The Changing Role of ESL in Bilingual Education

The role of ESL in bilingual education has frequently been misunderstood, sometimes because of nonpedagogical issues and sometimes as a result of our inadequate understanding of how second language development can best be achieved in bilingual classrooms. This article reviews recent research in two separate areas, bilingual education and ESL, in an attempt to arrive at some generalizations about what characterizes effective bilingual and ESL instruction. The bilingual education research literature is finding support for an integrative approach to second language development, with classroom applications focusing on grouping strategies that allow children to receive appropriate input in the second language. These findings complement current views on ESL teaching that stress proficiency in speaking and writing as outcome goals and that conceptualize instruction in terms of developing communicative competence. Given the essential interrelatedness between second language development and other curricular goals, the conventional conceptualization of ESL as an isolated element within bilingual programs is challenged. Implications for bilingual teacher preparation, where ESL and content-area instruction are often dealt with separately, are also examined.