Additive and subtractive programs

The terms additive and subtractive bilingual education came into use in the last quarter of the 20th century when it became clear that there were substantial differences between two main forms of bilingual education. The terms suggest totally different aims and goals. They are commonly attributed to Wallace Lambert, who used them in a 1975 publication. In their simplest definitions, the terms relate to the linguistic goals of the program: to give students the opportunity to add a language to their communication skill sets or Rather, insist that children participating in the program remove their home language from active use. and concentrate all efforts on quickly learning and perfecting your English skills.

This simple statement of the differences between program types masks important attitudes and ideas that underlie the way schoolchildren and educational policymakers view linguistic diversity. In this post, these differences are explored. Other entries in this encyclopedia go deeper into the related topics mentioned here. Factors Affecting Choice: Additive or Subtractive? The choice of a policy aimed at promoting and improving the child’s home language as part of the objectives of bilingual education or one that seeks the opposite, abandoning the use of the home language as quickly as possible, does not occur by chance.

Such choices are based on underlying assumptions about the benefits, risks, usefulness, and cultural value of non-English languages ​​in society at large. Similarly, whether native English speakers are included in these programs partly determines what the goals of the program will be. In general, children whose first language is English would not be involved in subtractive bilingual education programs.

When these children are involved, the programs are often called two-way immersion programs, also known as dual immersion programs, because the learning of the two languages ​​occurs in both directions. This distinction is not always maintained in n in other countries. Therefore, the analysis that follows is limited to what is clearly happening in the United States.