Rethinking the Education of Multilingual Learners

Jim Cummins is Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto, Canada and has spent the past 40 years researching and working with multilingual learners across the world. His controversial theoretical distinction between conversational versus academic language proficiency is a key topic in pre-service and professional development related to the education of multilingual students who are learning the language of instruction.

• AcknowledgementsLily Wong Fillmore: ForewordSeries Editor’s PrefaceTove Skutnabb-Kangas: PrefacePart 1: Evolution of a Theoretical Framework: A Personal AccountChapter 1. Core Ideas and Background InfluencesChapter 2. Resolving Contradictions: Cognitive Consequences of BilingualismChapter 3. Linguistic Interdependence: Accounting for Patterns of Bilingual Academic DevelopmentChapter 4. Language Proficiency and Academic AchievementChapter 5. Power Relations in School: Constructing or Constricting Identities?Chapter 6. Reversing Underachievement: An Integrated FrameworkPart 2: Critical Analysis of Competing Theoretical ClaimsChapter 7. How Do We Assess the Legitimacy of Theoretical Constructs and Claims?Chapter 8. Is ‘Academic Language’ a Legitimate Theoretical Construct?Chapter 9. Are ‘Linguistic Interdependence’ and the ‘Common Underlying Proficiency’ Legitimate Theoretical Constructs?Chapter 10. Unitary Translanguaging Theory and Crosslinguistic Translanguaging Theory: A Comparative AnalysisPart 3: Instructional Practice in Dialogue with Theoretical ConceptsChapter 11. Teachers as Knowledge Generators: Learning from Inspirational PedagogyAbout the AuthorReferencesIndex

In this book, Jim Cummins not only presents his ideas and writings, giving insights into their origins and evolution, but importantly, he answers his critics. The volume provides an up-to-date analysis of translanguaging, considering its strengths and its criticisms, and offers practical translanguaging ideas for classrooms and curriculum activities. This book is Jim Cummins’ finest contribution to the literature.