Bilingualism in Brazil: Meaning and Expectations

Abstract: Bilinguism grows in Brazil as a phenomenon and as tendency. Sometimes, thoug, this may come across as a new trend to be followed because it ir very happening. In this paper, I analyse the context in which bilingualism grows, the seeming reasons that it is still growing and where it seems to be heading. Throughout the paper, I refer to the (i) concept of bilinguism, which is highly debatable, (ii) the ideal characteristics of a bilingual school in the Brazilian context, and (iii) the linguistic aspects of using an L2 for instruction, which are usually left out of the loop. Towards the end of the paper, I bring in a reflection on the importance of providing the child in the bilingual context with a optimal input as a means of maximizing the chances of a learner to acquire and develop an L2 that is as close to the target language as possible. KEY-WORDS: Bilinguism; acquisition, bilingual education;

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