The book The Bilingual Revolution: The Future of Education is in Two Languages tells the story of a grassroots movement that emerged out of the dedicated involvement of motivated parents, educators, and community actors willing to create and support dual language programs in New York City public schools.
Combining insight on learning and living in two languages, the book shares practical applications and examples of bilingual education, from preschool to high school. With New York City as a backdrop, Fabrice Jaumont, from a personal and scholarly perspective, recognizes in his book the successes and setbacks of these programs through vignettes that feature the parents and educators he helped initiate bilingual programs in their schools.
Ofelia García, Professor at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and world-renowned expert in bilingual education, wrote the book’s foreword, “Bilingual Education, Making a U-Turn with Parents and Communities:”
“Usually books on bilingual education are for teachers and little attention has been previously paid to how families can act to ensure that American public schools develop bilingual education programs for their children. The most important story told by Fabrice Jaumont in this book is that of the desire of American families to have their children schooled bilingually, in English, but also in a language that has deep connections to them.”
Although the roots of bilingual education in the United States can be traced back to the early 17th century, Jaumont describes a new phenomenon sweeping the country with the objectives of:
Nicknamed the “godfather of language immersion programs” by the New York Times, Fabrice Jaumont has more than 25 years of experience in international education and the development of multilingual programs in the United States. In spearheading what he calls the “Bilingual Revolution,” Jaumont has put his expertise at the service of the French, Italian, Japanese, German, and Russian communities by helping them to develop quality dual language programs in their local public schools. He is himself the father of two bilingual and bicultural girls who attend a public dual language school in Brooklyn.
A true believer in the benefits of bilingualism –from improved critical thinking to a profound sensitivity toward other people and cultures-, Jaumont depicts and encourages the development of bilingual programs. It is his belief that these offerings can positively transform and empower children, schools, and communities in unprecedented ways. In the diversity of the stories he shares, Jaumont paints a picture of a viable 21st-century solution to preserve linguistic heritage and raise a generation of young bilingual, bi-literate, multicultural citizens of the world.
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The Bilingual Revolution: The Future of Education is in Two Languages by Fabrice Jaumont ($19.99, 210 pages, 6x9, paperback, ISBN: 978-1-947626-00-3) is scheduled for release on September 5, 2017 and is now available for pre-order on tbr-books.com (POD).
Other formats: hardcover ($59.99, 6.69x9.61, ISBN: 978-1-947626-03-4), ebook ($13.99, ISBN: 978-1-947626-02-7) and audiobook (($13.99, ISBN: 978-1-947626-06-5).
Also available in French under the title: La révolution bilingue : le futur de l’éducation s’écrit en deux langues. Upcoming translations include: Spanish, Japanese, Arabic, Italian, German, Polish, Chinese, and Russian (expected December 2017).
TBR Books is a new independent Brooklyn publisher with a focus on revolutionary ideas for culture, education, and human development.
Source URL: http://test.iitaly.org/magazine/focus/art-culture/article/book-bilingual-revolution
Links
[1] http://test.iitaly.org/files/bilingualjpg