International Journal of Bilingual
Education and Bilingualism
Editor: Colin Baker, University of Wales, Bangor
Review Editor: Aneta Pavlenko, Temple University, Philadelpia
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Volume: 5 Number: 2 Page: 96–112
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Bilingualism and Language Education in French Primary Schools: Why and How Should Migrant Languages be Valued?
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Christine Helot and Andrea Young
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While bilingual education programmes in European mainstream languages are becoming increasingly popular in France, the bilingualism of migrant children remains overlooked and is believed by many to delay
the acquisition of French. An institutionalised language hierarchy lies all too often unchallenged within the French education system and linguistic policies for primary schools, while trying to develop
foreign language learning from the earliest age, fail to deal with the question of minority languages. This study presents a language awareness project in a small primary school in the Mulhouse area of
Alsace as an example of how languages of unequal status can be placed on an equal footing in a school context, how children can be educated to linguistic and cultural variety and teachers made aware of
the linguistic and cultural wealth present in their classes and their community. Finally, we shall argue that language awareness programmes do not have to compete with early foreign language teaching, but
can be implemented in a complementary way, to educate children about language, languages and cultures, thus valuing differences as a source of learning, helping to foster tolerance and fight racism and
extending teachers' knowledge and understanding of multilingual and multicultural issues.
© Multilingual Matters 2002
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