Invitation to Kaffee und Kuchen
Bilingual Barossa
Bilingualism and Bilingual Schooling: The evidence for bilingual education
Bilingual education is the topic for the next Kaffee und Kuchen event.
The topic follows the successful public meeting on the Re-introduction of Bilingual Education in the Barossa. See the brief report here.
Kaffee und Kuchen, 1.00 pm -3.00 pm, August 30th, 2021
Langmeil Lutheran Church Hall, Maria Street, Tanunda.
Speakers
Dr Margareta Velichova Rebelos
Topic: Connecting play and speech with learning to read and write in two languages
Research has demonstrated that becoming bilingual during childhood can have lifelong benefits. However, embarking on the bilingual journey does not always translate into successful long term bilingualism. When school aged children start learning how to read and write, and gradually move onto the majority language, sometimes even refusing to speak the family language, families often find themselves abandoning their bilingualism plans.
Can families build on the emotional language connection they have developed in the early years, and help children become biliterate?
What bilingual strategies can families use to maintain the connection, and children’s interest in the language beyond the early years?
Dr Peter Mickan, Visiting Research Fellow, University of Adelaide
Topic: Benefits of bilingual education
International research documents the benefits of bilingual teaching for language learning, for literacy and numeracy development and for efficient use of school resources. Internationally school languages subjects are being replaced with teaching subjects in an additional language. Peter will report studies on the value and practicality of bilingual programs in the context of the remarkable success of the German/English curriculum taught in Barossa schools until 1917.
For further information contact
Dr Peter Mickan, Peter.mickan@adelaide.edu.au