The University of California, Irvine School of Education has been named the site of the newest branch of Bilingualism Matters, a worldwide network of more than 30 branches of multilingualism research and community practice. The school serves as the organization’s first branch in California and on the West Coast.

“We are proud that the UC Irvine School of Education will serve as the newest branch of this effort, putting our amazing school and our university evermore at the center of research on bilingualism in connection with the tremendous global Bilingualism Matters network,” said Frances Contreras, UCI School of Education dean and professor. “This partnership is an extraordinary and inspirational illustration of how both world-class research and a committed community can help inform and advance education for learners of all backgrounds.”
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The UCI branch of Bilingualism Matters will engage researchers, educators and community members across California with the goal of creating a bidirectional communication and connection between evidence-based research on bilingualism and multilingualism with community experience. It will also train a new cohort of students at all levels who are committed to investigating research questions about language diversity that impact society’s understanding of bilingualism.

Outreach will include all sectors of the community — from parents raising bilingual children, to teachers, health care workers, and policy makers, and all times of life, from those exposed to two or more languages from the early months of infancy to the very oldest bilingual speakers.

This partnership will enable both language research and communities to inform each other, as well as serve to debunk widespread misconceptions and to celebrate the opportunities that bilingualism creates.

“Although California is one of the most diverse states in the U.S., there is still widespread misunderstanding about bilingualism. Many believe that raising children with more than one language will confuse them and impede their development, that individuals who switch between two languages possess deficient language skills, and that learning another language as an adult is a pointless exercise,” shared School of Education Professors and language researchers Judith Kroll and Elizabeth Peña, who serve as co-directors of the UCI branch of Bilingualism Matters in California.

“In the last two decades, there has been a virtual explosion of research that shows that these beliefs are mythology. The research demonstrates that linguistic variation is a positive reflection of culture and diversity, not a deviation from a fixed norm or a deficit. But the mythology about bilingualism that exists across many sectors of society has imposed devastating consequences for immigrant families, for educational policy, and for addressing health disparities and there is a disconnect between research and community practice.”

With the rapid growth of non-English languages being spoken in the U.S. and around the world, the launch of the UCI branch of Bilingualism Matters underlines the mounting significance of bilingualism and multilingualism research and the impact language has on learners.