．Culture plays a critical role inbilingual education in the United States. Along with their language, the heritage
culture of immigrant children is respected and cherished in bilingual classrooms.
Understanding the culture of language- and culture-minority children is essential inbilingual education. Of course, we often talk about culture in other contexts such as
EFL context in Japan, for example. We often talk about a teaching method thatreflects Japanese culture to better teach Japanese language learners, for example.
But how are we defining “culture” in such a case?

According to Nieto (1999), culture

is dynamic, always changing, learned in individuals’ lives, and multi-faceted. It isnever static or fixed. Defining culture as something more personal, Hidalgo (1993)
refers to culture in the following way:
Each of us has been socialized in some culture, and often more than one culture.
Our culture provides a lens through which we view the world and interpret our
everyday experiences. Culture informs what we see and understand, as well as
what we omit and misconstrue.

Many components make up our view of theworld: our ethnic and racial identification, the region of the country we come from,the type of neighborhood we live in, our socioeconomic background, our gender, thelanguage(s) we speak, our disabilities, our past experiences, and our life-style.
We need to think about the ways in which these parts of us define our perspectives(p.100).
When teaching English in Japan, we need to connect the language with theculture it comes from or represents, but at the same time, we need to pay attention toand take into account the culture of our students.

We need to look at and understandthe culture of their particular communities to really understand them as language

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learners and make the learning process relevant and meaningful to them.
4. Conclusion and Future Research
In this article, we have looked at bilingual education in the United States from its
historical perspective, and the Bilingual/Bicultural Program at Teachers College atColumbia University, and to find three underlying concepts of US bilingual educationthat can be applied to the EFL teaching in Japan. As was mentioned earlier, thelanguage teaching situations of the U.S. and Japan are significantly different, yet we
believe that the essential meanings of language and language teaching based on the
US bilingual education that we discussed are relevant to English teaching situation in
Japan, especially since Japanese elementary schools are starting to teach English toyoung learners on a fuller scale than before in a few years. Its target age groupcoincides with that of bilingual education in the United States.
Most of what has been discussed in this paper was presented from the perspectiveof what teachers should keep in mind when they stand in front of their students intheir classrooms. Our next step is to think about what specifically we as teachers canand should do in order to embody the concepts discussed and suggested here andconvey the important messages of diversity, equity, and social justice to our students,
such as revisiting our teaching materials. The efforts of Japanese scholars andteachers to evaluate and apply these principles in culturally relevant ways to Japan,
and other principles that Japanese educators may discover, will definitely contributeinsights to bilingual education scholarship in the United States and internationally.
Acknowledgments
Parts of this article were presented at the 2017 JASEC Research Forum held in
October, 2018.

The authors appreciate insightful comments provided by the audience

which helped revise this article.
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