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Bilingual Children Are Unable: Where bilingual children are unable to meet the demands of the National Curriculum, and are apparently underachieving, certain questions need to be raised regarding teacher expectation, staff perceptions of bilingualism as well as the provision of adequate and appropriate support. 'Assessment is affected by teacher expectations and children's confidence and so where both are realistically high teachers will be presenting children with the best possible opportunity to do well' (Browne 1996, p. 166).
A number of challenging questions arise in this highly complex area which transcend the purely linguistic issues: the growth of polycul-turalism, the interface between linguistic inheritance and affiliation, and the dilemma of whether to change the experience or the expectations for bilingual children. I recall the words of a bilingual child in an inner London school discussing her family profile: 'Just because I can speak two languages, Miss, it doesn't mean I'm two children ... I'm just me.'
The term 'bilingualism' is not easily defined, since it refers to a continuum of linguistic ability, ranging from the receptive bilingual who understands a second language without necessarily being able to speak or write it, to the rare ambilingual child who operates in two languages on a daily basis as fluently as native speakers of either language. Individual children make progress in the acquisition of a second language in different ways and at differing speeds. The process is not necessarily linear, but may be described as a series of phases such as beginner, developing, intermediate and fluent according to the degree of fluency and the level of involvement. How are bilingual children best supported?
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