Abstract:
Bilingualism and Academic Success Bilingualism was traditionally seen as a problem and a handicap. More enlightened eras followed where the benefits of bilingualism and biculturalism to identity, self concept, membership of family and community and group empowerment were reported in the research. More recently research has identified bilingualism, biliteracy and biculturalism developed by Bilingual Education programmes as a significant academic advantage. Bilingual Education is now seen as developing the ability to speak read, write and think well in two languages, and transfer skills and strategies between languages. This has been found to be especially true for language minority groups who have often reluctantly engaged in education and whose educational success in either language has often been a problem for their future advancement in education and society. This presentation presents the academic advantages of well organised effective Bilingual Education programmes for Pacific students.
