A Performance Comparison of English Language Proficiency of Bilingual and Dutch Stream Learners and its Relationship to the Teaching Practice at Scala College

Abstract

Bilingual education has increased rapidly in The Netherlands over the past ten years. In the Netherlands, there are more than 100 bilingual schools. In these schools, a number of school subjects are being taught in a second language, usually English. Students in the bilingual stream are taught more than fifty percent of the subjects in English for the first three years. In these lessons English is the medium of instruction and the text books used are also in English. The students are immersed in the English language and learn the language while learning other curriculum subjects, such as mathematics, history or geography, for example. In this study, we examined the performances of year 3 bilingual and Dutch stream secondary school students at Scala College on two subtests of an English language proficiency test. The subtests executed with the pupils were listening and reading. Further, we differentiated several sub-skills within the subtests of listening and reading for assessing English proficiency. Moreover, by interviewing different subject teachers at Scala College on how they facilitate the learning and practice of listening and reading skills in the classroom, we find evidence of a relationship between the teaching practices and the outcome of the listening and reading tests.