To date, the purposeful concurrent use of languages in bilingual class-
rooms has not been well theorised, widely researched nor evaluated although
there are some exceptions. For example, Jacobson’s conceptual ‘New Concurrent
Approach’ (Jacobson, 1981, 1983; Jacobson & Faltis, 1990) ‘used code-switching
as a pedagogical tool... providing conceptual reinforcement and review’
(García, 2009a: 296), and suggested that the integrated use of both languages
rather than language separation can be educationally advantageous.
However, there is almost no research (Baker, 2010: 77) that examines
whether or not the concurrent use of two languages in the classroom, as
advocated by Jacobson (1990) and Williams (1997), impacts effectively on
learner outcomes.
Cummins (2008) also refers to important issues that are emerging regard-
ing the ‘separation’ of languages in immersion and bilingual programmes by
today – issues concerning programme organization and optimum instruc-
tional practices. Although effective immersion and bilingual programmes are
well established, questions are being asked about the extent ‘to which a “two
solitudes” model where languages are rigidly separated is preferable to a more
flexible orientation that teaches for cross-lingual transfer and where the lan-
guages are brought into contact for particular purposes’ (Cummins, 2008: 2).
Baker (2008: 106) suggests that the future direction of bilingual educa-
tion in Europe means identifying and encouraging optimal classroom lan-
guage arrangements that maximise growth and gains for individual children.
Furthermore, he suggests that ‘the separation of L1 and L2 belongs to the
20th century, while the 21st century will see the deliberate and systematic
use of both languages in the classroom’ (Baker, 2011: 291).
Recent research has also begun to question the validity of boundaries
around languages. Anderson (2008) has recently called for flexible approaches
to pedagogy to respond to bilingual contexts that do not fit easily into exist-
ing paradigms of bilingual education models, and Lin and Martin (2005)
have argued for more multilingual pedagogic and curriculum research.
Furthermore, Creese and Blackledge (2010: 103) argue ‘for a release from
monolingual instructional approaches and advocate teaching bilingual chil-
dren by means of bilingual instructional strategies, in which two or more
languages are used alongside each other’. Although moving between lan-
guages is natural, the way in which to ‘harness and build on this will depend
on the socio-political and historical environment in which such practice is
embedded and the local ecologies of schools and classrooms’ (Creese &
Blackledge, 2010: 108). This is particularly true in the context of a minority
language co-exisiting with a majority language in and outside of the class-
room. For example, in Welsh-medium schools in anglicised areas, the promo-
tion of flexible language arrangements such as translanguaging could easily
encourage pupils to focus more on the majority language (English); in such
situations, teachers are cautious about its use in order to preserve and safe-
guard the use of the minority language within the classroom.
Language Arrangements within Bilingual Education 143