International Journal of Bilingual
Education and Bilingualism
Editor: Colin Baker, University of Wales, Bangor
Review Editor: Aneta Pavlenko, Temple University, Philadelpia
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Volume: 2 Number: 4 Page: 268–281
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Bilingualism and Bilingual Education: The Child's Perspective
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Howard L. Smith
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This study explores the understandings that young Mexican-American students develop about the status of languages and language use in their bilingual school. The term linguistic ecology is used in
this paper to describe the communicative behaviours of a group, as well as the physical and social contexts in which those exchanges occur. The data strongly suggest that children in bilingual classrooms
discern the critical lack of support to maintain their first language. This case study documents and interprets the social and educational processes through which bilingual children in one US school come
to appreciate the prestige and power of English versus Spanish. It is through their recognition of the greater social status afforded English – even in bilingual programs – that motivates them
to transition away from their mother tongue.
© Multilingual Matters 1999
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