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Bilingual lessons: Children in Bavaria benefit twice!
Dr. Tanja Müller and Prof. Dr. Heiner Böttger is developing a successful bilingual teaching model at the UNI KU Ingolstadt.
Bilingual lessons: Children in Bavaria benefit twice!
In Germany, the concept of bilingual teaching is increasingly becoming a successful model for primary schools. Dr. Tanja Müller and Prof. Dr. Dr. Heiner Böttger have presented an innovative concept that combines both high-quality educational standards and the promotion of multilingualism. Central topics are taught in German, while in-depth and processing phases take place in English. This methodology allows children to learn technical terms and contexts in both languages while learning through hands-on activities such as experimentation and painting.
The model project stipulates that up to eleven hours per week will be taught in bilingual mode. Comprehensive further training for teachers ensures that they can meet the requirements of bilingual teaching. Loud ku.de Children taught bilingually show significantly better performance in English and mathematics compared to their fellow students of the same age who are only taught in German.
Academic Achievements and Cognitive Benefits
The results from standardized tests show that children achieve the same level in German as their colleagues who learn exclusively in German. According to Böttger and Müller, increased exposure to English does not lead to a decline in German language skills. On the contrary, the students improve their results in English and mathematics and achieve significantly better results in the DEMAT test than the national average. It is particularly worth mentioning that schools with a high proportion of migrants show even better results in mathematics by financing bilingual teaching.
In addition, students with a migration background develop important cognitive potential through bilingual teaching, as processing multiple languages has a positive effect on their neural structures. This not only supports individual educational paths, but also promotes integration and equal opportunities within the education system.
Expansion and challenges
In Bavaria, bilingual teaching is being upgraded; From the 2020/21 school year it will be continued as a regular offer and is already very popular in around 40 schools. Interest in this concept is constantly growing, and the implemented structure has not caused any complaints from parents - apart from those whose children have not been able to get a place in a bilingual class. However, the main criticism lies in the lack of appropriately trained teachers, which is seen as a major obstacle to the broader implementation of the concept.
The model not only promotes the competence of teachers, but also focuses on flexible teaching without rigid guidelines. In Schleswig-Holstein, a comprehensive institutionalization of the English bilingual primary school is also being prepared. In Bavaria, pilot projects for “Bili” are already planned for November at five middle schools in Middle Franconia, which will further promote the expansion of bilingual offerings.
The positive developments and support from country-specific education ministries show that bilingual education could have a promising future if the challenges in teacher training are addressed.