Rethinking the Education of Multilingual Learners

A Critical Analysis of Theoretical Concepts

By (author) Prof. Jim Cummins

Publication date:

06 September 2021

Publisher

Multilingual Matters

Dimensions:

234x156mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781800413580

Over the past 40 years, Jim Cummins has proposed a number of highly influential theoretical concepts, including the threshold and interdependence hypotheses and the distinction between conversational fluency and academic language proficiency. In this book, he provides a personal account of how these ideas developed and he examines the credibility of critiques they have generated, using the criteria of empirical adequacy, logical coherence, and consequential validity. These criteria of theoretical legitimacy are also applied to the evaluation of two different versions of translanguaging theory – Unitary Translanguaging Theory and Crosslinguistic Translanguaging Theory – in a way that significantly clarifies this controversial concept.

Acknowledgements

Lily Wong Fillmore: Foreword

Series Editor’s Preface

Tove Skutnabb-Kangas: Preface

Part 1: Evolution of a Theoretical Framework: A Personal Account

Chapter 1. Core Ideas and Background Influences

Chapter 2. Resolving Contradictions: Cognitive Consequences of Bilingualism

Chapter 3. Linguistic Interdependence: Accounting for Patterns of Bilingual Academic Development

Chapter 4. Language Proficiency and Academic Achievement

Chapter 5. Power Relations in School: Constructing or Constricting Identities?

Chapter 6. Reversing Underachievement: An Integrated Framework

Part 2: Critical Analysis of Competing Theoretical Claims

Chapter 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 Analysis

Part 3: Instructional Practice in Dialogue with Theoretical Concepts

Chapter 11. Teachers as Knowledge Generators: Learning from Inspirational Pedagogy

About the Author
References
Index

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.