session, and it could prove more effective than running a completely bilin-
gual module.
The lecturers’ comments demonstrate that they realise the need to recon-
sider their teaching methods in order to operate effectively bilingually. In an
interview on 9 December 2008, one of the lecturers said:
‘Dw i ddim yn meddwl bod ’na neb ar hyn o bryd wedi canfod y
fformiwla lle mae dysgu dwyieithog [...] gant y cant yn llwyddiannus.
Mae rhaid i ni geisio canfod ffyrdd o wella’r ddarpariaeth sy’n cael ei
gynnig.’
[I don’t think that anybody so far has found the formula where bilingual
teaching is [.. .] one hundred percent successful. We have to try to find
ways of improving the provision that is offered.]Another lecturer, interviewed on 20 November 2008, went so far as to
suggest that the teaching methods in general need to be reviewed:
‘Dw i’n meddwl bod angen i ni ailedrych ar ein dulliau ni o addysgu.’
[I think we need to re-examine our teaching methods.]There was a clear demand among the lecturers for more training, and the
need for a forum to discuss bilingualism in higher education was an impor-
tant finding in the research.
Effective practices with two languages cannot exist in a vacuum. The
expected student learning outcomes will vary across modules and courses,
making it important for dual language usage to be pedagogically appropriate.
Various styles of teaching will also require bilingual methodologies to be
varied and adaptable. Linguistic outcomes will become part of a complex
equation of desired outcomes, impacting on dual language approaches. Thus,
bilingual methodology will never have ‘best practice’ but ‘best practices’ that
adapt to student and teacher contexts and styles, and particularly desired
outcomes.
Bilingual teaching can offer a valuable experience to speakers of different
languages. To be successful, it needs to be strategically planned, delivered
effectively, and evaluated for continuous enhancement. The challenge of this
decade is in defining and implementing successful strategies that are inter-
national in usefulness, locally appropriate, and impact beneficially on the
learning experiences of students.
One important aspect in the process of developing bilingual education
provision has to do with understanding the nature and needs of the bilingual
students in the class. Chapters 9 and 10 explore the neruolinguistics of bilin-
gualism and the relationship between the two languages within the bilin-
gual brain.
Bilingualism in Higher Education 197