The Education of Language Minority Immigrants in the United States

Edited by Prof. Terrence Wiley, Dr. Jin Sook Lee, Prof. Russell W Rumberger

Publication date:

28 October 2009

Publisher

Multilingual Matters

Dimensions:

210x148mm
6x8"

ISBN-13: 9781847692115

The Education of Language Minority Immigrants in the United States draws from quantitative and qualitative research methodologies to inform educational policy and practice. It is based on cutting-edge research and policy analyses from a number of well-known experts on immigrant language minority education in the USA. The collection includes contributions on the acquisition of English, language shift, the maintenance of heritage languages, prospects for long-term educational achievement, how family background, economic status, and gender and identity influence academic adjustment and achievement, challenges for appropriate language testing and placement, and examples of advocacy action research. It concludes with a thoughtful commentary aimed at broadening our understanding of the need to provide quality immigrant language minority education within the context of globalization. This collection will be of value to students and researchers interested in promoting educational equity and achievement for immigrant language minority students.

This is an important volume with immediate implications for educators and policy makers. Co-edited by three leading scholars in the field of language minority education, The Education of Language Minority Immigrants in the United States will be a valuable resource in graduate courses in language policy, sociology and anthropology of education, and multicultural education; and will be of particular interest to researchers of bilingual education and policy studies. A key strength of this book is its interdisciplinarity, bringing experts from diverse fields ranging from applied linguistics to sociology to economics. A further strength of the book is its judicious presentation of both large-scale quantitative studies and in-depth ethnographic investigations. I recommend it to all researchers, educators, and policy makers who are concerned with the education of language minority students.