What does research tell us about experiences and forms of bilingual education?

This chapter presents a diachronic review of studies on different types of Bilingual Education (BE) all over the world, in order to investigate the effects of various forms and types of BE on both language and subject matter learning. The methodology of investigation of this review can be defined as narrative even though some elements of systematic reviews were applied to this study. Thirty-nine sample articles were read and analysed with thirty-one being included in the study. The parameters of the investigation are of three types: terms, geographical area, and type of study. In this study BE is intended as the teaching/learning of a subject through an additional language, without excluding the L1 (first language). Therefore, BE, Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), Immersion, Content-based Instruction (CBI), L2-medium Instruction, and Dual language education were all included. In terms of geographical area, all studies from Europe, US, Canada, Australia, Asia, South America and Africa were searched for. Results show that, in this review, BE is not detrimental either to the acquisition of content (subject-matter) or to the development of the L1.