“The connection between heritage language instruction and self-esteem was investigated. Participants were Inuit, White, and mixed-heritage (Inuit-White) children living in a subarctic community. Testing occurred before and after their 1st year in a heritage language or a 2nd language program. Children from all 3 groups who were educated in their heritage language showed a substantial increase in their personal self-esteem, whereas Inuit and mixed-heritage children educated in a 2nd language did not.”
“Jim Cummins and Merril Swain offer a coherent synthesis of recent theoretical and empirical work relating to the educational development of bilingual children from both majority and minority language backgrounds.”
“This article provides a research synthesis of studies that have examined language-minority students' academic achievement over a period of four or more years, for a comparison with the longitudinal findings on student academic achievement reported in the Ramirez study. One program variable is the focus of this synthesis--the use of a minority language for instructional purposes.
