Reviewed by Esther Núñez Villanueva, Bangor University

This book strikes the difficult balance of giving an extensive treatment to a complex topic and discussing it in an approachable fashion, while remaining true to the use of the term global in the title. It is more than an in-depth overview of current practices and theoretical models of bilingual education worldwide, since the profound belief of the author that bilingual education can be socially transformative is truly inspiring.

G has a sound understanding of the multiple identity and language practices of the children of immigrant communities in powerful states such as the USA and sees them as advantageous. Her view of education as reflecting family and community practices makes us better understand the current phenomena of globalization and multiculturalism and their impact on education. She succeeds in incorporating other bilingual education environments in her discussion, such as elite bilingual education in private schools, African and Asian countries which incorporate indigenous and formal colonial languages in education, and language revitalization projects, leaving the reader with the sense that this volume should be compulsory reading for educational policymakers worldwide.

The book contains five broad sections, divided into chapters and arranged from the more general issues of language and education to the more concrete discussion of bilingual classroom practices. Part 1 is a general introduction to the book. Views surrounding language and bilingualism from the viewpoint of the individual, the society and the state are the topic of Part 2. Chs. 2–4 deal with the sociopolitics of language and bilingualism, including models of bilingualism in society, attitudes towards languages, and language policy. At the individual level, Ch. 5 ‘Benefits of bilingualism’ (93–108) discusses the cognitive and social advantages of bilingualism.

Part 3 identifies nine types of bilingual education models that correspond to four theoretical frameworks. Ch.10 ‘Monoglossic bilingual education policy’ (218–43) reviews models of bilingual education that are inspired by subtractive and additive ideologies towards bilingualism and consider bilinguals as the sum of two monolingual speakers. In contrast to these views, the recursive and dynamic theoretical frameworks stem from beliefs that bilingualism comprises ‘multiple language practices in interrelationship’ (7). Models emerging from these two new frameworks are the topic of Ch. 11 ‘Heteroglossic bilingual education policy’ (244–85), written with Hugo Baetens Beardsmore. An example of a model that explicitly promotes multilingualism in all its dimensions is the language policy of the European Union institutions, discussed in Ch. 9, ‘Language promotion by European supra-national institutions (197–217) by Hugo Baetens Beardsmore. This type of policy contrasts with the US policy of tolerance towards other languages, as discussed in Ch. 8, ‘U.S. language policy in education’ (159–96).

Part 4 provides information about instructional methods and strategies to develop bilingualism in the classroom, linking with more traditional pedagogical approaches. Chs. 14 and 15 discuss two concrete issues that are usually neglected in bilingual education: the promotion of literacy in two languages and assessment practices. Part 5 summarizes the ideas contained in the volume.

This volume is destined to become a reference book for teachers and scholars in the field of bilingualism since it incorporates relevant aspects of previous scholarship on bilingualism, education, language planning, and sociolinguistics in a very approachable fashion. Each section ends with questions for reflection and suggestions for further reading. Furthermore, there are frequent re-caps of previously introduced ideas, summary tables, and examples that facilitate the reading. This book could very well serve as an undergraduate or postgraduate textbook and even as a guide to parents.