Dec 7 2011: Psycholinguistics research have suggested that children who are bilingual develop at a faster pace than their monolingual counterparts. I believe in bilingualism, and lament the fact that except in particular parts of the anglo-american world, the rest of the world is almost always somewhat bilingual.
From a linguistics/language acquisition perspective, it is rather preposterous to suggest that "many children who cannot cope with bilingualism retain no master language at all". I feel I have to call you out on this point-- to be able to acquire a language (whatever it may be, even if it is a colloquial or basilectal variety of a particular standard, say, Singlish in Singapore) is biologically ingrained in our humanity. Unless a human being develops a specific language impairment, or grows pass the critical age for language aquicitation (12-15 years old) without contact with other human beings/society (and hence language), everyone is capable of acquiring at least one spoken natural language. Children are shown to be remarkably able to discern different language codes, and growing up a simultaneous bilingual (as I have) would not pose a developmental problem to a normal child.
Dec 7 2011: Education has many purposes. Apart from the ones that have already been described, I believe that education must afford each and every student the chance to realize their fullest potential. That means needing educators to be open minded enough to understand that cultivate each child within and without social conventions and expectations. Education should definitely be empowering, and must surely afford each individual a critical awareness of his/her own being in a particular sociopolitical milieu.
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A comment on Conversation: Does the future of education lie in bilingualism? Is it even possible?
From a linguistics/language acquisition perspective, it is rather preposterous to suggest that "many children who cannot cope with bilingualism retain no master language at all". I feel I have to call you out on this point-- to be able to acquire a language (whatever it may be, even if it is a colloquial or basilectal variety of a particular standard, say, Singlish in Singapore) is biologically ingrained in our humanity. Unless a human being develops a specific language impairment, or grows pass the critical age for language aquicitation (12-15 years old) without contact with other human beings/society (and hence language), everyone is capable of acquiring at least one spoken natural language. Children are shown to be remarkably able to discern different language codes, and growing up a simultaneous bilingual (as I have) would not pose a developmental problem to a normal child.
A comment on Conversation: In your opinion, what should the purpose of education be?