Language, Power and Pedagogy: Bilingual Children in the Crossfire » (1st Edition)

Jim Cummins teaches at the University of Toronto, Canada. His research has focused on the nature of language proficiency and second language acquisition with particular emphasis on the social and educational barriers that limit academic success for culturally diverse students.

This volume focuses not only on issues of language learning and teaching but also highlights the ways in which power relations in the wider society affect patterns of teacher-student interaction in the classroom. Effective instruction will inevitably challenge patterns of coercive power relations in both school and society.

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Focuses not only on issues of language learning and teaching, but also highlights the ways in which power relations in the wider society affect patterns of teacher-student interaction in the classroom. Subjects include critiques of the conversational/academic language proficiency distinction, assessing second-language proficiency among adults, evaluating empirical data on bilingual education, and transformative pedagogy. Cummins teaches in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at the University of Toronto. Distributed by the University of Toronto Press. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)