Bilingualism as a challenge in Iranian adults Second Language Learning

Bilingual programs, which have grown increasingly rare in recent years, offer great affordancesin easing the implementation of the New Standards because teaching and learning, particularly inthe content area, occur in the language in which the student is most fully proficient. Thusstudents are far more likely to be able to access the complex integration of language and contentthat characterizes the New Standards. In the area of literacy, research has demonstrated thepositive impact of acquisition of reading through the first language (L1) (Garcia, 2000).Furthermore, L1 reading proficiency has been consistently shown to be associated with secondlanguage (L2) reading and writing irrespective of native language (Cummins, 1991; Proctor,August, Snow, & Barr, 2010). However, such associations are strongly linked with degrees ofL2 proficiency, which underscores the need for bilingual programs to be actively developingboth L1 and L2.in this research ,Subjects were Iranian adults native speakers of Persian whowere also L2 speakers of English. These individuals were graduate students or faculty at threeuniversities in the Tehran. Based on the research, it was hypothesized that the L1 of adultbilinguals would be influenced by their L2. As results ,it is possible that L2 affects L1 differentlyin adults than in adults.

کلیدواژه ها:

Bilingualism ، First Language ، Second Language ، Bilingual Programming