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Do We Expect Too Much of Bilingual Teachers? Bilingual Teaching in Developing Countries

Given the unique character of bilingual students and the programmes that support them, primary bilingual teaching is a challenging job in any country. However, bilingual teachers in developing contexts are especially challenged; they are often undertrained and underpaid, and must function in under-resourced schools with undernourished students. Meanwhile, they are expected to teach beginning literacy in the mother tongue, communicative language skills in the exogenous (ex-colonial) language, and curricular content in both, requiring that they be as bilingual and biliterate as possible. In addition, they must bridge the linguistic and cultural gap between home and school, become respected members of the community, and manage any opposition to educational use of the mother tongue. Using examples from Bolivia and Mozambique, developing countries from two different continents both of which are in the process of implementing bilingual programmes, this paper discusses the training needs of bilingual teachers as well as the built-in strengths they possess on which their training should capitalise. The outcomes of this discussion are a set of suggestions for alternative teaching models that could optimise teacher effectiveness in such contexts, as well as a template for a training curriculum that builds on teachers' strengths while addressing their weaknesses.