A Meta-Analysis on the Effectiveness of Bilingual Programs in Europe

The effectiveness of bilingual programs for promoting academic achievement of language minority children in the United States has been examined in six meta-analyses. The present meta-analytic study investigates this topic for the first time in the European context. Thorough literature searches uncov...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Review of educational research 2015-03, Vol.85 (1), p.92-128
Main Authors: Reljić, Gabrijela, Ferring, Dieter, Martin, Romain
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic Achievement
Bilingual Education
Bilingual Education Programs
Bilingualism
Children
Educational Research
Effect Size
Effectiveness studies
Europe
Foreign Countries
Generalization
Language Minorities
Literature Reviews
Meta Analysis
Minority Group Children
Minority students
Native Language
Pedagogy
Program Effectiveness
Psycholinguistics
Second Language Learning
Socioeconomic Status
Systematic review
Teaching Methods
Topics
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Summary:The effectiveness of bilingual programs for promoting academic achievement of language minority children in the United States has been examined in six meta-analyses. The present meta-analytic study investigates this topic for the first time in the European context. Thorough literature searches uncovered 101 European studies, with only 7 meeting the inclusion criteria. Two studies were excluded from further analyses. Results from the random-effects model of the five remaining studies indicate a small positive effect (g = 0.23; 95% confidence interval [0.10, 0.36]) for bilingual over submersion programs on reading of language minority children. Thus, this meta-analysis supports bilingual education—that is, including the home language of language minority children—in school instruction. However, the generalizability of the results is limited by the small number of studies on this topic. More published studies on bilingual education in Europe are needed as well as closer attention to the size of the effects.
ISSN:0034-6543
1935-1046
DOI:10.3102/0034654314548514