Research into Bilingual Teaching and Learning
Methods in Higher Education
Although the potential advantages and disadvantages of these different
models have been listed by Williams (2003b), very little research has been
carried out – either in Wales or internationally – to evaluate the effectiveness
of various bilingual teaching and learning methods in bilingual settings at
higher education level. There is some work being done in European countries
on the use of English in higher education classrooms and its implication for
the teaching and assessment of L2 speakers, especially when the lecturer is
also L2 (see e.g. Wilkinson et al., 2006). In the US, bilingual resources at
higher education level are scarce and what is available is mainly for immi-
grants who have difficulty learning through the medium of English. In
Canada, Ottawa University is an officially bilingual university, where stu-
dents can choose to take their courses through the medium of English,
French or both languages. An innovative French immersion scheme was
introduced recently in over fifty undergraduate courses in order to promote
the use of French as a teaching medium at the university (http://www.
immersion.uOttawa.ca. As on 18/01/2011). Glendon College (which is part
of York University, Canada) is also a bilingual college that promotes bilin-
gualism for careers and employment.
The Basque Country, Wales, Catalonia and Ireland are the most notable
examples of some higher education provision in a minority language, but
very little research work has sought to set a theoretical or empirical founda-
tion for this.
In Stellenbosch University in South Africa, where lectures have tradition-
ally been delivered in Afrikaans, there has been some experimenting with
teaching and learning methods in a bilingual setting (labelled ‘co-languaging’ by
Ofelia García (2009)) in order to integrate the students and facilitate the
inclusion of those who do not speak Afrikaans (http://www.sun.ac.za/
university/Taal/Hersiening/index.html. As on 18/01/2011). Considerable use
is made of technology to facilitate the process (e.g. bilingual PowerPoint
slides) and this is considered as a means of safeguarding Afrikaans:
The university’s efforts to integrate students and include non-Afrikaans-
speaking students rest on delivering the curriculum in a bilingual mode,
with Afrikaans and English co-present. Having both languages present
on the screen, each in a different color, enables the inclusion of all stu-
dents while reserving room for Afrikaans, the language traditionally used
in the university. Especially at the secondary and tertiary level, co-
languaging is becoming a familiar curricular language arrangement when
the content has to be delivered to different language groups simultane-
ously. (García, 2009a: 302)Bilingualism in Higher Education 179