To be submitted to Joan Wink by Carrie Diehl and all students of EDML 5400 Theory of Multilingual Education, CSU Stanislaus

Negotiating identities: Education for empowerment in a diverse society. 2nd edition. Jim Cummins. Ontario, CA: California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE), 2001. 368pp. ISBN 1-889094-01-3

Chapter one, Identity and Empowerment, defined the term negotiating identities: it is the critical process of affirming a student's sense of self. A student whose culture is respected and celebrated will have a positive outlook on his/her education, and he/she will be motivated to succeed. Teachers are at the heart of this process. Students and teachers need to establish trust and respect for real, powerful learning to take place. Positive teacher-student and student-student interactions that take place in school are linked to the successes of all students, not just minority students.

Chapter two, The Evolution of Xenophobia: Cultural Diversity as the Enemy Within, chronicled the evolution of the bilingual education debate. Bilingual education has many proponents and opponents. In addition, bilingual education does not mean the same thing to all people. Assumptions about bilingual education programs and their overall effectiveness vary. The bottom line is that no one who is informed will argue that bilingual education is harmful or takes away from the learner.

Chapter three, The Three Faces of Language Proficiency, highlighted common confusions and misconceptions among educators. First, educators need to be aware that there are multiple levels of language proficiency (conversational proficiency, discrete language skills, and academic language proficiency), and the varied time it takes to achieve each level, so that they won't unwittingly impose curriculum that impedes language development. Second, students should not be dropped from bilingual programs when they can speak English somewhat fluently, and people should not blame a lack of success in schools on a language problem because it is often due to a lack of support, understanding, high expectations, and involvement on the part of the school staff.

Chapter four, Reading and the Bilingual Student: Fact and Friction, presented the ubiquitous phonics vs. whole language debate over how to teach reading. According to Cummins, second language learners, like others, need early exposure to phonics, but they also need a print-rich environment and lots of time to read, think, and discuss. Phonics-only reading programs omit the other important aspects of reading including comprehension, context clues, and other strategies for word solving when the code doesn't work; these programs, by their form and structure, cannot be culturally responsive. In short, Cummins believes teachers and policymakers should stop wasting their time over philosophical debates and do something to help children succeed academically.

Chapter five, Understanding Academic Language Learning: Making it Happen in the Classroom, gives teachers practical advice on second language acquisition. Teachers must know that a student's prior knowledge in L1 is important for a student to successfully acquire L2. Also, teachers must know that students should be able to express themselves (who they are and what they already know). If the above fails to occur, then a child's L2 will remain abstract.

Chapter six, Bilingual Education: What Does the Research Say?, looked at the important data: reports, studies, and theories. First, literacy in two languages increases overall intellectual and academic achievement, and it greatly improves chances for success in advance academic settings and future employment in the world. Second, research on bilingual education has shown that equal language development in two languages leads to the strongest cognitive base. Third, although it might seem that two different languages are clearly separate, there is common ground that can be transferred between them.

Chapter seven, The Deep Structure of Educational Reform, outlined how schools can be successful. Six key factors must be in place for this: teachers and schools must value their students' language, teachers and schools must have high expectations for their students, teachers and schools must receive more training, teachers and schools must provide counseling and support, teachers and schools must enlist parent support, and teachers and schools must share a strong tie with the community.

Chapter eight, Collaborative Empowerment at the Preschool, Elementary, and Secondary Levels, provided a how-to guide to making school-wide changes at various grade levels, by looking at examples of programs that work. There are many examples of successful bilingual education schools that demonstrate empowerment at the deep structural level enabling student success. Students are empowered when they have positive interactions that recognize their culture and identity.

Chapter nine, From Doublethink to Disinformation: The Academic Critics of Bilingual Education, named several well-known educational authorities and their research. Unfortunately, there are many "spin doctors" on both sides of the bilingual education debate, and this makes it hard to view what the research really says. Bilingual education has essentially been given a bad rap.

Chapter ten, Babel Babble: Reframing the Discourse of Diversity, is the culminating chapter of the book. In it, Cummins outlines why teachers should care about society's issues: we have a stake in the future citizens of our society. He also argues teachers have the power to make important changes in society. Teachers should make their classrooms into a model of how things should be. The more we can help our children acquire literacy, the better they will be able to learn to think and challenge the assumptions and contradictions of the dominant culture.

This review was primarily written by Carrie Diehl (a graduate student in the Multilingual Education Master's program at California State University, Stanislaus). Other graduate students who contributed were: Susan Ange-Hatch, Richard Beatty, Anna Blunt, Pati Davila-d'Escoto, Corri Figueiredo, Rachelle Ford, Israel and Monica Gonzalez, Kara Cadungug-Lo, Dee Hawksworth-Lutzow, Ted King, Pao Lee, Ana Marroquín, Michele Marta, Lorena Ortega, Angelica Ozuna, Chyllis Saueressig, Fred Stange, and Rene Velasco.