Bilingualism: Considerations for Implementation of a Dual Language Education Program for Cabo Verdean Creole-Speaking Students in Boston Public Schools

Abstract

Despite the wealth of research around bilingualism and the effect of dual language on multilingual learners’ achievements, little is available around low-incidence dual language programs. This study focuses on programs that serve multilingual students from low-incidence language backgrounds to learn about best practices and what to consider when implementing a new low-incidence dual language program with a specific focus on Cabo Verdean Creole speakers in Boston Public Schools. A comparative case study was conducted at two different dual language programs in BPS, the Dual Language Vietnamese and the Haitian Creole programs. It used interviews with a select group of stakeholders that included a district administrator, a school-based administrator, and three teachers from each site, for a total of ten interviews. Key findings of this study focus on the challenges, the opportunities, and the essential components that make a program succeed. Implications of these findings offer compelling considerations that, if followed, have the potential to enhance the quality and effectiveness of dual language education, particularly for those programs designed to serve low-incidence languages.