What is the status of bilingualism and bilingual education in California in 2006?
To paraphrase Mark Twain: “rumors of the demise of bilingualism are greatly exaggerated.” Bilingual populations continue to grow, the use of two languages or more is valuable commercially and recommended as a supplement to English instruction. Additional languages, Chinese and Indian languages, Western Asian Languages, Russian and Southeast Asian Languages are increasingly important for business and national-international purposes. In the schools, personnel who know two languages are hired readily. At the university level dual language programs continue to expand in numbers of students and pathways for professional development. So on the one hand, the need for bilingualism is greater than ever, and on the other the political climate is contradictory: on the one hand bilingual programs are underutilized, and on the other linguistic competence is prized. This is true for all types of diversity, but especially language. Bilingual Education seems to be a stigmatized phrase, although biling
