Converted from Keynote for iPad to PDF. Japan Association for Language Teaching JALT 2012 annual international conference. Photos are of my half-Japanese sons when they were 2-3 years old (now they are grown up). Click in the circle to hear the recorded presentation synchronized with the slides, so you just sit back. It includes a lively question-and-answer session at the end, a total of 42 minutes. Or click on the small triangles to just read the slides.

1. How
Bilingualism
informs
Language
Teaching
a presentation by Steve McCarty
at the JALT International Conference
Hamamatsu, Japan
October 14, 2012

3. Bilingualism as
an attitude or stance a discipline in Applied
that more languages
Linguistics - the study
are better (an "-ism") of languages in contact
a state of being or a goal of education,
becoming bilingual
learning, or a child's
to a useful extent natural acquisition

4. Levels of Bilingualism
Individual level
Societal level
(Bilingual development) (Social context)
Family level
School level
(Bilingual child-raising) (Bilingual Education)

6. In what ways does this analysis inform language teaching?

7. Why should
mastering L2 as much as
possible NOT be the goal
of L2 education, learning,
or children's acquisition
in all cases?

8. Among the many reasons to reconsider L2 goals:
• Extrinsic norms and goals in terms of proficiency tests and so forth
supersede the whole person's needs and developmental path.
• Implausible or overly idealized goals like the native speaker model
demotivate and disengage students from realistic goals.
• "The goal of L2 education should not necessarily be the
unequivocal and complete mastery of that language. In subtractive
cases of L2 replacing L1 (Baker 2006: 4), often where immigrants'
children's L1 is not valued in the community (Vaipae 2001), more
can be lost cognitively than gained."
McCarty, S. (2008). The bilingual perspective versus the
street lamp syndrome. IATEFL Voices, 203, 3-4.

9. "Bilingualism is
the ostensible goal
of second and foreign
language education"
McCarty, S. (1992).
The JALT N-SIG on
Bilingualism: The
bilingual perspective.
The Language Teacher,
16 (5), 3.

10. Types of Language Acquisition
First / native
Second / foreign
(L1 acquisition) (L2 / SL / FL learning)
Multilingual
2 native languages
(L3, L... learning
(Bilingual Acquisition,
or acquisition) La & Lb, or BFLA)

11. Biculturalism (C1+C2)
and multiculturalism
(C3, etc.) are also
included in the broad
field of bilingualism.
The JALT Bilingualism
SIG serves the needs
of intercultural families
to raise well-adjusted
(bilingual) children.
Bilingualism also
sheds light on
language teaching,
in some of the
following ways.

12. Bilingualism constitutes the goal of plural language
acquisition as well the means of becoming bilingual, thus
providing an overall orientation to language teaching.
Bilingualism sheds light on identity issues involved in
becoming bilingual, so learners can be given guidance
on the option of biculturalism.
Bilingualism clarifies the standpoint of students
developmentally and socially, so language teachers can
grasp the levers of group dynamics and motivation.
Knowing the types of bilinguals, critical periods, and what
to expect when L2 learning is started after early childhood,
language teachers can advise the public and policy makers
on when and how to start L2 learning.
Bilingualism counters many misconceptions held in Japan
and much of the world about languages in contact in
individuals and societies, so language teachers can help
learners overcome barriers to becoming bilingual.

13. Bilingualism clarifies the societal context of language
education, such as the relative value of languages, unstated
government policies and cultural attitudes, so language
teachers can adjust their expectations and navigate
educational institutions in the host society.
Bilingualism clarifies the different domains and purposes
affecting language choice and use, and the harmlessness
of mixing languages or strategic code-switching, so
language teachers can add nuanced realism to the basic
aim of balanced input and interaction in each language.
Bilingual education, focusing on the medium of
instruction, clarifies the effectiveness of content-based
language teaching, so language teachers can evaluate
educational options such as mainstream, ethnic,
international, or bilingual schools.

14. Finally, bilingualism sheds light on language acquisition,
how research on first language acquisition, bilingual
acquisition, and bilingual education informs L2 teaching.
Reflecting on these and other insights from bilingualism
can make a difference in everyday decisions in practice
as well as in cultivating theories to undergird one's
language teaching.
Thank you!
Do you have any questions, ideas or suggestions to add
to this presentation?
See the handout for the author's online publications on
Bilingualism in English and Japanese, available at
http://waoe.org/steve/epublist.html