Insights Into Biliteracy Development: Toward a Bidirectional Theory of Bilingual Pedagogy

Abstract

Insights into English-Spanish biliteracy development among elementary school students are discussed. The term biliteracy describes children’s literate competencies in two languages, to whatever degree, developed either simultaneously or successively. The main focus is on several recent theoretical perspectives on biliteracy and their relevance for the development of a bilingual pedagogy. Three main aspects of literacy and bilingualism that question some widely held views of language learning and biliteracy development are addressed.