Hakuta, Kenji. Mirror of Language: The Debate on Bilingualism. New York: Basic, 1986. Print.
This book was written on the debate on whether the introduction of a second language was harmful or beneficial to children’s capabilities to learn. The text even talks about one of the ideas presented in the previous annotated bibliography that I did. “Many professionals, such as teachers and policy makers, have to make decisions about educating children who have grown up using a different language at home. Should the home language be used in instruction at all? Should it be maintained even after the child successfully masters the language used in school?” (Hakuta ix.) Hakuta talks about the basic concepts of bilingualism to help aid teachers, parents, etc. understand the whole process better so that they can formulate the best “curriculum” in which to raise and develop the children. The preface of the book is the author describing all of the different questions that he is faced when exploring the concept of bilingualism on early education. I thought that the preface summed up the portions that I read very well, and out of all of my sources, this book helped me get a better understanding of my topic the best.
This book was written on the debate on whether the introduction of a second language was harmful or beneficial to children’s capabilities to learn. The text even talks about one of the ideas presented in the previous annotated bibliography that I did. “Many professionals, such as teachers and policy makers, have to make decisions about educating children who have grown up using a different language at home. Should the home language be used in instruction at all? Should it be maintained even after the child successfully masters the language used in school?” (Hakuta ix.) Hakuta talks about the basic concepts of bilingualism to help aid teachers, parents, etc. understand the whole process better so that they can formulate the best “curriculum” in which to raise and develop the children. The preface of the book is the author describing all of the different questions that he is faced when exploring the concept of bilingualism on early education. I thought that the preface summed up the portions that I read very well, and out of all of my sources, this book helped me get a better understanding of my topic the best.